Expectations were high when my companion and I headed to the Pit on Thursday night. There had been a whole lot of hoopla over the pitmaster, Ed Mitchell, apparently a barbecue legend who was taking barbecue to another level in the lovely warehouse-district building once occupied by Nana's Chophouse.
There were upsides and downsides.
Upsides: Wonderful ambience. Good service. My drinks: a Lynchburg lemonade to start, and then a crisp, dry chardonnay recommended by the server. The crab dip and flatbread crackers. The heavenly banana pudding, which had a layer of crumbs in the bottom with a touch of cinnamon.
Downsides: The barbecue was kind of dry, and the sides weren't the least bit impressive. The mac'n'cheese, also recommended by the server, was dry and sticky and the fruit salad was anemic -- though at least it wasn't the usual restaurant "fruit salad" consisting only of cantalope and honeydew.
It's sad, because as y'all well know, I love good barbecue, and combining good 'cue with a good sit-down experience would have been near-nirvana. But the heavy dishware and cloth napkins can't hide the fact that someone got lazy and decided to coast on location and reputation.
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