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Tennessee State University alumni Shaticka Robinson won big on Netflix's ‘Barbecue Showdown'.
Robinson, a Nashville native brought a winning flavor to the culinary world by being crowned the champion of Season 3 of Netflix's “Barbecue Showdown.” The eight-episode series, which premiered on July 4th, featured nine top barbecue masters competing in intense cooking challenges.
Hosted by comedian and actress Michelle Buteau, with chefs Kevin Bludso and Melissa Cookston serving as judges, Robinson claimed the champion title. With her victory, she got to take home a cash prize of $50,000 and a 48″ deluxe lang barbecue smoker, a great reward for her talent and dedication to barbecue.
Her journey in barbecuing and cooking started long before her rise to fame on Netflix. Learning to barbecue from her dad, Robinson never expected that smoking meat would lead to her path to fame. Back in Nashville, she is well-known for her successful business Coley’s Jook Junt.
During the height of the pandemic in 2020, Robinson started Coley’s Jook Junt as an at-home catering business, delivering meals to her friends, family, and neighbors in Hendersonville who were missing their usual dinners out. What began as an act of kindness quickly became a thriving journey. As word spread, her business evolved from a small service into a popular and loved local business, offering full barbecue feasts to her community.
For Robinson, barbecue was more than just a skill; it was deeply rooted in her upbringing. “Barbecue is like community. It’s like family,” Robinson said in an interview with The Tennessean. “It’s that feeling of whenever the summer came, I knew that I was going to see all my family because we're going to have tons of different cookouts.”
In 2022, she took her business to the next level by purchasing a food truck and bringing Coley’s Jook Junt on the road. Even while managing her role as executive chef at Tennessee State University, she stayed committed to growing Coley’s Jook Junt.
In the finale of “Barbecue Showdown”, Netflix turned the kitchens into mini versions of Robinson’s and her competitor’s dream restaurants. Robinson’s setup proudly displayed a wooden sign across the front, with “Coley’s Jook Junt” written in vibrant blue letters. “To see that, it was the most amazing feeling ever. It visually makes it so real, like: ‘Oh, this can happen,’” Robinson said.
Now, with the prize money from the “Barbecue Showdown” and the title of champion, Robsion is ready to expand and bring her business to new heights, as she plans to dedicate herself full-time to Coley’s. “I'm going to make myself available to where people are able to come out and enjoy my food and what I do, and hopefully, to grow this into where you can see Coley’s as a brick-and-mortar,” Robinson shared.
