Rasshad Brown comes to Big City BBQ with more than fifteen years of professional culinary experience, and is considered one of the finest "soul food" chefs in the nation.

Rasshad's training began with a culinary degree from Metro Tech in 1990 where he won a Silver Medal in the Culinary Skill Olympics, beating out representatives from other regional culinary programs, including the famous Cordon Bleu program.

Big City BBQ is the first ownership position Rasshad has taken in a restaurant, having built a successful Phoenix BBQ chain from the ground up to multiple locations, plus top-level experience as an Executive Chef at two Phoenix resorts, the Seville Country Club and the Raven Country Club.  Rasshad also comes to Big City with corporate restaurant experience, most recently working in kitchen management at Buca di Beppo which grew from one restaurant to more than 100 in less than a decade.

Rasshad is active in the culinary community and was recently nominated by his peers as one of the top 100 chefs in the world on the Chef2Chef Culinary Portal.  Rasshad is an active member of the American Culinary Federation, participating both in the Resort and Country Club chapters, and in regional chapters.

Rasshad's unique understanding of "soul food" spices, techniques, and recipes comes from years of travel to the South, tasting and experimenting with flavors in Memphis, Kansas City, Atlanta, Oklahoma City, and BBQ restaurants throughout Texas. Rasshad's diverse career also includes experience in several international kitchens, including the development and preparation of Italian, Mexican Fusion, and Seafood cuisines, and working in a French restaurant which was named one of the Top 100 Restaurants in the World by Food and Wine Magazine.

While working as an Executive Chef in the Phoenix resort business, Rasshad appeared twice on "Let's Do Lunch" on Fox Channel 10 in Phoenix, and has been interviewed by the Arizona Republic and the East Valley Tribune.

Rasshad manages the Big City BBQ kitchen and catering operations with the assistance of two other chefs that he has known and worked with for many years.  Segmund "Seg" McClain is in charge of the smoked meats, orchestrating them through various stages of preparation, including the rub stage (48 hours) and the smoking and cooking stages (12 hours).  Edwin Frazer is in charge of Soul Food, including the daily preparation of more than a dozen authentic Southern side dishes and deserts.

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