Andy Husbands is an award-winning pitmaster who began developing his own style of cooking upon opening Boston’s Tremont 647 in 1996 and later, Sister Sorel. His latest venture, The Smoke Shop, pays homage to his extensive background in the competitive barbecue circuit. His honest, approachable fare makes Smoke Shop Boston Magazine's "Best Barbecue Restaurant," and the restaurant has been praised in The Boston Globe, Wine Spectator, Star Chefs, and more. After three decades in the restaurant industry, Husbands serves as one of Boston's most celebrated culinary leaders and foremost authority on regional Barbecue. He competed on FOX Television Network’s fiery Hell’s Kitchen and is internationally-recognized for his BBQ team, IQUE BBQ, which became the first New England team to win the World Champions of BBQ title in 2009 at the Jack Daniels World Championship in Tennessee. Husbands is an active board member of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, which named him the 2014 Chef of the Year and a Rodman Celebration Restaurant Chair. He has also co-authored several cookbooks, including Pitmaster, Wicked Good BBQ, Wicked Good Burgers, Grill to Perfection,and The Fearless Chef.

Chris Hart, winner of the Jack Daniel Invitational World Championship in 2009, has dominated the competition BBQ circuit for the past 10 years with his team, IQUE. The team was the first group of Northerners in barbecue history to win a World Championship. Chris spends his days developing software, but his passion for cooking barbecue has him following the competition BBQ trail on weekends, pitting his talents against the best pitmasters in the U.S. Chris has cooked multiple barbecue tasting dinners at the James Beard House in NYC. He has appeared on the TV show BBQ Pitmasters, and is a Food Network Chopped Champion. He is coauthor of Pitmaster, Wicked Good Barbecue, Wicked Good Burgers, and Grill to Perfection.