About the Class

This immersive two-day barbecue experience is designed for cooks, chefs, and serious BBQ enthusiasts who want to move beyond recipes and into repeatable, professional-level barbecue systems.

Led by Certified Master Chef Rich Rosendale, this class explores live-fire cooking through the lens of culinary science, technique, and process control. Hosted at FORKLIFT, Rosendale’s boutique cooking school and state-of-the-art culinary lab in Leesburg, VA, the program focuses on how successful barbecue programs are built, standardized, and executed with consistency.

This is not a backyard BBQ class.
This is barbecue taught with chef-level discipline and systems thinking.

What You’ll Experience

Participants will work with and observe multiple smoker platforms, including:

• Commercial Ole Hickory smoker

• Big Green Egg

• Gateway drum smoker

Chef Rosendale breaks down why and when to use each system, how airflow, fuel, and temperature management affect outcomes, and how to achieve consistent results across different environments—home, catering, or professional operations.

The class also includes a guided tour of the Rosendale Culinary Lab, where Chef Rosendale demonstrates the systems he uses to standardize production, implement processes, and apply culinary science to barbecue programs.

You will see how barbecue can be approached not just as craft—but as a scalable, controlled culinary operation.

Proteins, Techniques & Advanced Applications

Chef Rosendale will demonstrate proper trimming, seasoning, smoking, resting, and slicing for:

• Brisket

• Pork shoulder

• Spare ribs

• Chicken

• Smoked turkey

• Beef short ribs

• Classic BBQ sides and accompaniments

Advanced topics include:

• Rendering and processing fat into usable products such as tallow

• Applications of fat in premium meat aging and moisture retention

• Maximizing yield while minimizing waste using professional kitchen systems

You have not seen a BBQ class like this.

Chef Rosendale’s BBQ Background

Before founding FORKLIFT and Rosendale Collective, Chef Rich Rosendale led Roots 657 Restaurant for over a decade, selling the business in 2025.

Under his leadership:

• Roots 657 was featured in The Washington Post

• The Roots 657 BBQ team—trained and led by Chef Rosendale—competed in regional BBQ events and earned multiple awards

• The team achieved Grand Champion honors at the DC BBQ Bash, a competition judged by nationally recognized pitmasters, including Myron Mixon

This class reflects years of building, training, and refining award-winning barbecue programs through competition experience, restaurant execution, and culinary science.

The curriculum also incorporates knowledge influenced by respected pitmasters such as Ken Hess of County Smoak, a former guest instructor with Rosendale Collective.

Who This Class Is For

• BBQ enthusiasts ready to deepen their understanding

• Chefs and culinary professionals

• Caterers and food operators

• Anyone serious about mastering live-fire cooking with structure and intention

Whether you’re refining a backyard setup or building a professional BBQ program, this class delivers real systems, real technique, and real insight.

This two-day experience is the culmination of decades of hands-on work—restaurant leadership, competition barbecue, culinary science, and live-fire execution—brought together into one comprehensive program.

If you want to understand how great barbecue is built, managed, and repeated at a high level, this class is for you.

Location:
Forklift 
75 Lawson Rd SE STE 109, Leesburg, VA 20176

Closest Airport:
Dulles International Airport (IAD)
1 Saarinen Cir, Dulles, VA 20166

Where to Stay:
We recommend Home2 Suites by Hilton Leesburg, located just minutes away from our venue. Upon booking, we will provide instructions to access our special hotel rate.
Hotel Address: 420 Fort Evans Rd NE, Leesburg, VA 20176

How to Register:
 Call (202) 969-6010
 Email info@rosendalecollective.com

Cancellation & Refund Policy

• 120+ days prior: Full refund
• 90-119 days prior: No refund, but 100% class credit
• 60-89 days prior: 75% class credit
• 30-59 days prior: 50% class credit
• Past participants: 100% class credit

Want a class in your city? Contact info@rosendalecollective.com.

This exclusive BBQ workshop is an opportunity to learn from two of the best in the industry. Don't miss out—reserve your spot today!