Shaticka Robinson emerges as Nashville's new culinary star

The greatest compliment lunch-goers can pay to a food truck is to start lining up before the window slides open.

Flashback: At Coley's Jook Junt , one of the city's buzziest food trucks, the line was 15 deep on a Friday last month before they started serving at 11am.

• A DJ spinning pop and R&B tracks set the mood and drowned out the growling stomachs of Coley's hungry fans.

Why it matters: The reason for the hype is Coley's owner/chef/pitmaster Shaticka Robinson , who has all the makings of Nashville's next culinary star.

The big picture: Robinson won the most recent season of Netflix's popular food competition series "Barbecue Showdown."

• Robinson has the kind of upbeat attitude that makes for a compelling reality TV contestant. Her joyful approach to cooking made Robinson an easy contestant to root for on "Barbecue Showdown," where she punched past some of the best pitmasters in the country to take first place.
• But the only way to find out if the food is as good as the judges said is to get in line at the Antioch parking lot where her food truck is often stationed.

The verdict: Robinson specializes in putting an upscale spin on traditional barbecue dishes.

• Her trademark dish is oxtail, in which she combines the smoky flavors of Southern barbecue with the savory spices of the popular Jamaican entree.
• Everything from smoked gouda mac-and-cheese to the tangy fried cabbage fits Robinson's description of "Bougie Barbecue," which she showcases through a dedicated Instagram page .

Catch up quick: By winning "Barbecue Showdown," Robinson cemented herself as a name to watch. But there was a point when she was frustrated with her career in food and briefly gave it all up.

• Robinson began cooking when she was 7. She calls the kitchen her "happy place."
• After culinary school, she landed gigs at Gaylord Opryland and other hotels where she learned fine dining, but Robinson had higher aspirations. "I always had dreams of being an executive chef, not just a line cook or in the kitchen."
• "It was so hard to move up to bigger positions," she said, describing her struggle to land a leadership role. Discouraged, she left the food industry and worked briefly as a mail carrier and in a corporate job with Lyft.

The intrigue: Returning to food, she became sous chef and then executive chef at Tennessee State University, where she worked until recently.

• By winning the show, Robinson showed she can write her own ticket.
• "I'm just hoping to turn Coley's and Bougie Barbecue into my food empire," she says.

What she's saying: Robinson said it was challenging to keep the secret that she was picked for the Netflix show. After winning, Robinson had to keep quiet about that as well.

• Now that the news is out, Robinson is becoming a bit of a celebrity.
• "I feel extremely loved and thankful for all the people in the world who have been reaching out to me," she tells Axios. "All the great messages I've been receiving from people in the U.S., in Brazil, in Germany, in the U.K. I've watched shows my whole life, but to be a part of something where people say they feel inspired — I'm full of gratitude."

Nate here: After watching the show and then eating at Robinson's food truck, I was struck by her love of oxtails at a time when brisket rules the barbecue world. At the end of our interview, I had to ask Robinson, "What is it with you and oxtails?"

• Robinson laughed at the question, then gushed: "I love Jamaica. There was once a time where oxtails were super cheap. They're super delicious, most of the time people just braise them. The flavors that Jamaica has with their oxtails is just something I love. I wanted to do a smoked oxtail and then still add all those flavors of Jamaica. Just adding a deeper flavor with the smoke and the Caribbean vibe."
• "They're like a delicacy now. Everyone wants oxtails now."

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