My story

My love for Texas BBQ began when I first visited Austin in 2005. While my family is from South Texas, I grew up in California on and off military bases. During that initial trip, I embarked on a BBQ journey through Texas and became enamored with the culture. I still remember my first bite of great brisket at Louie Mueller, handed to me by the legendary Bobby Mueller (RIP). From that point, I was hooked and moved to Austin in 2008. For 5 years I visited as many places as I could, getting to know the people along the way. It wasn’t until 2013 where I shared my first BBQ picture on Twitter. That led to my first feature in Texas Monthly a few months later. And as they say, the rest is history.

My interests include live fire cooking, bourbon, cigars, ranching and the people involved. I previously served on the Foodways Texas Advisory Board as President and Board Member, the Texas Distilled Spirits Association, Southern Smoke and Butcher’s Ball.

I’m a Brand Ambassador for Snake River Farms, Go Ruck, Hedley and Bennett, Lynx Grills and Fogo Charcoal while also photographing for YETI, Drew Estate, Wild Turkey, Beam and Patron to name a few. I’m also the Founder of Smoke + Mash, a social club focused on advancing the culture of smoke (BBQ, live fire cooking, cigars) and mash (spirits) through events, conversations and collaborations.

Previously, I operated multiple psychiatric hospitals as Chief Executive Officer and most recently served as Chief Operations, Financial and Sales Officer with Treaty Oak Distilling, until I decided it was time to do this full-time. I have a graduate degree in Clinical Psychology and worked as a Police Officer in California. Yes, I’ve done a lot.

My images have been featured in: 

• National Geographic, New York Times, Time, Esquire, Forbes, Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Southern Living, American Whiskey, Men’s Journal, Outside, Mr. Porter, Texas Monthly, Vogue, Robb Report, Condé Nast Traveler, Bitter Southerner, First We Feast, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Travel Channel, Vine Pair, Netflix and Eater.

Brands collaborations include:

• YETI, Snake River Farms, Nomad, Drew Estate, Stetson, 44 Farms, Hedley & Bennett, Smithfield, Pitmaker BBQ Pits, Cen-Tex Smokers, Mill Scale Metalworks, Gozney, Lynx Grills, Kamado Joe, Weber Grills, Big Green Egg, MEATER and Fogo Charcoal,

Restaurant/distillery collaborations include:

• Bangers Sausage House, Franklin Barbecue, Louis Mueller Barbecue, Shake Shack, Holy Smoke BBQ (book credit), Tuffy Stone (book credit), Diva Q (book credit), Feges BBQ, Cousin’s BBQ, Snow's BBQ, Truth BBQ, Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ, Roegel’s BBQ, Killen’s BBQ, Olamaie, Red Ash, Hutchin’s BBQ, Wright’s BBQ, Bib & Tucker, Knob Creek, Wild Turkey, Jim Beam, Patron, Garrison Bros., Still Austin, Fierce Whiskers, High West, Whistle Pig and Treaty Oak Distilling.

Let’s work on something together. I’m available for photography, social media, marketing, operations and/or financial consulting.

Cheers, 
Robert Jacob Lerma