Charley West BBQ Fest is an annual BBQ Fest benefiting the Bob Burdette Center After School Program in Charleston. It is held on Kanawha Boulevard at Haddad Riverfront Park, and I attended for the first time this past weekend.



There are a few ways for folks to get involved. You can purchase a meal from a restaurant set up. Or, you can purchase tasting tickets to try samples from backyard and competition BBQ masters. I was super excited about the latter because these are the places you can't just try any day.



I got 3 tasting tickets - $3 - to sample three different places. I mixed it up between backyard and competition style.



I started with pulled pork from Hatfield BBQ, which was moist and delicious. No sauce here - but it didn't need it.



Next up was Gettin Piggy With It 304, which gave me this beautiful sampler of everything because I couldn't make up my mind. Rib, wing, pulled pork, brussel sprouts and a smoked deviled egg. Every item was delicious - I just wish I could get this food again! They were so generous, and I am so appreciative.



Finally, I tried Dakota Farmer's pulled pork, smoked pepper and delicious balsamic BBQ that I could eat on anything. At this point, I think Dakota should just open his own restaurant because the food I've tasted from him at various competitions is always delicious. Next time, I just hope I can get some of Dave Mincer's food!



2023 Charley West BBQ Fest Results:

Backyard
Backyard Pulled Pork
1st Dave Mincer
2nd Tyson Hatfield
3rd Dakota Farmer

Backyard Sauce
1st Dave Mincer
2nd Dakota Farmer
3rd Notorious P.I.G.

Backyard Ribs
1st Tyson Hatfield
2nd Dave Mincer
3rd Dakota Farmer

Backyard Wildcard
1st Dakota Farmer
2nd Notorious P.I.G.
3rd Dave Mincer

Competition
Competition Pulled Pork
1st Stills & Squeals
2nd Getting Piggy with It

Competition Sauce
1st Stills & Squeals
2nd Getting Piggy with Itp

Competition Ribs
1st Getting Piggy with It
2nd Stills & Squeals

Competition Wildcard
1st Stills & Squeals
2nd Getting Piggy with It

People's Choice
Commercial: Soul 2 Soul
Competition: Stills & Squeals
Backyard: David Mincer

Lost Creek Farm is a purveyor of story-rich, heritage-inspired mountain cuisine. You may have seen them on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown or nominated for a James Beard Award.



At the most fundamental level, Lost Creek Farm is a property that is being restored to its former glory.



Owners Mike Costello & Amy Dawson look to expand their offerings, though, beyond revitalizing the historic farmstead by creating a culinary destination - full of incredible food rooted in place and story.



Moreover, they hope to ultimately offer an educational facility focused on preserving the region's foodways and a heritage foods incubator program creating economic opportunities for Appalachians in the region's re-emerging food and farm economy.



"Once a high-yielding vegetable and livestock farm in the early 1900s, the property now known as Lost Creek Farm went unoccupied for the last several decades of the 20th century ... Having both grown up on rural West Virginia farms, Mike and Amy longed to return to their roots. In 2013 the couple began deconstructing the farm's dilapidated structures, clearing usable crop land, and renovating the 1880s-era farmhouse constructed by Amy's great-great grandfather. Before long, meat rabbits and a flock of chickens returned to the property, along with an orchard of heritage mountain apples, honeybees, and an heirloom garden of regional varieties like Bloody Butcher corn, Fat Horse beans, and Candy Roaster squash," according to their website.



While the duo completes all this work, Mike & Amy offer their "Farm and Forage Supper Club" dinners throughout the summer as both a fundraiser for their efforts and to share their view of Appalachia's rich cultural heritage through cuisine.



These dinners are a hot commodity. Without even knowing a menu or who your dining companions are, people made a mad dash for the tickets and sold out the entire season's dinner in a matter of minutes. Yours truly was lucky enough to snag two tickets for myself and friend Elizabeth. 



On the day of the dinner, I set out on my two-hour drive to Lost Creek, which if you've driven along I-79, you've likely passed the exit but maybe not have turned off on it. The trek to the farm isn't too long, but it does turn from pavement to gravel and becomes a winding, uphill driveway that, if you have a car like me, you might kick up rocks quite a few times but make it with no trouble.



It's truly something special to have a chef invite you to their home to cook for you. While I'm excited to see them expand, it was really a nice memory to be able to join them where they break bread and share stories and be involved in that experience. Elizabeth and I happened to sit next to a relative of Amy's and her friend. They were hilarious and ornery and I couldn't have asked for better dining companions.



We began the evening with a welcome drink featuring knotwood. It was beautiful. mild. sweet. A lovely first sip.



Then we moved onto some passed appetizers featuring communion wafers, which Mike related to his childhood growing up making these at church and sneaking a few every so often. He inherited the recipe and put a beautiful spin on it - like communion wafer, whipped black walnut farmer's cheese, bourbon-sage apple butter and fried sage. I never knew cheese and apple butter would go so well together!



The next communion wafer featured a wild mushroom & chicken bologna, green garlic aioli and garden asparagus. Fanciest bologna I've ever had - and I had quite a few of them!



Next up was a bonus communion wafer! If memory serves me correctly, it was roasted carrot, horseradish, rhubarb pickle and baby dill. And maybe my favorite of the trio - maybe because it was a surprise or maybe because it was larger - but it was all yummy. And, my lighting was the best for this one. 



Moving onto our fourth bite of the evening: heirloom white bean soup, smoked ham and preserved wild ramps. This was such a fun take on a ramp dinner that was creamy and flavorful and well-rounded. Not heavy and dense.



Next was a salad course: killed garden greens, pickled onion, toasted squash seeds, cured duck egg, maple dandelion vinaigrette - a beautiful, bright salad with a punch of acid that cleaned the palate.



Plus then we got some homemade pickles! Another fun treat! Spicy dill and bread & butter. Both fab. 



Next: Milk-poached salt trout, Hickory Cane grits, blistered radish, sour corn and shredded spruce. This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. While they were all delicious, this one was just so well executed. It melted in my mouth. I learned some of the history, and I had no idea I could even eat spruce.



Aunt Floda's dumplings were next, with braised beef, charred broccolini and sumac-sorghum onion. Ohh my goddd. I like drank every drop of this dish. And, my heart was so warmed hearing Mike's mom talk about what this dish meant to the family.



ANOTHER SURPRISE: Vinegar Pie. I feel #blessed that we were able to try this. It was a delicious lemon pie that you would never know otherwise. But deep down, it's resurrecting this depression-era pie history that is really cool.



Finally, an interactive dessert: Peggy's black pepper shortcake with fresh Sickler Farm strawberries and basil cream "Peggy’s shortcake was a hand-written recipe collected in our farmhouse in the early 1900s. We’ve adapted it with some of our own twists, but it sure is special to share this dish in the same house where it was made and enjoyed by Amy’s family almost a century ago." We don't know Peggy, but we really enjoyed her recipe. Plus a cup of coffee.



If you haven't had a chance to enjoy one of their dinners, my best advice is to subscribe on Patreon, so you can get a first chance at purchasing tickets. But if you just want to support their efforts, there are more ways to do that, too!

The collective of Charleston has lost its ever-loving mind when it comes to Crumbl Cookies. Weeks after it opened, there were still lines out the door at all times of day and night. When they finally opened online carryout orders available in the next day or two, I placed an order for a party box. That is 12 cookies for those counting.

If you're not familiar with Crumbl Cookies, it is a national chain that features large cookies in a handful of flavors that rotate each week. Last week when I visited these were the options available:

- HONEY CAKE FT. TEDDY GRAHAMS®
- CHOCOLATE MALLOW CUPCAKE
- PEANUT BUTTER FEATURING SNICKERS®
- CLASSIC PINK SUGAR
- MILK CHOCOLATE CHIP



My favorite of the bunch was the peanut butter cookie that had a Snickers topping. it wasn't as cloying as I thought it could be because that peanut butter cookie served as a good base. The others were OK, but I've had some better ones locally. They are a bit pricey, so I'm curious what folks think.

Moundsville is growing, and I'm happy to see that. I still think there is some room for new restaurants, but I was excited to stumble upon Osaka Sushi & Hibachi Steak House.



I ordered some crab rangoons (of course), a Californis roll and a crab cream cheese roll. It was like I ate the same thing in three different forms. And, this was all to go, so I wouldn't mind stopping to dine in sometime.



The crab rangoons were good, as they usually are. I like that the wrapper was a little bit thinner than usual and had a good sweet sauce to go with them. Both sushi rolls were fine – nothing crazy. Just fairly average. I will say that they were maybe attach on the dry side but that's just personal preference.



Grade: B

I recently rode a new train, called the Greenbrier Express, from Cass to Durbin. The inaugural ride was the first in many years. "The Greenbrier Express (GBX) train departs from the restored, historically important town of Cass and closely follows the clear, free-flowing Greenbrier River to the small mountain village of Durbin. On arrival in Durbin, all ticket holders will be served lunch at a pre-determined location either on your train car, in the depot, or at one of the restaurants on Main Street adjacent to the depot. The ride upriver to Durbin passes through a secluded wilderness portion of the 950,000-acre Monongahela National Forest featuring beautiful scenes of forested mountains at each turn of the river. Sightings of Deer, River Otters, and Black Bear along with a wide variety of Eagles, Hawks, Ospreys, and other species of aquatic birds are common. The original 95-mile section of this railroad was first constructed in 1902 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway with an eye toward timber resource development. It continued serving that purpose until rail traffic declined and most of the line was abandoned in 1978. Today’s trip takes you on the northernmost 15-mile portion that was purchased by the West Virginia State Rail Authority. Unfortunately, a catastrophic flood in 1985 washed out major portions of this line. Thanks to a private/public initiative between the WV State Rail Authority and Durbin & Greenbrier Valley RR, the track has been reconstructed and now offers a new and different option to visitors at the iconic Cass Scenic Railroad State Park."



During the meal break, we received cold cut sandwiches with pasta salad. But there were a few small restaurants open along the main road in Durbin so I stopped at Simply Sweet Café to check it out. It's cute with a bit of a farmhouse vibe. They offer breakfast, sandwiches, salads, and coffee. I ordered a bubble, smoothie and peach flavor. It was a smoothie plus popping boba at the bottom, which made the smoothie all sorts of fun texture-wise. it was a nice combination of comforting, fresh, fruity, and a little exciting at the same time. Just sweet enough.



Grade: A