Steel Pioneer Fire Cooking Marks First Year With Ribbon Cutting

At Steel Pioneer Fire Cooking, dinner does not begin with the turn of a stove knob.

It begins with flame.

There is heat to manage, smoke to watch, food to move at the right moment and a meal that depends as much on instinct as instruction. That is the experience Chef David Hussey has spent the past year building on Stanley Road in Trenton, where his live-fire cooking school has turned open flames, local ingredients and outdoor cooking into a growing Dade County business.

Steel Pioneer Fire Cooking marked its one-year anniversary Friday, July 10, with an official ribbon cutting. The event, held with the Alliance for Dade, came one year after Hussey opened the business and began welcoming guests to learn how to cook over fire like a chef.

For Hussey, the timing of the ribbon cutting was intentional.

When Steel Pioneer first opened, he said, the business was already operating, but the full indoor-outdoor setup had not yet reached what he had in mind.

“When I originally opened, I had a bunch of stuff I still wanted to do,” Hussey said. “Obviously my business is an indoor-outdoor business, so the food preparation is indoors, and then the food is cooked outdoors.”

Because of that, Hussey said he waited on the formal ribbon cutting until the business felt more complete. As the anniversary approached, he and his wife decided to combine the milestone with the ceremony.

“I was talking to my wife, and I was like, why don’t I just do it when we’re going to have our one-year anniversary?” Hussey said. “So I just kind of killed two birds with one stone.”

The result is a celebration not just of a new business opening, but of one that has already made it through its first year.

Hussey said the year has gone quickly, but the business has been strong.

Steel Pioneer Fire Cooking offers scheduled classes, private classes, team-building events and private chef experiences. Guests learn techniques for cooking over wood fire, from building and managing the fire to preparing ingredients and cooking full meals outdoors. The business’s current schedule includes classes such as wood-fired pizza, knife skills, Argentine barbecue and street tacos cooked over fire.

The classes are designed for a range of guests, including couples, families, groups of friends, food lovers, outdoor enthusiasts and people who simply want to become more confident cooks. Some classes focus on a specific meal or cuisine, while others teach practical kitchen skills.

Hussey said private classes and private chef work have been some of the strongest parts of the business during its first year. Often, he said, people attend a scheduled class, enjoy the experience and then ask about bringing family members, friends or coworkers back for a private event.

The next step, he said, is continuing to build the public class schedule.

“The next 12 months, I’m really working hard on the scheduled classes,” Hussey said. “The classes that anyone can book.”

Those scheduled classes are usually offered about twice a week, though Hussey said attendance can vary. Some weeks fill quickly. Other weeks are slower. Part of the work now, he said, is continuing to introduce Steel Pioneer to people in Chattanooga and the surrounding region while staying rooted in Dade County.

That local connection matters to Hussey.

He and his wife moved from New York City to Dade County in February 2025, a major change from city life to a rural community where many families have deep roots. Hussey, an English chef from Sheffield, said the welcome they received made an impression.

“Everyone’s been so great and lovely to us,” he said. “We really love being part of the Dade community.”

That is also reflected in how he runs the business. Hussey said he buys much of his produce from within Dade County for his classes, and the business also lists regional suppliers and partners including Iron Root Pastures, Dyer Livestock Beef and Quail Run Farm.

For Hussey, that is part of the point. He said he does not want Steel Pioneer to simply take the look and feel of rural life and sell it as an experience. He wants the business to be part of the place where it operates.

“It’s very important to me to be part of the community that I get my produce from, and where I live,” Hussey said, rather than “cherry picking what I want from the rural community.”

That has been part of the appeal of Steel Pioneer Fire Cooking during its first year. The business is part cooking class, part meal, part outdoor gathering and part controlled encounter with one of the oldest ways people have ever cooked food.

The fire adds theater, but it also adds discipline. Food can char, smoke, sear or burn. Guests are not just watching a demonstration from a safe distance. They are learning to work with heat that shifts and moves.

Hussey brings more than three decades of culinary experience to that setting. His background includes restaurant kitchens, corporate catering and award-winning work as a chef before he and his wife settled in Dade County and built Steel Pioneer on their rural property.

The business has already drawn strong reviews. Hussey said Steel Pioneer received more than 65 five-star Google reviews in its first year, something he called notable for a new business.

The one-year mark gives Hussey a chance to look back at what has been built, but much of his attention is still on what comes next: more classes, more private events and more people gathering around the fire.

Anyone interested in registering for classes can find the schedule and booking information through the Steel Pioneer Fire Cooking website at steelpioneerfirecooking.com. The business also shares updates on Facebook and Instagram. Guests may also call or text (929) 735-7467 for class information.

After one year, Hussey said the success of the business and the support from the community have made the milestone meaningful.

“Just being a year in, it’s gone super fast,” he said. “The business being successful and being embraced by the community — it’s a huge deal.”