“Iron Chef” winner Jeff Haskell has joined the virtual brand developer Nextbite as culinary director, the company said Tuesday.
Haskell, who served previously as culinary director for the boutique hotel chain IGC Hospitality, will lead menu development for Nextbite as it expands its virtual brand portfolio. Haskell also served as executive chef for City Winery, and Big Time Restaurant Group.
Owned by Ordermark, Denver-based Nextbite offers 10 house-brand virtual restaurants, including Firebelly Wings, Crave Burger, Miss Mazy’s Amazin’ Chicken and Grilled Cheese Society.
Nextbite is also home to two celebrity-fueled brands: HotBox by Wiz Khalifa and George Lopez Tacos, with more to come. The company said it plans to double the number of brands available by the end of the year.
“I’m thrilled to join Nextbite, with its winning combination of delicious menu items and technology that enables restaurants to thrive during these challenging times,” said Haskell in a statement. “We’re developing great tasting menu items that will drive consumer demand, but are also designed to be easy to prepare. We thoroughly test menus out in our Test Kitchen for quality of flavor and to optimize for delivery-only, and then carefully select the best new menu items for our restaurant partners.”
Working with Haskell at Nextbite is Liz Moskow as vice president of brand development, who leads the culinary team. Daniel Carpenter serves as vice president of food experience.
Nextbite/Ordermark recently announced the close of a $120 million funding round led by SoftBank.
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