Bryan furman

pitmaster/owner

 

Bryan Furman may be an expert Pitmaster, but he has also mastered the art of the pivot in 2020. Furman is collaborating with several of his friends for a series of Pitmaster Pop-Ups at different locations and restaurants throughout the southeast. In addition to the Pitmaster Pop-Ups, there will be an opportunity for customers to pre-order items online from a limited menu ahead of the Pop-Ups.  According to Furman, “Our old customers are looking for a way to order for parties and family get togethers. For instance, we have one family who wanted 24 briskets – we simply can’t produce that on the spot, but with the pre-order lead time, we can have everything prepared for pick-up at the Pop-Ups.”

 

As 2019 was a bittersweet year for Furman, the sweet: being named one of Food & Wine Magazine’s 2019 Best New Chefs (the first Pitmaster to ever receive the title), also receiving a 2019 James Beard Foundation semifinalist nomination for Best Chef Southeast and opening a location in the new State Farm Arena in Atlanta – home to the Atlanta Hawks. The bitter for Furman was losing his Atlanta restaurant to a tragic fire in March 2019.

 

Furman’s story is unique in that he left his day job as a welder to pursue cooking his signature-style pit smoked barbeque, chicken, brisket and ribs. What began as an idea to celebrate his daughter’s first birthday in 2010 by roasting a whole hog for family and friends turned into catering and filling order requests from his co-workers.

Bryan Furman BBQ is well known for their award-winning standards in all categories of barbecue and because of Furman’s insistence on raising and using Heritage hogs. Along with his careful selection of woods for smoking and making his own side dishes using locally sourced, fresh Georgia Grown produce with a blend of unique ingredients.

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Furman was recently featured on CBS Saturday Morning’s The Dish and named Atlanta’s BBQ King. Southern Living magazine selected Bryan Furman BBQ as one of “The South’s Top 50 Barbecue Joints 2018 and the New York Times recently mentioned that Bryan Furman BBQ is the only barbecue restaurant in Atlanta turning out whole-hog barbeque with heirloom-breed hogs.