Matt Abdoo & Shane McBride
Matt Abdoo is the Executive Chef & Partner of the critically-acclaimed Pig Beach BBQ restaurant collection, with new locations in Queens, NY, West Palm Beach, Florida and a new location set to open in Louisville, Kentucky (2023). He often appears as a celebrity guest or judge on Food Network programs such as Beat Bobby Flay, the Kitchen, Battle of the Brothers, Kitchen Crash, and is a frequent guest chef on NBC’s TODAY.
Both an award-winning pitmaster and classically-trained fine-dining chef, Matt Abdoo (Del Posto) first made his mark in the competitive barbecue scene at the 2015 Memphis in May World Championship, earning both the 1st Place Poultry and 2nd Place Whole Hog titles as part of team Salty Rinse—captained by future Pig Beach BBQ partner Rob Shawger—at what was their very first appearance. In 2016, team Salty Rinse joined forces with the highly-competitive team Ribdiculous Bar-B-Krewe, captained by Balthazar alum Shane McBride, to launch Pig Beach in Brooklyn. Since then, these masters of meat have continued to win big across the country, taking home the Burger Bash “People’s Choice” award at both the NYC Wine & Food Festival in 2016 and 2019, and the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in 2021, where they also won two additional “Heinz Best-Dressed Burger” titles for the veritable triple crown.
Raised in an extremely tight-knit Lebanese-Italian family in Upstate New York, Matt continues to celebrate his diverse upbringing through globally-inspired barbecue recipes and techniques. Recently, Matt and Pig Beach BBQ partner Shane McBride released the Pig Beach BBQ Cookbook: Smoked, Grilled, Roasted, and Sauced (HarperCollins May, 2022), which features more than 50 recipes.
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Shane McBride is the Director of Operations & Partner of Pig Beach BBQ restaurants with locations in Queens, NY, West Palm Beach, Florida and a new location set to open in Louisville, Kentucky (2023)
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and one of New York’s most accomplished chefs, Shane began his career in the city with esteemed chef Charlie Palmer at Aureole and later went on to work with Chef Christian Delouvier at the world-renowned Lespinasse. He subsequently partnered with Jean-Philippe Leloup to open his own star-studded restaurant, Oceo. Shane also served as executive chef at Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak for many years, which was followed by a long tenure as executive chef at the famed Soho brasserie, Balthazar.
A Southern boy at heart, Shane McBride started the competition barbeque team, Ribdiculous Bar-B-Krewe, in 2015 to satisfy his craving for some real smoky Southern barbeque in the Big Apple. What started as a hobby quickly became a fulltime passion. Eventually, with numerous 1st place BBQ competition titles under his belt, Shane left the world of haute cuisine to focus entirely on operating and expanding the Pig Beach empire.
Recently, Shane and Pig Beach BBQ partner Matt Abdoo released the Pig Beach BBQ Cookbook: Smoked, Grilled, Roasted, and Sauced (HarperCollins May, 2022), which features more than 50 recipes.
