Jesse Griffiths — Dai Due, Austin Texas | Live Fire Podcast

In this episode of Live Fire, LC sits down with chef, author, and teacher Jesse Griffiths, the Austin-based chef behind Dai Due, one of the most influential restaurants in the modern American food movement.

Jesse has built his career around a simple but radical idea: if you want to truly understand food, you have to understand where it comes from. That philosophy has led him deep into the worlds of whole-animal butchery, hunting, wild game cookery, and hyper-local sourcing, and into the pages of his acclaimed cookbooks Afield and The Hog Book.

But this conversation goes far beyond recipes. LC and Jesse explore the deeper questions that sit at the heart of cooking:

 • What responsibility do we have to the animals we eat?

• How does learning to hunt or butcher change the way we cook? • Why are old culinary skills disappearing — and who is bringing them back?

• What does it mean to truly cook with the land around you? Like many conversations in Season One of Live Fire, this episode looks at food not just as cuisine, but as craft, culture, and connection. Season One of Live Fire is building toward Lockhart Rising — May 9, 2026, a gathering of some of the most thoughtful voices in barbecue and live-fire cooking in Lockhart, Texas, the barbecue capital of the world.

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Topics Covered 

• Jesse Griffiths’ journey from young cook to chef and author

• The philosophy behind Dai Due and cooking from the local ecosystem • Why whole-animal butchery changes the way chefs think about food

• Hunting, ethics, and the responsibility of cooking wild game • The role of mentorship and teaching in preserving culinary traditions

• Cookbooks, knowledge, and the importance of culinary history

• Building restaurants and kitchens with intention and culture

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Jesse Griffiths is the chef and owner of Dai Due in Austin, Texas, a restaurant widely known for its commitment to local sourcing and whole-animal cookery. He is the author of several celebrated cookbooks including The Hog Book and Afield: A Chef’s Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish.

Through his cooking classes, writing, and restaurant, Jesse has become one of the leading voices in the movement to reconnect modern cooks with the land and traditions that shape American food.