Open Houses to Open Flames: Burt Bakman's unlikely journey to L.A. BBQ Hero

In a Minute with Evan Lovett

Audacy

Places & Travel, Society & Culture

5.0 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2026

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From pop-up to pitmaster, Burt Bakman describes his unlikely rise from realtor to one of L.A.'s most revered BBQ pitmasters. An Israeli immigrant, Burt tells us how one fateful trip to Austin inspired his beloved Trudy's Underground Barbecue, which led to Slab, and working alongside Wolfgang Puck. A true 'Only in L.A.' story with a one-of-a-kind figure. . . .and of course, there's his Daily Hummus!

Transcript

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0:00.0	You know, I was making barbecue, brisket,
0:03.6	whatever it was, and I was giving them away.
0:06.1	In open houses, I was giving, I was, I was, you know, attaching barbecue to my offers to, like,
0:13.0	whatever I can do.
0:14.3	By the way, I still do that sometimes, you know, when I have to give some,
0:17.0	when I need to sweeten the deal, I'll throw in a rack of ribs.
0:20.9	But, but that's that start, and it really took on a life of its own.
0:31.8	What is up and welcome to another episode of In a Minute with Evan Lovett.
0:37.4	And today's guest has inspired a little bit of a four-matching. welcome to another episode of In A Minute with Evan Lovett.
0:43.3	And today's guest has inspired a little bit of a format change because this is somebody I go back with personally and somebody who has a very interesting story that I want to bring out
0:49.5	a specific way in a fun format.
0:51.3	So we are going to do 10 LA questions with my guest, Bert Bachman.
0:57.3	Bert, thank you for being here. I appreciate you. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. This is amazing.
1:03.1	I love it. Absolutely. So, Bert, you may have heard of, is a kind of live in a dual life, if you will.
1:11.8	He has a day job, but then he has a real vocation that we all know him for.
1:18.6	He is a realtor slash pitmaster, one of the, I would go as far as saying, one of the most
1:25.8	legendary pitmasters in L.A. and now nationwide as well,
1:30.6	started with Trudy's underground barbecue. Slab is probably was like the certified seal that like,
1:38.8	you're like, okay, you have restaurants, like you're the real deal. And he's got new projects coming up, Trudies and Friends. Yeah. But he's just got a really good story and a good L.A. story. You know how he's like the immigrants made good story. This is what we got here. So, Bert Bachman again, welcome to the show. Amazing to be here. Love it. Thank you so much. Thank you. And again, shout out to our sponsor,
2:02.1	Ardo Brick, my man, Armin, Third Generation, L.A. American Dream Story down in Gardena,
2:07.5	fabricating tiles, bricks, all kinds of different materials in Los Angeles, doing manufacturing,
2:14.5	employing dozens of people. And you know what? It's not just any tiles and bricks.
	...

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