The Glory of Chicago-Style BBQ
Dominique Leach
We’ve all heard of the classic BBQ styles from regions like Kansas City, Memphis or Texas. But what about Chicago-style BBQ?
From rib tips to hot links to mild sauce and more, Chicago chef and pitmaster Dominique Leach of the black-women-queer-owned and award-winning restaurant Lexington Betty’s Smokehouse (plus the 2023 winner of the Food Network’s hit show BBQ Brawl), is making it her mission to further define this unique style and put it on the map in 2024.
Join us to hear Dominique discuss the origins of Chicago-style BBQ, its variations, and its future.
Biography: Known as one of the Chicago’s leading BBQ chefs, Dominique Leach is a classically trained chef turned nationally recognized pitmaster. First garnering culinary experience in some of Chicago’s most prestigious kitchens under the direction of such chef icons as Tony Mantuano at Spiaggia, and Sarah Grueneberg at Monteverde, Leach then branched out with her wife Tanisha in 2016 to create her own catering company “Cater to You Events & Drop Offs.”
Inspired by fond childhood memories of her grandmother, Betty King of Lexington, Mississippi, who filled the house with flavorful aromas of home-cooked meals, Dominique then took those aromas and applied techniques to launch a successful food truck, Lexington Betty Smoke House.
Her expertise and soulful food would earn her a spot on The Food Network’s show “Chopped” and as a judge/contestant on Food Network Canada “Fire Masters,” recognition as the “Best Barbecue in Chicago” by Good Morning America, as well as a full brick-and-mortar home for Lexington Betty on Chicago’s South Side.
Chef Leach and her wife’s persistence in a male-dominated industry have helped them to carve out a name for themselves in the culinary world in Chicago and beyond.
Recorded via Zoom on October 30, 2024
CONNECT WITH CULINARY HISTORIANS OF CHICAGO
✔ MEMBERSHIP
https://culinaryhistorians.org/membership/
✔ EMAIL LIST
http://culinaryhistorians.org/join-our-email-list/
✔ S U B S C R I B E
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Y0-9lTi1-JYu22Bt4_-9w
✔ F A C E B O O K
https://www.facebook.com/CulinaryHistoriansOfChicago
✔ PODCAST
2008 to Present
https://culinaryhistorians.org/podcasts/
By Presenter
https://culinaryhistorians.org/podcasts-by-presenter/
✔ YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Y0-9lTi1-JYu22Bt4_-9w
✔ W E B S I T E
https://www.CulinaryHistorians.org