CHEF
MIKE
JOHNSON
Born in Biloxi and trained at the New England Culinary Institute, Mike Johnson refined his craft under Emeril Lagasse, Chicago's Charlie Trotter and Gabino Sotellino, Paris's Le Buisson D'Ardent, and Belgian Master Chef Daniel Joly in Beaver Creek, CO. Forty years in the kitchen later, he came home to St. Louis and lit it on fire.
He founded Sugarfire Smoke House in a strip mall wedged between a copy center and a pet store. Fourteen locations later, Bourdain called. The Food Network came twice. The trophies stopped fitting on one wall. He also built Hi-Pointe Drive-In, nationally acclaimed for its smash patty burgers. Anthony Bourdain personally selected Sugarfire to cater his Fox Theatre VIP reception in St. Louis.
In 2018 he broke a Guinness World Record. In 2021 he won Best Burger in the World. In 2025 he claimed the World Live Fire Championship — his second world title — and as of 2026 is competing at the WFC Final Table, the championship's ultimate round. He is a sponsored ambassador for Royal Oak Charcoal. In March 2025, following tornadoes in Florissant, Missouri, he mobilized Sugarfire as a World Central Kitchen Chef Corps member to feed storm victims. When he is not behind the pit, he is somewhere in the world. This year he ran with the bulls in Pamplona for the fourth time. He speaks three languages and keeps finding reasons to use them.
Mike Johnson has built two world titles and 14 locations on one non-negotiable truth: the quality of your fire determines everything that follows. Royal Oak Charcoal is not a logo on his apron. It is the fuel behind every competition cook, every pit session, and every result.
When the judges' table is on the line, there is no room for variables you cannot control. Mike controls the fire. Royal Oak controls the burn. That is why this partnership exists.
Official Sponsored Ambassador