Cooking with Fire

Seth treks to 2Fifty Texas BBQ in Riverdale Park, Maryland to visit Pitmaster Fernando Gonzalez and his wife Debby Portillo to enjoy a Wagyu beef brisket made in a giant 1000-gallon smoker. After learning how to trim brisket from from Tony, the restaurant's sausage maker, Seth sits down to sample the tender beef alongside fried plantains, caramelized pineapple and street corn.

Seth travels to Frankly…Pizza! in Kensington, MD and meets owner Frank Linn, who uses authentic Italian pizza-making techniques to cook some of the best pies in the DMV. Frank demonstrates how his Italian dome pizza oven makes perfectly crispy pies and then they enjoy Frank’s signature wood-fired pizza, a white pie featuring pickled jalapeños, caramelized onions and house made bacon.

Seth heads to Maydan, a Middle Eastern restaurant near U St. in Washington, DC, to meet executive chef co-owner Rose Previte and executive chef Darnell Thomas and learn the secrets of hearth cooking. From recycled embers to starter logs and an ember bed, chef Darnell guides him through the process of getting the fire going and using it to cook Maydan's famous lamb shoulder.