On a whimsical food adventure to Chester to load up on croissants, cookies and bacon jam at D’Lish (all were exceptional, by the way), I found myself belly up to a table, greeted by a woman with sparkly blue eye shadow calling me darlin’, serving me up a plate of pulled pork, hush puppies, collard greens and sweet tea that was so good I wanted to pull my hair out.

Simplicity is the hallmark of genius. Good BBQ is simple and genius. While all the newcomers have been trying to reinvent the wheel, Sibley’s Bar-B-Que is one of those places that seems like it’s always been there, an old soul. A place that makes a first timer feel like you’ve been welcomed into some local secret. And this old soul serves up a pulled pork sandwich with just the right amount of smoky flavor, topped with a bright, crunchy homemade slaw and the snappy, vinegary North Carolina style sauce, in the authentic, in no way artisinal bun. This sandwich is warm, cool, soft, crisp, salty, sharp, warm and rounded.

They also serve the best hush puppies I think I have ever had; toasty and crisp, with a hint of corn and perfect with a generous smear of butter. Their cooked-all-day collards, are wilty, bitter, briny, salty and set to brilliance with that tip of the hat, the dash of vinegar. Served with tea as sweet as the sun inviting the moon over… for tea, and served with a side of darlin.

All for $5.95.

Why, thank you, ma’am.