Pitmaster Brendan Lamb Turns Up The Heat On TV's 'BBQ Brawl' Show

DALLAS, TX —North Texas pitmaster Brendan Lamb is fired up.

He's off and running in BBQ Brawl, a competition cooking show debuting this week on the Food Network.

Lamb owns Smiley's Craft Barbeque in Roanoke, an eatery he opened to barbecue-loving Texans in 2018. And he is actually one of two Lone Star meat maestros on the show. He's joined on the season by former Wolfgang Puck executive chef and Harlem Road Texas BBQ pitmaster Ara Malekian. The Harlem Road restaurant is in Richmond, not far west from Houston.

BBQ Brawl is enjoying a second season at Food Network, although the show has been revamped to add celebrity chef Eddie Jackson to Michael Symon and the ubiquitous Bobby Flay, who seems most likely to cook when there's a camera pointed at him. The show has also amped up the drama by kicking up the number of contestants to an even dozen.

The big prize this season for the lucky chef/pitmaster who goes all the way: A show on Discovery+ to call their own.

Lamb told Dallas Morning News reporter Sarah Blaskovich that he's already had a taste of the entertainment industry, having spent a decade in Los Angeles performing a variety of on and off-camera roles.

“I spent nearly 10 years in LA doing entertainment, and then I went to Austin to do barbecue,” Lamb explained. “My long-term goal is to merge the two together.”

Maybe it's because slow-smoking meat is on its own schedule, but pit masters tend to have a bit of the philosopher in them. And while many who cook flesh for fun have a tackle box of secret ingredients, Lamb confides that when it comes to his brisket, there's not much more involved than salt, pepper and time.

He subscribes to the Central Texas mantra of letting the meat leave its own impression. "That animal was alive," he says simply, "and you've got to respect it."

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