US treasury secretary and noted foodie samples NC ‘cue, with an assist from the governor
One of the most powerful foodies in the world sat among the Thursday lunch crowd at Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh — U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. Of course, the Secretary’s influence lies not in Instagram followers, but in the U.S. Constitution.
Guided by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, Yellen sampled one of the state’s great delicacies from one of the country’s top practitioners of whole hog barbecue.
They each ordered pork barbecue sandwiches with slaw. Following Cooper’s example, Yellen also ordered a side of slaw to go with the sandwich.
“I wasn’t going to, but then I thought, I have an expert here,” Yellen said of the Nashville, N.C.-born governor.
“I’m a coleslaw connoisseur,” said Cooper, who also professes to be a diet soda sommelier. “This coleslaw is excellent. It’s more on the finely chopped, sweeter side. It’s really good.”
Sam Jones BBQ is owned by Sam Jones and Michael Letchworth and is rooted in one of North Carolina’s historic restaurants, Skylight Inn in Ayden.
The restaurant uses photos of country music stars to help food runners find diners, and Yellen and Cooper were graced with Emmylou Harris.
Though it’s known as a great equalizer, North Carolina barbecue can be tricky territory, with deep divisions drawn over pork shoulders versus whole hog, tomato versus vinegar sauces and even cornbread, of which Sam Jones serves the state’s most controversial version.
Neither Yellen nor Cooper ordered cornbread.
The visit wasn’t a political stop, but endorsements were made. Yellen reached for the vinegar squeeze bottle, the style associated with the eastern part of the state.
“I really love North Carolina barbecue,” Yellen said. “I like the vinegar-based sauce and the coleslaw was delicious — that’s the best I’ve had.”
Yellen has a reputation as a bit of a food aficionado, with The New York Times calling her a “culinary diplomat.” She shrugs off the “foodie” characterization.
“I eat in a lot of restaurants, I don’t know about ‘foodie,’” Yellen said.
For generations now, restaurants have offered politicians and government officials opportunities to show off local expertise and personality quirks. Recently in North Carolina, that’s meant stops at Cook Out, where President Joe Biden has twice ordered “Black and White” milkshakes.
Last week, Cooper took Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz to Cook Out, where the Minnesota governor ordered mint chocolate chip and his North Carolina counterpart ordered M&M.
This is the second time Cooper has looked to Sam Jones BBQ to help showcase the state’s proud barbecue tradition to dignitaries. Earlier this year, whole hog barbecue from Sam Jones was served to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Governor’s Mansion.
As a parting bit of advice, Cooper stressed to Yellen that in North Carolina, barbecue grammar is historically important.
“Just know that I told Secretary Yellen that in North Carolina, barbecue is a noun and not a verb,” Cooper said.
This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 4:20 PM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct that Gov. Roy Cooper said “barbecue is a noun and not a verb.”
