City Barbeque welcomed Jessica Bograd to lead its culinary efforts during a time of accelerated growth. As the company’s new Senior Director of Culinary, Bograd will lead menu development, recipe and process improvement, and more.

Bograd comes to City Barbeque having served as Director of Culinary Innovation and Strategy for CSSI Culinary + Marketing, providing strategic culinary support and menu development for national brands and manufacturers including Popeye’s, Chick-Fil-A, TGI Friday’s, Inspire Brands, Focus Brands, Dine Equity, and more. Her foodservice career has been focused on culinary research, development, and innovation, making her an ideal choice for the Ohio-based barbeque concept. 

Bograd is active on the competitive barbeque circuit, where she’s served as a pitmaster on the Here4BeerBBQ Team since 2007; the team’s winnings provide scholarships to youths in Central Texas. Her competitive food credentials also include participation in the World Food Championship and Chicago Culinary Fight Club.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jess to the team as our Senior Director of Culinary—we truly could not have found a better fit for our food, our brand, or our values,” says City Barbeque CEO Mike Muldoon. “We can’t wait to see where she’ll take us.”