Rodney Scott

In addition to running one of Charleston’s hottest restaurants, Rodney Scott was honored in 2018 with the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast. Scott has been cooking whole-hog barbecue over wood coals burned down from hardwood since he was in middle school. For the next 25 years he worked with his family in their BBQ stop in Hemingway, SC, until 2017 when he partnered with the Pihakis Group—including chef Paul Yeck and seasoned restaurateur, Nick Pihakis—to open Rodney Scott’s BBQ in the North Central neighborhood of Charleston, SC. In 2019 Rodney Scott’s BBQ opened a second location in Birmingham, AL, and a third location in Atlanta, GA, bringing whole-hog, South Carolina-style barbecue to a different part of the South. Rodney’s hard work, friendly manner, and respect of his peers has offered him many opportunities to travel around the world and cook alongside chefs and pitmasters in New York City, Belize, Uruguay, France, and Australia. He has been featured on popular television shows with the likes of Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain, and recently appeared on The Today Show helping Al Roker feed folks affected by devastating tornadoes in Alabama. He is also a judge on Food Network's BBQ Brawl.