For Southerners, food is not only a major part of everyday life, but it is a culture in and of itself. While the South is synonymous with soul food, there are creative chefs and cooks throughout the region who bring something unique to the table. For Alabamians, one of the best-known of these is James Beard award-winning chef Adam Evans of Automatic Seafood & Oysters.

Having garnered a dedicated following of fresh seafood lovers in Birmingham and beyond, Chef Evans prides himself on providing locals with some of the best seafood in the South. It was through his acclaimed restaurant, Automatic, that he received the opportunity to share his culinary sense with viewers across the nation on Barbecue: Life of Fire.

“Legendary pitmaster Pat Martin takes us on a food adventure, embedding himself with the grillmasters and pitmasters who have mastered the uniquely American tradition of BBQ as they share their stories and local cooking traditions,” Tastemade shares of the exciting new show.

Pat Martin is one of Evans’ long-time patrons and the driving force behind his starring role in a recent episode. Evans cites Martin’s insistence on creating something raw and real as one of the most notable forces behind the show’s success. The episode follows the duo as they set out to spearfish off the shores of Destin, Florida.

When asked by Martin if he had ideas for his episode, Evans was emphatic. “I knew exactly what we should do for the show, and he was completely on board with it.”

Evans was interested in showing the process of sourcing the seafood that stars in his award-winning dishes at Automatic while also giving insight into the reality of the industry. “It was an inside look at how this guy harvested fish for us in a different way, thinking about fish in a different way, and trying to uncover some myths about fish and the fishing industry.”

He speaks highly of the experience and the opportunity to offer perspective around the reality of what it takes to bring his dishes to life. He truly cherished the opportunity to be a part of the procuring process. “It’s not every day that you get to see firsthand a guy swimming down and spear catching fish—and lots of it. You get to see the quality and how it’s cooked and all done over live fire,” Evans concludes.

Catch another well-known and well-loved Alabama name in tonight’s episode of Barbecue: Life of Fire on Tastemade as Roscoe Hall showcases the best of barbecue. Tastemade is available through major streaming platforms, including Amazon
FireTV, DirectTV, Google TV, YouTubeTV, and more.