A married couple from San Antonio, a fourth-generation pitmaster and her son, and two restaurateurs from Canada. Here's who Burnt Bean Co.'s Ernest Servantes was judging on Food Network's Pitmasters.
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Food Network needed teams who could cook over open fire for a week straight on very little sleep. It found nine two-person teams, and they couldn't be much more different. There's a Mississippi mother and son, a pair of Canadian restaurateurs, a former chemistry teacher, and a couple of names South Texas barbecue fans already know. Burnt Bean Co. co-owner Ernest Servantes sat at the judges' table all week. Here's a look at who he was scoring. You can also see Food Network's full cast gallery.
The Heavy Hitters: Grecia and Esaul Ramos
Esaul Ramos owns 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio, which has earned a Michelin recommendation and a James Beard nomination. His wife, Grecia, is a pastry chef. She made every dessert on the 2M menu before opening a bakeshop of her own, and Esaul calls her his "ace in the hole." Servantes knows Esaul from way back, too: he judged Grill Masters: Texas in 2018, the season Esaul competed.
The BBQ Influencers: Al Frugoni and Jeremy Yoder
Frugoni grew up in Argentina, where weekly asado taught him to cook over open flame. Today he's based in Boerne and runs the largest open-fire cooking event in the country. That's where he met Yoder, a Louisville, Kentucky, YouTuber whose channel, Mad Scientist BBQ, is named for his old job teaching chemistry.
BBQ in Their Blood: Leslie Roark Scott and Jacob Scott
Leslie is a fourth-generation pitmaster from Mississippi, and she's been teaching her son Jacob the family trade since the day he was born. Between them, they have more than 60 years at the pit.
Neighbors From the North: John Jackson and Connie DeSousa
The Canadian team on the show are best friends who run a restaurant group together, including Charcut. DeSousa says she can skin a pig's head in 43 seconds, which is a handy skill when one of the challenges is a whole hog.
Chris Williams and Frank Miller
These two South Carolina natives go back to middle school. When Williams opened his first restaurant, Roy's Grille, Miller was his very first hire. Williams considers South Carolina the birthplace of barbecue, so this team came in with some regional pride on the line.
The Smoke + The Spice: Reginald Jacob Howell and Denzel Johnson
Howell and Johnson have been friends since college, and these days they share a restaurant in Tacoma, Washington. Their families bring a mix of cultures to the table, so you'll find Creole and Indian flavors worked into their barbecue.
Not every team on Pitmasters shares a zip code. Some of these partnerships stretch across several states.
The Hot Shots: Ruben Santana and Hector Garate
Take Ruben Santana and Hector Garate. Ruben's got Bark Barbecue up in Brooklyn, and Hector's got Palmira Barbecue down in Charleston. They met on social media of all places, and now they talk about each other like brothers.
The Fierce Ladies of BBQ: Christie Vanover and Susie Bulloch
If you've ever looked up a smoking recipe online, there's a decent chance one of these two wrote it. Christie runs Girls Can Grill, and Susie runs Hey Grill Hey. Both compete, too. Christie's brisket once placed fifth at the Jack Daniel's World Championship. Susie has cookbooks to her name and has been part of two Guinness World Records.
The Blue Collar Dudes: Matt Groark and Max McGibbon
Then there's the teacher and the guy who quit his desk job. Matt teaches culinary arts to high schoolers in New Jersey and runs Groark Boys BBQ on the side. Max, over in Delaware, left the corporate world because cooking is his passion.
The show was filmed in the Utah wilderness. Every team faced a nonstop week of live-fire challenges for up to $50,000, judged by host Andrew Zimmern, Jess Pryles, Moe Cason, and Servantes. For more on Ernest's seat at the table, read Ernest Servantes Judges Food Network's Pitmasters.
Pitmasters premiered July 13 on Food Network, and every Season 1 episode is streaming on HBO Max and discovery+. Food Network's cast gallery has photos of every team.
A week of watching whole hogs and briskets will do that to you. Burnt Bean Co. is at 108 S. Austin St. in downtown Seguin. It's open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., or until the meat sells out. If you're not near Seguin, order through Goldbelly and have it shipped.
