Calgary restaurant owners John Jackson and Connie DeSousa are taking their barbecue talents to the small screen in a competition that will reward the winner $50,000.
Jackson and DeSousa are the owners of a number of Calgary restaurants, but it was their experience cooking with live fire, or over a wood fire or charcoal, that got them noticed for the Food Network competition show Pitmasters.
The pair were approached by the American network to join the competition that sees Pitmasters, or chefs of cooking over live fire, cook over a 24-hour period.
DeSousa, who is also known as the “ballerina butcher,” and Jackson have specialized in cooking over a fire, particularly meat.
“We’ve been working on live fire for multiple years, and that part of it I feel is our biggest strength, being not only chefs, but being butchers,” said Jackson.
Calgarians are invited to Charbar Mondays at 7 p.m. to watch the show. The pair can’t give away much, only saying people will have to watch to see how they did.
“We were very excited, especially for the opportunity to compete together because this is actually a team challenge,” DeSousa said. “So there’s nine competing teams, and all of us are competing for $50,000.”
Prior to filming, DeSousa and Jackson didn’t know their competitors, but they all knew each other.
“It’s the elite pitmasters and live fire teams that we’re going up against and we’re the only Canadians,” Jackson explained.
The pair said their unique relationship helped them to stand out and adapt to cooking in a Utah desert with hardwoods such as oak, when they typically use birch in their Calgary restaurants.
The SAIT graduates started working together soon after DeSousa graduated, moving around Canada and the U.S., before returning to Calgary to open Charcut in downtown Calgary. Since then they have opened another Charcut in University District, Connie and John’s Pizza and Charbar in East Village.
Connie DeSousa cooking lamb over live fire on an Argentine cross.
“John and I have worked together since 1999 and we know everything about each other’s sentences all the time,” DeSousa said. “We’re always in each other’s heads. So it’s that really cohesive culinary chemistry together that works 100 per cent in our favour.”
Calgary chefs were unknowingly training for grueling competition
For teams that went through to the next round, it was another 24 hours of preparing and cooking for the judges. The entire competition spanned six days.
DeSousa said they were not intimidated by the 24-hour format of the show, which tested their physical and mental stamina. She compared it to the reality show Survivor, where people have to get by in difficult conditions with little sleep or resources.
Last year, the business partners and friends ran the New York City Marathon together, and they also prioritize each other’s mental well-being.
Connie DeSousa and John Jackson holding their medals just after completing the New York City marathon in 2025.
“The good thing is Connie and I are really at good points in our life when it comes to our mental and physical health,” Jackson said. “We are in great shape. We also really look out for each other’s mental health. When each say I’m down, Connie will help bring me up. We take turns. So I feel like being at this point in our lives, both mentally and physically so fit, I think that that’s another advantage.”
That doesn’t mean that cooking non-stop wasn’t tiring.
“It was one of the hardest things we’ve ever done,” DeSousa said. “We were so exhausted, but we are really proud of the show and what we featured on it.”
Friendships struck will bring Michelin Star chefs to Calgary
Although the Calgarians started as the odd ones out, they soon made friends with their fellow Pitmasters, whom they continue to talk to on a group chat now that the show is over.
DeSousa and Jackson said they plan to invite their new Pitmaster friends to Calgary.
“We will be hosting a Michelin star barbeque series where we bring the chefs to Calgary and work with them in our restaurants.”
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