Jamie Samford

Executive Chef, Dallas Cowboys Stadium

Chef Jamie Samford's career in the restaurant and hospitality business includes leadership among Texas' and the United States' most prestigious culinary brands, now including the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, home of America's Team and Legends Corporation, founded by Jerry Jones and George Steinbrenner to prepare and serve all food for Cowboys Stadium guests. Legends Hospitality Management develops and serves menus reflecting the geographic differences and gourmet tastes, combined with good old fashioned American Sports Cuisine. Legends seamlessly continues the tradition of incredible food with Texas-sized hospitality, to welcome and feed guests at the New Cowboys Stadium.

Cowboys Stadium will host the NFL Super Bowl game in 2011.

Leading culinary teams in fine dining, hotel, retail and industry purveyor businesses, Chef Samford has produced results and success that have consistently made him among the highly respected members of the restaurant field. He understands the need of every individual guest, and directs high-energy teams to focus and deliver quality, on the mark, every time.

With his tremendous experience in the food and hospitality industries, Jamie Samford joins Dallas Cowboys Stadium and Legends having served as Corporate Chef of Ben E. Keith Foods-owned fine protein division Winn Meat Company, with expanded outreach to the continually growing upscale restaurant, country club and hotel business in Texas and neighboring states. Along with directing the company's product development kitchen, Samford was responsible for Winn Meat Company's sales and marketing initiatives. His vast experience in the fine dining and retail markets in Texas allows many creative approaches to menus, along with informing and educating everyone about the broad range of high-quality products, flavors and wonderful food experiences, from local and American favorites, to cuisines from cultures around the globe.

Chef Samford is a frequent favorite celebrity chef on television programs and at the Southwest's major food and wine events. Born in Charleston, West Virginia, Samford developed a passion for cooking, eating and community service from his mother. "She was a fabulous cook and loved to entertain. On one hand she had lavish table settings that were fit for the President, yet she never missed her opportunity to deliver Meals on Wheels." Always in the kitchen, Samford was able to whip up creative meals even when family members complained that there was nothing to eat in the refrigerator.

While he didn't start out in the kitchen when he began working as an adult, his talents kept bringing him back to the culinary arts. Samford applied for a chef apprenticeship through the culinary program of El Centro College with the Double Tree Lincoln Center in 1988. Samford's duties covered all kitchen stations, from banquet and fine dining to Garde Manager and dishwasher.

During his last year of apprenticeship, Samford went to school, worked at the Double Tree and studied as a line cook at the renowned Baby Routh under the tutelage of Stephan Pyles and Kevin Rathbun. He also worked under Dean Fearing at The Mansion on Turtle Creek as a lunch cook after graduation from El Centro. Samford provided his leadership skills to high profile hotel businesses in North Texas, rising quickly to Executive positions for Bristol Hotels & Resorts and the Rosewood Corporation. He soon missed the creativity and inspiration of haute cuisine and the "heat" of the kitchen. He satisfied his desire for originality as an Executive Sous Chef of the Hotel Crescent Court and Chef de Cuisine at Angeluna in Fort Worth.

In 2000, Samford was given the opportunity to open Lola, The Restaurant, in Uptown Dallas, which served New American cuisine. In the two years Samford was the Executive Chef, the establishment received rave reviews. Lola was recognized as one of the "Top 10 New Restaurants" in Dallas, a four-star restaurant by The Dallas Morning News, Texas Monthly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Dallas Observer. His recipes have been published in Food & Wine, Southern Living, Dallas Morning News and Ft. Worth Star Telegram, among others.

Samford came to Winn Meat Company having opened the famous fresh-market concept Central Market's Dallas location, as Executive Chef, where he led a 80-member culinary team in cooking restaurant-quality food in Café on the Run for the store's enormous North Texas customer base. He also helped develop recipes for Central Market and was an expert commentator for television and print news reports.

In the mid-nineties, moved by his mother's commitment to the less fortunate, Samford grabbed the opportunity to get involved with Dallas' inaugural training class for Operation Frontline, a program sponsored by Share Our Strength through the North Texas Food Bank that teaches participants how to eat healthy, economically and safely. Chef Samford enjoys giving back to the community and the hospitality industry through his efforts with numerous charities, non-profits and culinary education.

Mr Samford's free time is joyously spent being husband to his beautiful wife Carol, and a father to his children Hannah and Price, as well as his bonus children Cassie and Beau.