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Dominique Leach | |
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| Born | |
| Education | Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago |
| Culinary career | |
| Cooking style | Barbecue |
Current restaurant(s)
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Dominique Leach is the owner and chef of Lexington Betty's Smokehouse in Chicago. She has been featured on food television programs, including Chopped , Fire Masters , and BBQ Brawl .
Leach was born in Chicago and grew up in Humboldt Park by a single mother. While her mother did not have much time to cook, Leach experienced her grandmother's cooking during twice-annual visits. [1] Her grandmother, Betty King, was from Lexington, Missouri, inspiring the name of the restaurant. [2]
After graduating from high school at sixteen, Leach attended culinary school at the Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago, graduating in 2006. [1] [2] She found that, as a Black, queer woman, she often had to work harder than her peers. [1] In October 2006, she began working at the Renaissance Hotel Chicago and worked her way from grill cook to kitchen supervisor in 2007. [3]
In 2008, Leach went to work at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she worked with Raghavan Iyer. [4] [2] While sous chef at the Art Institute of Chicago, she decided to leave to take a lower-paying job working under Tony Mantuano and Sarah Grueneberg at Spiaggia. [5] She was invited to work with Mantuano at the pop-up restaurant at the US Open, where she was offered a role in banquets at Spiaggia. [3] In 2011, Leach left to work at a Chicago off-premise catering company and then worked as executive chef at Zelda's Kosher Catering. [1] Wanting to begin her own catering company, Leach went on to work as a line cook at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago to give her the time to develop her own company. [3]
In 2016, Leach and her wife, Tanisha Griffin, started a company, “Cater to You Events & Drop Offs,” catering parties and weddings. [4] However, they struggled to build a following. After hearing Ludacris talk about building his career by starting with the Black and urban community, Leach decided to try doing the same, by opening a barbecue restaurant. [1]
In June 2017, Leach purchased a food truck. However, after just a few months, the truck was set on fire in front of her home. [1] [6] Griffin left her career to help Leach rebuild, and friends and family supported the couple as they moved from their homes at the police's recommendation. [1]
In 2018, Leach and Griffin replaced the food truck. [1] The next year, they gained popularity following a live cooking demo in the WGN America studios. In September, 2019, they opened a physical location in Galewood. [1] A few months later, as part of a pilot project promoting Black-owned businesses, they opened a stall at the OneEleven food hall. [1] When two other residents left OneEleven due to the pandemic, Lexington Betty expanded into the space. [1] In August 2020, they opened a location in the medical district. [7] In 2022, they opened a South Side location. [8] She also opened a product line selling Wagyu hot dog franks. [5]
Lexington Betty's local and national success gained Leach the title of "pitmaster". [1]
Leach has been featured in food television programs.