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Mitchell's troubles didn't end there. In May 2005, he was accused of embezzling about $75,000 in state sales and withholding taxes. Mitchell had twice before been charged with misdemeanors for similar conduct and seen the charges dismissed when he paid the taxes. Mitchell says he was targeted and shouldn't have faced felonies.

Tom Dixon, head of the criminal investigation unit with the N.C. Department of Revenue, is unapologetic about the people who are charged with felonies: repeat offenders who typically owe more than $70,000 and work in high-profile professions. Dixon wants as much media coverage as possible to dissuade others from not paying their taxes. "That's just the nature of the beast," Dixon says.

Mitchell admits the national attention distracted him from his Wilson restaurant.

"It's obvious Ed's strength doesn't lie in the nuts and bolts of running a business," says Garner, the author and a longtime friend of Mitchell's. "He was sloppy. He was out trying to make a name for himself. He wasn't paying close enough attention to what was going on at home."

Mitchell paid the owed taxes and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, which he served on the weekends. He is on probation until 2009. Court records show Mitchell still has a pair of unpaid personal state income tax liens, of which Mitchell says he was unaware.

But Mitchell says his lawyer, Anthony Brannon, changed his life. Brannon, who represented Mitchell and Mills in the bank litigation, describes himself as a wannabe entrepreneur who practices law. In 2006, Brannon had Mitchell cook barbecue at his law firm's Christmas party in Raleigh and made sure Hatem was there to taste the pork and meet the cook. Less than a year later, The Pit opened.

Hatem, a native of Roanoke Rapids, grew up eating Eastern North Carolina barbecue, and had dined at Mitchell's restaurant.

While Hatem has made a name for himself as a developer devoted to preserving historic buildings, he also has a hand in the restaurant business. He owns The Raleigh Times and The Morning Times and has a stake in The Duck & Dumpling.

To Hatem, Mitchell's pit-cooked barbecue is a genuine piece of Eastern North Carolina culture worth preserving at a time when Raleigh is becoming more homogenized by national restaurant chains. Hatem believes if they stay true to the cooking method, people will wipe barbecue sauce from their mouths with cloth napkins instead of paper.

It's a gamble. Success depends on whether Raleigh is ready for a high-end barbecue restaurant selling a dinner plate of pork and two sides for $12 when the going rate for a similar order at Clyde Cooper's Barbecue, a few blocks away, is $5.50. Are 'cue eaters willing to pay more for the chance to drink wine and microbrews with their pork? And can this vinegary whole hog barbecue, one of a few barbecue styles that have not migrated far beyond their borders, attract enough fans beyond Eastern North Carolina to support expansion?

"The trick is getting people to understand that barbecue is down-home but also gourmet," Hatem says.

The two men, as business partners, realize their strengths. Hatem says about Mitchell, "He's a much better chef than a businessman. ... I can assure you that you don't want me cooking in the kitchen."

And Mitchell seems content to focus on the food -- and his image.

"I used to do it all," he said. "But I realized I can't do it all."

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