The new season of the Nextflix series “Chef’s Table” has shifted its focus to the art of barbecue. The Emmy-nominated show will spotlight pitmasters around the world, including whole hog pitmaster Rodney Scott of Rodney Scott’s BBQ.
The upcoming season will visit four barbecue extraordinaires around the world: Tootsie Tomanetz from Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, Texas; Lennox Hastie of Firedoor in Sydney, Australia; Rosalia Chay Chuc of Yaxunah, Mexico, and Scott, who has locations of his famed restaurant in South Carolina and Alabama, as well as an upcoming location in Atlanta.
Released August 17, the trailer for the show features the pitmasters, including Scott, in the midst of their creative elements, preparing their meat and vegetables on the open flame amid wafts of smoke. Scott’s voice weaves throughout the trailer, setting the theme for the season: “The smoke. It gets your attention. You can’t help but wonder what’s going on, where that smoke is coming from.”
Each episode will dive into the backstories of the culinary greats. The goal of this season isn’t about secret recipes — it’s all about mastery.
“Whole hog barbecue is not something you learn from a book,” a voice in the trailer says as Scott appears on screen. “Rodney lived it.”
Scott, the 2018 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Southeast, opened the first Alabama location of Rodney Scott’s BBQ in Birmingham in 2019. A second Alabama location is set to open in Homewood in 2021.
“Chef’s Table: BBQ” premieres globally on Netflix on Sept. 2.
Read the Netflix episode guide and watch the trailer below:
Episode 1: Tootsie Tomanetz (Texas)
Meet 85-year-old Tootsie Tomanetz, a custodian by day and pitmaster by night, whose Hill Country barbecue has made her a legend. At Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, TX, Ms. Tootsie and her team make barbecue perfection by embracing a method she’s developed over the course of 50 years, relying on touch to know how hot the pits are and tirelessly mopping each piece of meat by hand with their traditional mop sauce.
Episode 2: Lennox Hastie (Australia)
Sydney chef Lennox Hastie draws extraordinary flavors out of meat, fish and vegetables using only a wood fire, a grill and skills he honed in Spain’s Basque Country at Extebarri, one of the world’s most celebrated restaurants. At Firedoor, Hastie pushes the limits of traditional open flame cooking, breathing new life into the meaning of barbecue.
Episode 3: Rodney Scott (South Carolina)
Rodney Scott grew up cooking whole hog barbecue for his family’s small-town store; now he’s a James Beard-award winning chef with a booming Charleston restaurant and a number more opening across the South. Scott’s South Carolina-style BBQ is rooted in history, with a focus on preserving the tradition of whole-hog cookery for generations to come.
Episode 4: Rosalia Chay Chuc (Mexico)
The ancient dish of cochinita pibil has turned the small town of Yaxunah, Mexico into a culinary destination for chefs, food historians and aficionados. Rosalia Chay Chuc and her community prepare the Mayan barbecue dish the same way her ancestors did over a thousand years ago, when it became one of the predecessors of modern day pit barbecue.