Beloved Texas Pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz Is Starring in ‘Chef’s Table’

The next iteration of Netflix’s critically acclaimed documentary food series Chef’s Table is taking a deep look at barbecue around the world. Smartly, Chef’s Table: BBQ is dedicating its premiere episode to Texas pitmaster extraordinaire Tootsie Tomanetz of Lexington barbecue spot Snow’s BBQ.

The trailer, which was released today, features snippets of Tomanetz, who has worked in barbecue for over 50 years and had opened Snow’s with owner Kerry Bexley in 2003, working the pits and interacting with customers. “I can’t tell you how hot my pits are,” she says, “because I feel ‘em with my hands. It’s just something I do.” Coworker and fellow pitmaster Clay Cowgill described her as one of the “hardest working people I’ve ever met.”

Tomanetz was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2018. She is also a two-time James Beard semifinalist in 2018 and 2020. Snow’s was named the best barbecue restaurant in the state by Texas Monthly in 2017 (the next update is coming in 2021). This isn’t the first time she has been featured on video, either. There was her appearance in Central Texas barbecue documentary For the Love of Meat, which premiered in 2015, as well as a Yeti video in 2016.

During the novel coronavirus pandemic, Snow’s, which is typically open on Saturdays, is currently closed to in-person pickups and dine-in service. However, the restaurant is shipping its meats nationally.

Netflix [Official]

Each Chef’s Table: BBQ episode will center on a different barbecue restaurant around the world. Other featured pitmasters include Australian chef Lennox Hastie of live-fire restaurant Firedoor, James Beard Award-winning South Carolina whole-hog pitmaster Rodney Scott, and Yaxunah, Mexico chef Rosalia Chay Chuc, who focuses on cooking cochinita pibil in the Mayan tradition.

Take a look at Chef’s Table: BBQ’s full trailer below. The series premieres on Wednesday, September 2. There are four episodes all together, each 45-minutes long.

Chef’s Table first premiered in 2015 on the streaming service from director David Gelb (who also directed the lauded documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi), highlighting restaurants and chefs around the world.

• Chef’s Table: BBQ [Netflix]
• All Coverage of Snow’s BBQ [EATX]
• All Coverage of Chef’s Table [E]