James Beard Award-winning Alabama chef Adam Evans appears in TV series
For Southerners, food is not only a major part of everyday life, but 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 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, 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.”
RELATED: It’s Automatic: Alabama chef Adam Evans wins coveted James Beard Award
Tastemade says of its show, “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.”
Martin is one of Evans’ longtime 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 a main reason for the show’s success. The episode follows the two men 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,” he says.
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 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 says.
Another well-known and well-loved Alabamian recently appeared in an episode of “Barbecue: Life of Fire” as Roscoe Hall showcased his best barbecue. Tastemade is available through major streaming platforms, including Amazon Fire TV, DirectTV, Google TV and YouTubeTV.
This story originally was published on the SoulGrown website.