Chef
Dean Sample
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Sankt Veit am Vogau, Austria
i. Biography
Corporate Executive Chef at Burgess Restaurant Group in Indianapolis since 2025, Dean Sample’s career is built less on speed than on accumulation: formal training, repeated service, and increasing responsibility. The line from The Art Institutes into Meridian Restaurant, Big Bear Biscuits, tavern service, and now group leadership reads as a practical apprenticeship, with each stop expanding the range of kitchens he could run and the number of people he could lead.
The Climb
Training at The Art Institutes gave Dean Sample the base from which his later roles could stack. At Meridian Restaurant, where he served as Executive Chef from 2014–2016, the work would have depended on precision and consistency, the daily controls that separate a capable line from a dependable kitchen. From 2016–2021 at The Northside Social, that leadership held long enough to settle into the restaurant’s rhythm, with years of service that point to trust as much as continuity. The step into ownership at Big Bear Biscuits, where he served as Executive Chef and owner from 2021–2022, moved the role beyond the pass and into the business itself. At FoxGardin Kitchen & Ale, he served as Executive Chef from 2022–2023, keeping the same measured pace: adapt to a new room, establish standards, carry the line. Bonge's Tavern and Burgess Restaurant Group now show the two scales of his current work. Since 2023, Dean has served as Executive Chef of Bonge's Tavern; since 2025, he has also served as Corporate Executive Chef of Burgess Restaurant Group. One position is tied to a single house; the other stretches across a group, where the job becomes coordination, consistency, and repeatable execution across more than one kitchen.
Today
Since 2025, he has served as Corporate Executive Chef for Burgess Restaurant Group in Indianapolis, Indiana. The role places Dean Sample in a wider operational frame, where oversight extends beyond one dining room and into the standards, timing, and decisions that move across a restaurant group. It is a natural extension of the same discipline shown in his earlier chef roles: build the work, keep it steady, and carry it forward.
Signature
Dean's signature dishes include pork soup dumpling. The dish reflects the same kind of control that runs through his career: technical discipline, comfort, and a detail that gives the plate staying power.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Dean
What is Dean Sample's current role?
As of 2026, Dean Sample is Corporate Executive Chef.
Where did Dean Sample train or study?
Dean Sample trained at The Art Institutes.
What recognition has Dean Sample received?
Superior Chef Award (2026).
