Dominique Leach

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.

• 2021: Toon In with Me^{[citation needed]}
• 2021: Chopped, contestant^[1]
• 2022: Fire Masters, judge and contestant^[1][9]
• 2023: BBQ Brawl, contestant, winner ("Master of Cue")^[8][5]