Greg Cox, Correspondent

Dixie Belle's BBQ, Chicken & Seafood

Owner Rich Kazazian is justifiably proud of his pulled pork, which he makes every morning with Boston butts and coarsely chops with generous amounts of the crusty bits that Western Carolina barbecue fans call "outside brown." A customer-is-always-right kind of guy, he offers three house-made sauces (mild vinegar-based, hot, and tomato-based Western), as well as more than 20 bottled sauces. He even invites customers to bring their own favorite sauce from home.

As good as the pulled pork is, the dark horse candidate for best dish on the menu -- indeed, best of its kind in the Triangle -- is the beef brisket. True, "best brisket in the Triangle" may not sound like high praise, given our location in the Land of Pork. Allow me to elaborate: Dixie Belle's brisket ranks with the best I've had in any of more than a dozen restaurants in Texas, the acknowledged capital of beef barbecue.

The St. Louis cut ribs are better than most, too, marked with the telltale pink of proper smoking and exceptionally juicy thanks to brining before cooking. They're glazed -- but not swimming -- in a classically tangy-sweet, tomato-based Midwestern style sauce. The barbecued chicken, however, is so heavily glopped with sauce that it's more like a hash or stew.

Kazazian recently expanded the menu to include pressure-fried chicken and fried seafood, neither of which I've had the chance to try. I have sampled liberally from the side dishes that accompany platters and can especially recommend the fried okra and the baked beans.

Ask Kazazian about the beans, and he'll explain -- after he apologizes for being a transplanted Northerner daring to venture into the holy Southern territory of barbecue -- that he seasons them with barbecue trimmings and Italian sausage and slow-cooks them with the meats in the smoker. Ask him how he gets the textbook "bark" (the brisket equivalent of "outside brown") and such juicy meat, and he'll explain at length how he trims the meat and positions it in the cooker so it bastes in its own fat.

His methods may be unorthodox, but they work. Sometimes, it doesn't hurt to have an outsider come in and shake things up a bit.