[air blowing]
[Zane] My goal is to go
to culinary school
and owning my own restaurant.
[Chuck] Ah! First-place ribs,
Smokin' Steers!
[people cheering]
We will land
outside the top ten.
Zane got an eye-opening then.
He needs to humble himself.
[Chuck] Third place
in the Graham High School
Barbecue Regional,
Seriously Smokin'!
[cheering]
We've qualified
for the state high school
barbecue final in May,
but we have a long way to go
with our fundraising
to get us to state.
[Marc] I want to go to Ana
because they have
a really good
construction program.
Was there like a turning point
that made you go,
"Maybe I should look
into construction"?
[Marc] You make a lot more
money than you do
with culinary.
Between trying to figure out
what I'm gonna do
when I'm older,
my barbecue competition,
and literally
everything else in my life,
I'm still a student.
I think my days
for being like a kid again,
those aren't really like,
too often.
Growing up.
[bell ringing]
[guitar music playing]
[Zane] Look, they got
carnival games.
Oh, my. Oh, my.
[both laughing]
-[Harlan] My sternum.
-[laughing]
[Zane] Per gram,
we didn't place well.
I took it as a lesson.
We're improving
on some stuff, and I think
we're really just trying to,
you know,
just be better for State.
[Harlan] I feel like
my ribcage
is coming out of my chest.
[Zane] Other than that,
the second semester
of the senior year is where
all the fun stuff is
with your friends.
That's something
I look forward to.
[Zane] Ah! Ah! I regret this!
Dude, I was gripping.
Oh, my
I kept jamming my shoulder
into the side of the thing
I thought
it was about to fall off.
Dude, and I was keeping
my hat on almost.
You got abused.
[Zane] Harlan's been
one of my best friends
for like 11 years.
Every time
we get to hang out, it's fun.
[both laughing]
Ride rides
and just goof off and talk.
Hey, dude,
we just cracked our heads.
Wow, there's a lot
of kids here.
[Harlan] Doesn't it kinda
feel weird doing it?
[Zane]
Yeah, exactly. I feel old.
-[Harlan] So old.
-[Zane] I'm too aged.
[Harlan] It is fun,
but do you feel like,
ready to graduate yet?
I feel like I was gonna
graduate freshman year, bro.
I was over it.
I'm just trying
to get my diploma,
walk off that stage,
and never look back.
Probably move
to the East Coast.
Everyone has a dream.
I want like,
multiple restaurants,
I want like, a fine dining,
white tablecloth,
you know, with seafood
and, you know,
like French cuisine, uh, mix.
'Cause it's going to be
hard work to get there, but
-You gonna make it happen.
-Yeah.
[Zane] I wanted to go
to Johnson and Wales
for like, two years now.
I like their program.
The idea of the program.
"Johnson and Wales
announce their
admissions decision."
-And? Feel good?
-No.
"Dear Zane, congratulations."
"I'm delighted to offer you--
"Delighted to offer
you admissions
to Johnson and Wales
University's
Charlotte campus."
[cheering]
Wow!
For a long time,
I've been thinking about,
you know,
just culinary school.
Nothing else mattered.
Getting accepted into
Johnson and Wales
felt good.
But now, you know,
I feel like I'm burned out
after 12 years
of, you know, public school.
[Harlan] Oh! Ugh.
That was actually
really close.
[chuckles]
There's that part of me
that is just ready
to just start working
and working my way up.
Yeah, I have a lot
to think about.
But, you know,
this carnival is pretty fun,
even though
it is pretty gitty.
[music playing]
[somber music playing]
[wind howling]
[flames cracking]
[Goodman] Hey, how's y'all's
fires looking, man?
It's 42 degrees out here.
Let's keep it going.
[generator rumbling]
Everyone brought
their jersey, right?
-[all] Yeah.
-What?
-Huh?
-What?
[Goodman]At Carroll High School,
we have a slogan called
"Protect the Tradition."
We like to think
that the tradition is winning.
[Cami] The thermometer
is reading 400.
-We got to make sure
we're really
-[Goodman] That's good.
managing the fires today.
My high school, Carroll High,
is really known for its
competitive sportsmanship.
Our football does great.
We always make it to State.
But my goal
is for my school to start
taking the barbecue team
a little more seriously.
Especially in a school
where sports are everything.
[Goodman] So far this season,
our Overtime BBQ team,
they really have their skill
down to the next level.
Alright,
grand champion is
Overtime BBQ.
[crowd cheering]
[Goodman] Seeing these kids
get recognized for what
they just did all day
makes me so proud of them
and so happy for them.
Every time I see that, I say,
"Let's keep doing it."
[clamoring]
We can trim it
down to whatever
but get a good flat
on the brisket.
-Let's do it.
-Let's do it, man.
-Yes, sir.
-[Goodman] I'm gonna go
get your
pineapple juice and propane.
-That's pretty solid.
-Alright.
But how do we get
to that next level?
Well, you know,
we look at Waco,
and every regional we go to.
So it's times for us to hone
in what we're doing
or to make some changes
if we need to.
We have 22 teams
showing up for this
and at State, it's going to be
90 plus teams.
A lot of these people
that are here
have been competing
for a long time.
There's Smokin' Ferrets
and Phat's BBQ,
those are some
really notable names.
I'm happy we kind of fit in
with the other teams
with our winning streaks,
of course,
but I'm hoping that we get
a lot more traction
with a win at State.
-[man] Counting down.
-[Goodman] 9:00 a.m. turn in.
9:00 a.m. turn in.
Start chopping up this
pineapple a little more,
chop up the cherries.
And then I'll be able to get
everything in the oven.
Let's remember
to turn on the sun
and not wait
till the last five minutes.
-In my professional opinion.
-[chuckles] Okay, Mr. Sassy.
-Alright.
-[giggles]
[Cami] Cooking definitely
does love me, and I love it.
It's just something
that I've been
able to excel in.
I cook the dessert
on our team.
No one really
thinks about dessert
when you think
about high school
competitive barbecue.
But Texas desserts,
in themselves,
are very iconic.
You know,
you have your peach cobbler,
your blueberry cobbler,
your banana pudding.
How are we doing over here?
Do you want me to chop stuff?
[Cami] That'd be great.
[Cami] I have been making
my pineapple upside-down cake
for about three years now.
Not to toot my own horn,
but my dessert
always makes at least,
fifth place or higher.
But to be able
to get that first-place award,
I have to work towards a plan
to make it look
just a little bit prettier
since the design and the look
of the cake is not the best.
So what are we going
to use the pineapple for?
-[Cami] It's going to be
the topping.
-That's good, dude.
So, pineapple
upside-down cake,
you've got brown sugar
covering the whole cake,
covering the pineapple.
It's really good.
-Oh, yeah.
-It is. You'll see.
[Cami] Food has always been
a really big part of my life.
Both my parents worked
in the travel industry,
so I grew up traveling
all over the place.
[soft music playing]
[mom] Do you remember
these things?
That was an RV trip.
[Cami] I can't wait
to go back there
-and start hitting all
the national parks coming up.
-[Mom] Aw.
[Cami] We were
a family of six.
I have two brothers
and an older sister.
When I was about
eight years old,
my mom bought property
in the kingdom of Tonga.
We had a massive garden
in my backyard.
We'd grow a lot
of our own foods.
We would cook a lot together.
So it was definitely
one of the things
that I bonded
with my family over.
Up to fifth grade,
I was home schooled.
Going to public school
was a really hard transition.
I want to be
as unique as possible,
and that's really
not the coolest thing to do
when you're in high school
and in public school.
I would say finding
barbecue was definitely
one of the areas
in high school
that I felt like I belonged.
[Cami] Well, I'm just pitting
these cherries here.
These cherries
look so good too.
I'm so happy
we're using them fresh.
Before, we were
using maraschino cherries,
but those
are no longer allowed.
The rules changed.
[Goodman] The rules
for dessert in High School
Competition Barbecue.
Number one,
everything has to be
made from scratch.
Number two, you have to have
at least five ingredients.
And one of our new rules,
everything has to be fresh.
Can't be out of a can.
Can't be out of a jar.
[Cami] The best strategy
for the pineapple
upside-down cake is,
I like to really
pack mine full of flavor.
We have a really
high quality vanilla.
We use really
high quality butter,
the best sugar.
And I will throw
all of that in
to make it as sweet
and decadent as I can
so that one bite that
those judges are taking
is really impressive
and just knocks
their shoes of. No laces.
I've never said that before.
Um, I'm sorry, dear.
[giggles]
[wind blowing]
It's 40 degrees outside,
so the weather is going to be
a little bit of an obstacle.
Butter is not
gonna thaw out because
of the weather.
The butter,
if it's not melted,
it won't sink into the cake
and it's all gonna sit on top.
So I'm gonna go ahead
and get these on the firebox
so they
kind of mix in a little bit
better together.
Would you put some more,
uh, charcoal in there
and put some more wood on it?
[Goodman]Take everything you know
about cooking or dessert
in your kitchen,
throw it out the window
and let's go out to,
let's say, your backyard.
Now, it's freezing outside.
So let's blow the wind
and have your pop-up
and your stand,
and your utensils
all blowing down the street.
So I just put them
on the firebox
for a little bit,
making sure that the butter
and the brown sugar
mix together,
so I can get a really nice,
even coating
that's gonna make it
crusty on the outside.
The inside
will be nice and soft,
and cushy
like your pillow at home.
I'm gonna take these.
Get going.
[country music playing]
I need to start making
my whipped cream.
Yes, you do.
[Cami sing-songs]
[Goodman] She's working
on some things.
Trying to elevate
a little bit,
make it prettier,
because we know
it tastes good.
It always places.
But if we can figure out
how to make it
just look better
sitting in that turn in box,
I am confident
that she will get
that first place.
I have to check on my cakes.
[suspenseful music playing]
Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why?
[Goodman yelling]
Cami, you got 20 minutes!
Yep. Okay.
Can we restart the generator?
It's on. It's 11,000 watts.
Can we re Just
It's been a little more
tedious today.
The generator turned off,
so the ovens went ahead
and both turned off.
So now it's pre heating.
I'm not gonna take
the cakes out for that.
I don't know if it would--
I don't--
[distressing music playing]
Well, that's not good.
It's looking like
there's still some
runny batter in there.
They've only been in
for about 12 minutes,
so I'll go ahead
and put them on
for probably
a couple more minutes.
[suspenseful music playing]
So the whipped cream
is just going to be
heavy whipping cream.
Measured with my heart.
'Cause I've got two minutes
till turn in start.
Fingers all the way crossed.
Fingers and toes.
Because it's
Okay!
I am concerned
about the color bleeding.
I've realized that
the cherries would do that
and go ahead and bleed
into the cake a little bit,
so I hope they don't
deduct points for the color.
[triangle ringing]
Gosh! They're so big,
they don't even fit.
I don't feel like I need to
take a bite out of one
of the desserts
before I go ahead
and turn in my dessert.
I practiced this cake
and this recipe
about a billion times.
I know what I'm turning in.
It's down to a science.
[Goodman yelling]
Cami, it's 9:02!
Oh, do you think
it's gonna smash
when I close it?
-I really hope not.
-[Colin] Let's just
pray, yeah?
-[Cami] Yeah.
-[Colin] Let's do it.
-Cami, it's 9:03.
-I hear you.
-Okay.
-[Cami] Excuse me.
[Colin] Good luck, Cami.
[Cami] The looks of the cake,
definitely were not
my favorite.
The cherries bled a lot.
It does not look fabulous.
Hopefully,
the judges don't mind.
I'm not sure how that
is going to go.
I just need to sit
for a second.
[upbeat music playing]
-[man 1] We're OG.
-Yeah, yeah.
So we're right here, buddy.
-Yeah.
-[Cami] I'm so nervous,
I actually want to barf.
Maybe a little doubtful.
I feel like
it wasn't my best work.
Judges looking
at a pineapple
upside-down cake.
This is a very known desert.
You have a concern,
presentation-wise,
that they're gonna think,
"Are they just
trying to reinvent it?"
And could that reflect
in a, a point coming off?
I don't know. It could.
Good afternoon, everyone.
We're gonna start
with the dessert category.
[Cami] I'm like,
it's not me.
It's not me.
I really do doubt myself.
Tenth place in Dessert.
[suspenseful music playing]
Smokin' Ferrets!
[cheering]
Seventh place in Dessert.
[suspenseful music playing]
Phat's BBQ Team.
I'm done.
I'm so out. I'm done.
No, no.
First place. Dessert.
-[Chuck] Overtime BBQ!
-Oh, my gosh!
-Cami!
-[applauding]
-Go, Cam!
-[speaks inaudibly]
[speaking indistinctly]
I'm having a heart attack.
-Thank you.
-Congratulations. Well done.
-Thank you very much.
-There you go.
I was a little nervous
because I didn't think
that it looked the best.
So I'm excited to work on that
and hopefully,
improve the look.
Hopefully, Dessert
would really help us
place higher
and just allow us
to pull ahead
with the competition
for second, third overall.
[Chuck] To the main category.
Second place.
Overtime BBQ!
[Goodman] There we go!
Come on! Yeah!
[Chuck] Alright. Chicken.
Eighth place.
-Overtime BBQ!
-[Goodman] Yes, sir.
[group cheering]
Fifth place, Pork Spare Ribs.
Overtime BBQ!
[cheering]
[Goodman] There you go, Colin.
There you go.
[Chuck] Okay, guys.
Top three teams
on overall points.
In the Texas Regional in Waco.
Third place.
Phat's BBQ!
[Goodman] Some of our
stiff competition,
like Phat's BBQ,
they're always
in those calls with us.
That dude carrying.
Yeah.
[Colin] Look at
all those medals.
-[man] On three!
-[all chanting] On three!
[team chanting]
On three! On three!
[Goodman] Some weekends,
it's theirs,
and some weekends, it's ours.
And it's all up
to the judges, obviously.
[Chuck] Alright. Second place.
The Texas Regional
in Waco, Texas.
[suspenseful music playing]
Overtime BBQ!
-[applauding]
-[Goodman] Let's go on up.
Let's go over here.
[Cami] Yay!
Whoo! Good job!
-Thank you.
-Congratulations.
Grand champion,
in Waco, Texas.
HTX Dawg Pound!
[cheering]
Good job. Good work, guys.
Good job, man.
Congratulations, huh?
I won. I won.
Overall, my team made
Reserve Champion,
which is second place.
We have almost
everything down.
Every one of us
can cook everything,
which is great.
And we'll bring
our A game for State,
so hopefully,
we get a similar turnout.
[chants] I go O, you go G!
-O!
-G!
[both chanting] O! G! O! G!
[Goodman] Alright.
I've got our comment cards
and I pretty much already know
what they say.
But here, open up. Listen.
"No presentation design,
exclamation point."
-You just keep on doing--
-I Yeah.
There needs some work there.
We got "fruit bled
onto the other parts
of the dessert,"
which I'm very aware of.
That's something I'm going
to be working on.
Overall, the comment cards
were mostly positive.
So you just have to make sure
you take it
with a grain of salt
and improve in the areas
that you know you can.
[Goodman] I'm so I'm freaking
proud of you guys.
Any time you get a ribbon,
you get a call,
you get something up there,
that's what
we've come here to do,
is do the best we can,
and it's going to take
care of itself, right?
Going into Stare right now
with Cami's team,
those are the most
experienced kids that I have.
I don't want to seem
[chuckles awkwardly] Uh.
With a lack of humility,
saying that,
"Yeah, we're going to State,
"and I expect them to win
first place," and I do.
Let's go eat. Good job.
It will be up to them.
But that's the expectation
I have going in.
It's that I expect them
to take it.
[victorious music playing]
[mysterious music playing]
[Marc] It's Friday night,
you know.
It's anniversary
date night tonight.
I'm going
to Francesca's house.
We're celebrating two years.
This is my longest
relationship.
I think my second longest,
probably like, a month.
That was like, what?
Three years ago?
I feel pretty good about it.
Not a lot of kids my age
have a, are in
a two-year relationship.
That's like half
of their high school career.
That's impressive.
That's impressive.
I ♪
Count the stars ♪
In the sky ♪
[Francesca] Hi!
[kisses]
[Marc]
Got you little gifts here.
Got you some flowers.
[Francesca]
You got me flowers?
[Marc] I got you flowers.
-[Francesca]
Oh, they're so pretty!
-[Marc] Here you go.
I got to give Francesca
a lot of attention
because that's
my little boo thang.
Other than
a girlfriend, Francesca's
just a great friend.
We love eating together.
We love hanging out together.
And we watch every like,
movie that comes out,
listening to every song
that comes out.
I got Francesca
with my k*ller personality.
I count them ♪
Our love ♪
Each night ♪
This is epic, bro.
I think it's my new
favorite word, by the way.
Francesca hates it.
-[Marc] You want to go there?
-[Francesca] I guess.
Are you trying to eat, shorty?
Are you bouncing?
-I can't bounce?
-Nope.
-Why?
-This is a no bouncing zone.
Didn't you see the sign?
[Francesca]
Can we make a toast?
[Marc]
You wanna make a toast?
Yeah,
because we hit two years.
So.
-You wanna ding? Ding 'em.
-[both] Ding!
I can't believe
we're graduating too.
[Marc]
Real talk. That's crazy.
In a few months.
So, we're like, adults adults.
[Francesca] Don't say that.
I don't wanna be an adult yet.
Poor baby.
It's gonna happen.
I mean, yeah.
What are we
going to do about it?
-Go to college?
-Yeah, that too, obviously.
[Marc]
Have you talked to your mom
about your college?
No, not really.
I just want to keep it simple.
I just want to graduate.
[Marc]
I've talked to my parents.
Talked about what I want
to do in college.
What I want to pursue.
Um
I want to go
into construction.
I'm gonna keep culinary
as a side thing.
I don't think
you should give up on that.
You know, my mom
is head of construction.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
She's happy where she's at.
That's like--
That's where she wanted to be.
-Yeah.
-She got where
she wanted to be.
Hm-mm.
She provides for her family.
-She lives a good life.
-Yeah.
That's what I want.
Okay. Don't get me wrong.
Like, I get it.
She's like--
Your mom's really successful,
successful and everything.
But are you doing it
because you want to do it?
Or like
because like, your parents
want you to do it?
[pensive music playing]
I'm doing it
both because my parents
want me to do it.
At the end of the day,
when it comes to my career,
I can't think about
what's gonna have me
enjoy it the most.
I wanna think about
what I'm gonna be living.
-I want a good life.
-Yeah, but like
-I mean--
-Construction will give you
the good life.
If my parents were to tell me
culinary was a good pathway,
I'd probably still be
going down culinary
because I don't
Like, I still don't know
much right now.
Construction is very steady.
Culinary, it's a gamble.
You're gonna have to make
tough decisions in life.
Ultimately,
I'm doing what's right,
so I can live
up to my potential.
[upbeat music playing]
Maria, Noe, Emery, Alex.
Let's go barbecue!
Come on.
It's a great day
It's a great day ♪
Our first regional
at Graham was a success.
Third place in your Graham
High School Barbecue Regional.
Seriously Smokin'!
[people cheering]
[Langdon] Qualified for State.
Now it costs money
to get there.
Entry fees, hotel rooms,
gas money.
So we are doing
a barbecue luncheon
in the restaurant
called The Galley
here at our school,
and we are trying
to use it as a fundraiser.
This is our last
fundraising opportunity
before State.
The goal today
is to raise us $3,000.
If we can do that,
that pays for State.
We've got a lot of people
signed up
and a lot of the community
coming out.
Everybody is great about that,
so we're excited.
You're gonna be
in charge of chicken,
and I'm gonna have you
sort of helping me
run front of the house.
All right, you ready?
Every year we have to set
a fundraising goal
because barbecue is expensive.
Our goal this year
was $15,000.
-[woman] Sold out?
-[Emery] No, ma'am.
-We have plenty more.
-[woman] Oh, mama.
[Langdon] Through other events
that we've done this year,
like Cowboy Symposium
and donations,
we've been able
to raise $12,000.
But this event,
our pop-up fundraiser
Like, we really need
to hit our $3,000
so that we can make sure
that we're good to go
for State.
We need to find a scale.
I wanna know how much this is
as far as sliced goes.
The fundraiser menu
is brisket, smoked chicken,
pie, and pulled pork.
[Emery] Hey, I got three more
chickens ready to go.
I'm cooking 22 half chickens.
It's going to be
very stressful.
I've never cooked
this many chickens in my life.
And I've never used
a rotisserie smoker,
so we'll see
how that works out.
Hopefully, we can get these
done quickly and efficiently.
[Langdon] We got
48 minutes to service!
[students] Heard.
[Langdon] A pop-up restaurant
for our kids is super helpful
because they
get to learn a whole lot
of different skills
like time management,
planning.
[Emery] Some of these
seasonings are heavy
and some of them aren't.
Working together,
cost analysis,
How much are we
gonna make?
Things that are
still applicable
to their barbecue
competitions,
but they don't
necessarily learn
every time we compete.
Liquid gold goodness
right there.
We're almost four years in.
We want a top-ten finish
at State.
It's time.
We need to make that happen.
It's gonna be a great day,
but it's gonna be a hard day.
We've got 126 pre-orders.
That doesn't include walk-ups.
I need y'all to be able
to talk to customers,
tell them what we're doing,
remind them
that they are helping us
get to go to State.
So make sure, make sure,
make sure
that we are saying thank you,
thank you, thank you.
[Emery] I feel like
this is gonna be
a challenge for me
'cause I'm
the front of the house
and I feel like
I'm gonna be, like, very slow,
just pressing all the buttons
and stuff.
I feel very trusted
'cause it's a very
stressful job.
Here we go.
There's literally people
waiting outside for the food.
Is that crazy?
That's the part
that freaks me out.
I'm just kind of scared.
I'm scared to see how fast
I can get through this line.
I'm scared to see how
If I can handle
the pressure, really.
[Langdon] Yeah, hey,
doors are coming open.
Hey, everybody,
thank you so much
for your patience
and welcome to The Galley.
-Come on in.
-[Emery] Hi.
Just pulled pork.
Just pork on a plate
and then
with mac and cheese, too.
[Emery] Total is $23.
Thank you, it means a lot.
[boy] One pulled pork,
one brisket, jalapeno
mac and cheese.
Pulled pork and potato salad,
the next size up.
Gonna be $37.
Actually, you're pulled pork.
[Langdon] And there,
you got all your fixings.
You're good to go, okay?
Hoping we hit our $3,000
and that gets us to State
and takes a little pressure
off the fundraising
and we can focus more
on competing.
[exclaims]
Something tipped over
in our pit that we were using
for chicken for Emery today,
and some of the grates fell
and pulled some
of the chickens down
with them.
So we lost four chickens,
which I hate,
because that's leaving money
on the table for our kids.
But what I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna send somebody
to go get some more chickens
and we're gonna roll with it,
so Okay?
Kevin, can you go
get more chickens?
-[indistinct]
-Yeah.
At least four
whole chickens
Uh, make it five
Five whole chickens.
So unfortunately,
with the chicken halves,
we had a little bit
of a malfunction
with our equipment.
But we can bring it to you
later today.
Thank you.
I am just kinda hoping
that the community
understands, like,
the situation
that we've been put in
'cause this is not, like
It's not a normal thing
for five chickens to fall,
but
[woman] Twenty potatoes?
[Emery] He already got it.
[Langdon]
Your food will be out shortly.
I apologize for the delay.
[Emery] Just rush, rush, rush.
It's chaotic,
it's very overwhelming.
[Emery] Yeah, you can
just pick 'em up
and then put 'em in here.
The big takeaway
for today, I think,
is overcoming adversity,
and being flexible,
and learning how to think
on the fly and just adapt.
And that's gonna be important
at State.
[Emery] Alex, we have
more chickens ready.
Yay.
Anybody else
have half chickens? Okay.
-[woman 1] Just take a
-[woman 2] Get it, get it,
get it, girl.
Oh, my gosh.
-Isn't it so good?
-That is so good.
Yes, ma'am. So proud of 'em.
[man] I think
it's really good barbecue.
What an excellent job
they've done.
As a community,
it's our job to get out
and support them
and I love it.
It's a great program.
[Langdon] It's so important
for our community
to be able
to support our kids
and to show them
that they also believe
in what we're doing
with our barbecue program.
[woman] Look at that,
they're devouring it.
It's awesome.
[Emery] Thank you.
-Have we reached our goal yet?
-Let's look.
Uno momento.
We were really close
right there.
-[Emery gasps]
-[Langdon whooping]
-Wait
-Yeah!
[all applauding]
-[Langdon] $3,002.01 so far.
-$0.01.
-[Langdon] And we still have
about 20 orders to fill today.
-Yeah.
[Langdon] Oh, the kids
crushed it today.
You know, I always go
into these days nervous,
and they always shine,
and they always
rise to the top,
and they always
rise to the challenge and
I'm just proud of 'em.
I just want to thank you
for letting, like, us
do the
[Langdon] I didn't
do anything.
Well, like, you made it.
You helped us get this,
like, all together.
-And you stayed here
until 1:00 a.m. yesterday.
-I did. Yeah.
[Emery] It means
the world to me
when Coach Langdon
does the stuff that she does
'cause she's giving away
her time with her kids
and her husband,
and it's time she's never
gonna get back.
And the fact
that she's putting
that into us,
it just makes us
feel like one of her own kids,
so it's pretty awesome.
Well, I love y'all.
You know I'd do anything
for you.
My babies. [indistinct]
[upbeat music playing]
[Gus]
I mean, you know you have
a lot of people coming over.
[Rola] We have
everyone coming.
And we'll have everybody
-[Rola] Is everybody coming?
-[Marc] Yeah.
I'm just hoping to be able
to get like a confirmed
Like, menu out of today.
See what people really like
and what people don't like.
[Rola] Good, bad and ugly.
But honestly,
this is exciting.
I think it's gonna be
a lot of fun.
I am going to college
for construction management.
I think it's a stable pathway.
It's gonna give me
a good-paying job.
But at the same time,
I'ma start my own
business as a side hustle.
I am the sole owner
of habibibarbecue.com.
You know that?
My plan is right now
is selling from my house.
Habibi Barbecue, it's gonna be
a Lebanese fusion barbecue.
I'ma do like Texas meats
and Lebanese sides
and everything.
I have tabbouleh,
it's a Lebanese salad.
Some hummus,
some baba ghanoush.
And obviously, you gotta have
mac and cheese.
Lebanese flavors
are important for me
just because I grew up
eating that.
I mean, that It's good.
Underrated, honestly.
If you've never
had Lebanese food,
go get you some.
You need some
-Molly. Who's here?
Who's coming?
-[barks]
-Hi!
-Hello!
-[Marc yelling excitedly]
-[woman laughing]
-[Rola] Hi, Dad.
-[man] Hello.
No, no!
It feels great to have
this community with me.
I have a family
that's always there for me,
that any time
I need something,
they'll be there, you know?
And then, at the same time,
even outside of family,
I've got these
wonderful friends with me,
you know?
I've got the barbecue team,
I've got all these people
who are willing to help me
with anything.
-Do it.
-Okay, that is not how
it went earlier.
I was raised
knowing that this world
has a lot of love in it.
You just gotta go look for it.
And I'm finding a lot of it.
It's one of those things
where it's like
without all the love
from all these people,
I feel like I wouldn't
be able to do anything,
you know?
They let me fly.
-[boy 1] Oh, they're here.
-[boy 2] Whee!
[Marc laughing gleefully]
Teta, you know how much
I love batata kizbara.
[squeals]
-How you doing?
-I'm good.
[Michael]
You should be doing this,
not your grandma.
[whispering]
Let me try, Teta.
Let me try.
[Marc and Michael laughing]
Okay. Okay.
She said in Arabic,
"I wanna hit him with it."
[Michael] That's just
a nice way of saying that.
That's just a nice way
All right, you need
to go outside and grill.
All right, ladies,
I'm getting to work.
-Yeah
-[Michael] "Ladies"?
[exclaiming] Mm.
Let me see it.
[exclaiming] You cannot
keep getting away with this!
It's perfect!
[Marc] I wanna thank everybody
for coming out today.
I got a nice little thing
that I'm trying to start up
right now.
I really wanna start
a business.
I want to start
selling Arabic food.
I've named it Habibi Barbecue.
I got the name,
I own the company.
I'm hoping
it's gonna turn out well.
I got a little logo now.
[all cheering and applauding]
So, Habibi Barbecue,
I'm ready for this.
Today, I have a lot of stuff
that's gonna be on the menu.
We're gonna try it out.
I want some honest opinions.
I want everybody
to let me know
how they like it.
It feels great for me
to start my own, you know,
business.
Showing my logo,
showing what I'ma do.
I'm excited just 'cause
it's my business,
I can do what I want.
I ain't got nobody else
to tell me what's right
or wrong,
except for my family.
How many people you know
really started business at 17?
Not many,
you know what I mean?
So on my menu today,
I have the batata kizbara,
the tabbouleh.
I have the hummus,
I have the lamb skewers,
I have the chicken skewers,
and I have the ribs
and the brisket.
Sorry, I'm just drooling
over the food.
All right, y'all,
let's dig in.
[all cheering]
[Francesca] I'm proud of Marc.
I want to see his family
happy for him.
I want him
to be successful as well.
[indistinct conversation]
-[Michael] Come on over here.
-[man] You know, Marc
[Michael] You asked
for opinions, I'm here
to give you an opinion.
This mac and cheese,
I'm getting, like nothing else
besides smoke.
Okay, so don't smoke it.
So it's not mac and cheese--
No, the smoke is a great idea.
It just needs more seasoning.
[Marc] Okay.
Nana, what do you think?
It's very good.
Tastes good, you know?
Yeah.
I did.
Yeah.
[Marc] What you think
about the fusion, Brysen?
[Brysen] Tell you
what I think.
Be honest, you think
it's a good combination?
One thing I really liked
is the tabbouleh
and the brisket.
Like, I love it so much.
I don't know why.
It's incredible.
The next steps
are working on the menu,
fixing up the sides.
I really, really need to work
on my mac and cheese
'cause it was way too smoky.
I'm just hoping to go live
with my website,
habibibarbecue.com
here in a few months.
But I have a good start,
I know what I'm doing.
I just need to refine
some things.
-I can't eat any more.
-[Michael] Who's tasting it?
We're full.
I feel like
if I was to win State,
my side hustle
just goes from here to like
It goes high. It jumps.
Just cause, like
Serving somebody,
"Hey, here are my ribs,"
versus "Hey, here are my ribs.
This is first place
in the state of Texas."
Now we've got something
coming up.
[upbeat music playing]
[Zane] Ever since
I was eight years old,
I've had a dream
of becoming a chef.
I was watching a really
popular cooking show,
and it was highly competitive.
You know, they were getting
in screaming matches
with each other.
As a kid, I was loud
and I liked screaming
and yelling,
and I liked being intense.
And that's what sparked
the idea in my mind of,
you know,
wanting to become a chef.
Gotta make decisions
on, if after graduation,
I want to go
to culinary school
or just go straight
into the restaurant business.
-Hello.
-Hello, Zane,
how you been?
-Good, sir, how are you?
-Doing great.
Okay, I was real happy
to hear that you were gonna
-visit with us today.
-Yes, sir.
Chef Erik,
he's a family friend of ours.
He's the head chef
at a luxury hotel
in Dallas, Texas.
The luxury hotel
has multiple restaurants
and the catering team,
led by Chef Erik.
In this cooler, we keep
all of our dairy items.
All the food that we're gonna
serve tomorrow is on carts
in here.
Chef Erik
is a high leadership guy,
so I gotta kinda
be professional with him.
But I've never worked
in a real, actual restaurant.
-Zane, I'd like you
to meet someone.
-All right. Hey, I'm Zane.
Chef Jacob,
Zane is considering
culinary school
or jumping
right into the industry.
This is gonna be real fun
because I was in your shoes
eight years ago.
I had to make
the same decision.
Did I want to go
to a big-box university
or I pick up education
at one of the local colleges?
I chose a local college,
I stayed here
and found my home here.
We've got some big functions
this weekend.
One of the things
I wanna do today
is do a sample plate
of what we're gonna be serving
for 500 people tomorrow night.
I'm gonna go ahead
and give you a hat
and an apron.
And I'm gonna
get out of the way.
-[Zane] All right.
-[all laugh]
If you need anything,
I'll be around the corner.
-[Jacob] Got you, Chef.
-Good luck.
So people who work here,
what do they usually
start with?
What do they usually
start doing?
So, generally, they start
with vegetables.
Okay, yeah.
Because, normally,
when people first
walk in here,
they're not at a point
where they can pick up
a tenderloin
and give me 45 steaks.
When I first started,
I spent about two years
doing starch.
Two years.
A lot of the kids that go
to culinary school
graduate and they come
into the industry
and they think
they're gonna walk in
somewhere and be the chef.
You ever heard,
"You gotta crawl
before you walk"?
Yeah.
[Jacob] Sometimes you gotta
peel asparagus
before you can grill.
[Zane] If I would work,
you know, at a restaurant,
I'll have to start
from the bottom.
So I'll basically
just be the bottom feed fish,
which is a little terrifying.
I'm not someone
who necessarily likes
to be bossed around
a whole lot,
and, like, to be
the lackey, I guess.
Whereas at culinary school,
we're all the same.
We're gonna serve a duo plate.
So there's gonna be
two proteins.
Beef tenderloin,
and then we're also gonna
have a seared salmon.
You wanna do
some tenderloins?
[Zane] Sure, sure, let's see.
[Jacob] You're gonna
follow me.
Tenderloin
is the most expensive piece
of the cow.
This is anywhere
from about 30 to 40 bucks
a pound.
If you mess up
the chef's tenderloin,
he's not gonna let you
cut tenderloin again.
-[Zane] No pressure,
no pressure.
-[Jacob] No pressure.
You see this big line of fat?
It goes right through the top.
That needs to come off.
[Zane] I mean,
I've done a few briskets,
but never this.
Cleaning one of these
is very similar
to breaking down a brisket.
If I follow my fingers
down right here,
-I can pull away
most of that fat.
-[Zane] Just like a brisket.
[Jacob] That's the scene.
Just like a brisket, brother.
Beef tenderloin,
you're looking at charging
somebody at least 60 bucks
for a six-ounce portion.
You wanna make sure
that we're not giving them
anything that will hurt
their experience.
Yeah.
Pretty much once we have it
cleaned to here,
we just go through
and we cut out steaks.
[Zane] Okay.
That's a lot different
than what I'm used to.
I have a lot
to learn and experience
in the restaurant industry.
Different cuisines,
different techniques.
[Jacob] We also need
a piece of salmon.
As far as
getting into this industry,
what's your dream?
[Zane] My dream is to open up
a fine dining restaurant,
you know.
Hopefully get
some Michelin stars.
[Jacob] It's all
about the dream.
Generally
in fine dining restaurants,
that's when you're getting
in your whole fish.
Yeah.
This piece right here,
in fine dining,
that's gonna be your special
for the night.
You're gonna use that belly.
After you clean
all this white stuff off,
you're gonna shallow poach it.
-Now our salmon over here,
I left the skin on it.
-[Zane] Ooh.
[Jacob] It really works
as a good barrier
between the heat
and the flesh of the fish.
[Zane] Jacob
had the experience.
He was just confident,
he knows the timing mentally.
That's years of just doing it.
[Jacob] We'll flip it
and just lightly cook
the bottom.
Maybe experience is worth more
than training.
You ever worked
with fish before?
Um, barely. I mean, I kind of
just fell in love with it
when I was working
with it, so
But I like doing a lot more
technical stuff.
I just feel like
it's more fulfilling for me.
-Right.
-I feel more cool, I guess.
What age
did you start cooking?
Like, how old were you?
-I started cooking
in high school.
-Oh, yeah?
Competition cooking.
I really didn't know
what I wanted to do.
What I found was that
everyone in the kitchen,
we work so long,
we work so hard together,
we almost become
like a family.
-[Zane] Yeah, yeah.
-You know?
I feel the same thing.
In competitions, you know,
we may be
yelling at each other,
but the end of the day,
we spend 12 hours together
at times, so, yeah, it is.
You just kinda have, like,
a special bond, I don't know.
I agree.
The most important thing
about going to culinary school
is to not let that
get your head big.
-Yeah.
-You know what I mean?
-The most important thing
is all about staying humble.
-Yeah.
You can learn something
from everybody.
The more you're able
to move on and continue
to grow and do in a kitchen,
like if you finish
the vegetable prep list
in five hours,
they're gonna let you
do some starch.
If there's nothing
to do on starch,
you might get a swing
at protein today, you know?
So it's all about being able
to manage that and look ahead
in the industry.
[Zane]Starting in a restaurant
gets you through the door
immediately.
They can kind of train you
their way,
and you can
kind of rise the ranks
a little faster
at a specific restaurant,
but you lack
culinary training,
you don't have those
certain certifications.
Culinary school,
it teaches you the basics
of all the cooking styles.
[Jacob] All right.
So this is it. How do we
make it nice?
Fine dining, right?
Taste and look good.
The pressure
of senior year's setting in.
My whole life's adding up.
Uh, I don't know
what to do next.
[Jacob] It's a little bit
of a challenge, right?
And then, you know,
adulthood colliding.
I like the way this looks.
-[Jacob] It's
coming together, right?
-Yeah.
-[Jacob] Wanna make
500 of them tomorrow?
-[sheepishly] Mmm
[Zane]What is really nagging at me
is there's still lot of things
that I need to learn.
The hardest decision
is definitely
whether or not
I go to culinary school
or straight
into the restaurant industry.
Any decision I make
is gonna have a huge impact
on the rest of my life.
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01x04 - Decisions, Decisions
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Across Texas, teens compete in regional BBQ competitions for a shot at the state championship and scholarships.
Across Texas, teens compete in regional BBQ competitions for a shot at the state championship and scholarships.