Thank you, all, for the kind words.

Thanks for the kind words, Lynn. Certainly budget-tightening has limited what all of us do. (Carolina Dawg: Newspapers are caught in a "damned if do and damned if we don't" situation -- if we charge for our services, we get complaints; if we don't charge and thus have to offer less, we get complaints. If you have a solution, there are a few hundred newspapers nationwide that would love to hear it.)

To clarify, Helen Schwab is the restaurant reviewer and also does restaurant news. I'm the food editor, so I focus on home cooking and news stories about food. I'm not a restaurant reviewer, but I sometimes write about restaurants if it involves face-time with chefs, so Helen can protect her anonymity, or if Helen is otherwise booked. I do travel a lot, so I often write about food in other places. We both have blogs (which aren't behind the paywall, by the way), and those allow us to fit in more information.

Andrea Weigl is the food editor of the Raleigh News & Observer. Since both the Observer and the News & Observer are owned by McClatchy, we have a shared-content arrangement. So my stories run in Raleigh and Andrea's stories run in Charlotte. Since there is plenty of travel and links between the Triangle and the Piedmont, that allows us to get more coverage of the state and stretch our resources a little more.

Certainly, with newsprint and space tight, we supplement our coverage with what we can put online, including blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook links and online stories with added content.

QCMama, if you have specific questions, you can always send them to me and I'll do what I can to help. Thanks for your interest.

I realize that these discussions are often difficult and it sometimes feels futile sharing information. But I wanted to share my experience from this weekend in Whiteville, N.C., at the N.C. Pecan Festival. Whiteville is off U.S. 74 about 60 miles west of Wilmington, in the area of North Carolina that is often called "Down East."

I had two conversations about barbecue and the phrase "pulled pork." One was with a man who was in his mid-60s, a native of Whiteville who returned after 40 years in Wilmington. The second was a young man in his early 20s, also a native of Whiteville, who was raised in a farming family.

Both said they had heard the term "pulled pork" all of their lives, that it's commonly used in that area. The older man said he personally didn't call barbecue that but knew many people who did. He didn't think of those people as "non-local" or "Yankee," he described them as local people.

The younger man said that not only do people use the term, but he considers it a description of the difference between barbecue in his part of the world -- whole pig that you pull meat from -- vs. the chopped or minced barbecue that he expects to see farther west, in the Piedmont region and in Lexington.

So, as I suggested earlier, it does appear to be a term that's part of the local dialect in that area of very southeastern North Carolina. I'm not suggesting that all Eastern N.C. uses the term. I lived in Wilson as a child, and we had neighbors who came from farther south, particularly in the Lumberton/Fayetteville/Laurinburg area. They had distinctive ways of talking that I now recognize as part of the accent from that part of North Carolina -- "herricane" for hurricane, "miseries" for Mrs., "carry" instead of take, and "pulled pork" for barbecue.

I usually haven't seen pulled pork offered as an option in ordering. In Lexington and Eastern N.C. joints, the barbecue generally comes as it comes, and that tends to be chopped, whether finely or coarsely.

But I have heard the term pulled pork used as a description in Eastern N.C., when I interview people about what kind of barbecue they make. The people in question aren't newcomers or out-of-staters, they're natives of places like Lumberton and Fayetteville. So I suspect the term may simply be a part of the local use of language.

If you go to Tony's in Gastonia, make sure you get a milkshake. They do a fine one, packed with ice cream. And if you want a Carolina specialty, get a chili dog with slaw. Or stop by Byrum's Grocery & Grill on the outskirts of Belmont. It's a sweet little meat-and-three that also serves breakfast. Nana Byrum, the owner, makes wonderful small tarts with scratch crusts. It's right next door to Twin Tops fish camp.

Would Customshop really be considered uptown? It's well outside the security zone. I bet Elizabeth will be pretty quiet -- and restaurants along that section would be grateful for the business, unless they're booked for private parties.

(Crepe Cellar.)

The most current menu lists a few things in the fishy vicinity: http://twoboroughslarder.com/

I had a really fast lunch at 2 Boroughs Larder last fall and loved it so much, I've been waiting for a chance to go back. The menu had a lot of room for exploration. I recall a really good Asian-inspired noodle bowl and crispy pig ears.

www.ashvegas.com is nicely put together. And I follow the eatingasheville feed on twitter.

My husband and I still miss the Chocolate Banana Nut ice cream at Spoon's. The year I moved to Charlotte (1985), there was a terrible heat wave and I had rented the cheapest apartment I could find, so it was sans AC. We survived by walking two blocks to Spoons every night for a couple of dishes CBN.

They're out of season. Green peanuts aren't usually harvested until late summer. If you do find some this time of year, check them very carefully for mold.

All the above, plus @lisasorg, @dfmexaminer (hadassah peterson), @trilocalista, @greeneatsblog. Oh, and Rachael Oehring, @gaggingtowards, just because she's funny as hell and makes me laugh.

Grand Asian also would be a good place to try. They have quite a variety. But since you're in the Ballantyne area, have you checked in with Vic at What's Your Beef just to see what he can do for you?

That's correct on the rare burgers. Sushi is a different kind of protein and is handled differently. And mpjmph is correct (my stories run in both The Observer and the News & Observer as part of a shared content arrangement).

While the burger controversy is getting the most attention, what's actually happening is a sweeping change in the N.C. food code that will affect a lot of things in food handling. My food-safety sources are very excited about it.

Moving to adopting a form of the FDA food code is something that many health experts have wanted here for a long time. It will simplify changing to adapt to new science, and it also gives N.C. access to the latest research.

By basing our state code on the federal code, our state health officials also become a part of the dialogue when the federal code is updated every two years.

Jerzee, I double-checked with South Carolina this afternoon just to make sure. South Carolina already has the menu-disclaimer option. If you are over 18 and the restaurant has a reminder that eating undercooked meat is a health risk, you can order a burger rare or medium-rare, even though the state's standard is 155 degrees.

Thanks for posting that, Carolinadawg. I had the same reaction.

Sorry, Leepa. It was an attempt at wry humor. But humor, wry or otherwise, often does not translate online.

As it turned out, I wasn't able to make it to the Flat Rock Bakery. I spent my vacation at Kanuga working for the Episcopal General Board of Examining Chaplains. We were tied to our computers for 13-hour days to get through the pile of work.

However, once I was set free, I was able to make it to 12 Bones in Ayden and Curate in Asheville. Both were religious experiences unto themselves.

"Report"? What a concept. I'll have to try my hand at it.

Thanks, all. Flat Rock Bakery and West First will definitely be on my list. I've been to Purple Onion several times over the years, although it's always worth the drive. And don't worry, Jeff -- I do get to spend a couple of days on this trip in Asheville, so already have a long list as usual (if I can resist the pull of yet another visit to the Admiral).

Thanks, Scirocco. Haven't I heard that there's a Mexican restaurant that gets high marks?

I'm going to be hanging around Hendersonville, N.C., for most of an upcoming week, and will have time for a least one unscheduled lunch and possibly a dinner. Yes, I can search on previous H'ville threads and I've done so. But the most recent of those seem to be answered in summer, and all seasons are not equal in the mountains.

So: Is there any place open in winter that I should make sure I have on the list? Tryon, Flat Rock, Columbia and environs are fair game, too. But not Asheville -- I have a long enough list to keep me busy there for years.

Soul would be a good choice in the closer-to-Ovens area. I recently had a good time with the small plates list at the Wooden Vine uptown.

I'd second that, with the exception of the middle slice. Give me an edge -- you get more of the good crusty crust.

Actually, the Admiral is a casual jeans place. Not dressy at all. That's part of what makes it so interesting, the combination of divey atmosphere with the high level of the food. You'd definitely want to drive, though, and parking is always dicey.

Soft-cooked chili, slaw and mustard on a steamed bun in North Carolina, particularly in Eastern N.C.

For local beer? Barleys! Definitely Barleys. One of the great beer selections of anywhere in the Southeast. They also have some interesting choices of their own. Last time I was there, I had their coconut beer, which sounds freaky (and is a little freaky). But it was bizarrely tasty.

The easy way to spot it: It's on North Tryon right next to where Eastway comes in, and it's next to a car supply shop (either a Pep Boys or an Auto Zone, can't ever remember which, but it helps me know when to slow down for the turn).

Asheville is a great food town, and the list of good places is too long for one reply. But I'd highly recommend The Admiral. It's small and I'd suggest a reservation, but there is space at the bar if you're alone. And since the cooking is mostly done behind the counter, the skillet-dance is entertaining. (I did a blog post on a recent meal there. I'd include a link, but Chowhound doesn't like it when newspaper writers do that.)

Early Girl and Tupelo Honey both also focus on local ingredients with a more Southern-/mountain-inspired feel. There also are a number of tailgate markets that are worth trolling through for local ingredients, especially this time of year.

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Tupelo Honey Cafe
12 College St, Asheville, NC 28801

Any sightings to report?