Convention center dining used to be shorthand for lukewarm banquet chicken and rubber-chicken punchlines. That’s exactly the reputation Joshua Moore has spent years dismantling at the Oklahoma City Convention Center — and now he’s getting the title to match the work.
The Oklahoma City Convention Center and Legends Global have promoted Moore to Director of Food & Beverage, a leadership role overseeing all F&B operations across the downtown venue. It’s a promotion that says as much about where large-venue foodservice is headed as it does about one chef’s résumé.
From Opening Team to the Top of the Kitchen
Moore isn’t a parachute hire. He’s been with the company for nearly nine years, starting in September 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena — now the Paycom Center — home of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was also on the opening team at the Oklahoma City Convention Center, working its very first event and helping define the venue’s culinary identity from day one.
In his new role, Moore will lead food and beverage service for every convention, conference, banquet, trade show and event the facility hosts, with a mandate centered on consistent quality, operational excellence and guest experience as the venue keeps growing under Legends Global, its F&B operator and management company.
“Josh has been part of OKCCC’s story since the very beginning, and has exceptional knowledge of our venue, our community and our customers,” said Barbara Beaton, General Manager of the Oklahoma City Convention Center for Legends Global, which manages the venue. “His promotion reflects the depth of talent we have on our team and the standard of excellence our guests and partners have come to expect. As we continue to grow, Josh’s leadership will keep that experience front and center.”
Local Sourcing as a Culinary Strategy
Moore’s early wins point to where he’s taking the program. He helped establish the first Made in Oklahoma Coalition House restaurant at the Budweiser Brew House, championing locally sourced products and building relationships with Oklahoma producers.
Under his leadership, convention center dining has moved beyond traditional banquet fare toward elevated comfort food with modern culinary influences — plates designed to feel memorable while celebrating regional flavors. His stated priorities now: keep elevating the culinary program, deepen partnerships with local and regional producers, and expand mentorship that connects culinary students to real-world experience at the venue.
“During his time as Executive Chef, Josh has demonstrated exceptional culinary leadership, creativity, and a commitment to delivering an outstanding guest experience,” said Kaarthik Iyer, Regional Director of Food & Beverage for Legends Global. “We are confident he will bring that same passion, dedication, and excellence to his new role.”
Building the Next Generation of Culinary Talent
Beyond the kitchen, Moore has invested heavily in workforce development, forging partnerships with culinary schools and public education programs across Oklahoma. Through his work with Oklahoma ProStart, he helped guide a student team to the national level of competition.
“I’m honored to step into this role at a venue I’ve called home since its opening,” Moore said. “The Oklahoma City Convention Center is an important gathering place for the community, and I look forward to building on an already strong foundation by delivering consistent quality, innovative cuisine and meaningful partnerships that benefit our guests, our local businesses and everyone who visits the venue.”
Why It Matters
For foodservice executives and venue operators, this promotion is a case study in two trends reshaping large-scale hospitality. First, local sourcing has become a differentiator, not a checkbox. Moore’s producer partnerships give the venue a regional identity that mass-market catering can’t replicate — a selling point for the event planners and meeting buyers deciding where to book.
Second, the talent pipeline is a competitive weapon. With hospitality still fighting for skilled kitchen labor, Moore’s ProStart and culinary-school partnerships build a bench before the shortage bites. Operators watching their own staffing costs should note the model: cultivate talent early, and you’re not scrambling for it later.
The takeaway for procurement directors, institutional buyers and F&B leaders: promoting from within — someone who knows the venue, the community and the local supply base — protects continuity while banking years of relationship equity. In a $288 million, 500,000-square-foot facility competing for national conventions, that consistency is the product.
Opened in 2021, the Oklahoma City Convention Center sits in downtown Oklahoma City just east of Scissortail Park, featuring a 200,730-square-foot exhibit hall, a 29,874-square-foot ballroom and nearly 45,000 square feet of meeting space.
The Bottom Line
Leadership moves like this one signal how the foodservice industry is professionalizing convention dining — and how much local sourcing and talent development now factor into who wins the business. For more on the executives and appointments shaping hospitality, explore our coverage of Park Hyatt St. Kitts’ new leadership team and Vollrath’s latest foodservice appointment.
Is your venue leaning into local sourcing and homegrown talent the way Moore is? Tell us in the comments — we want to hear how you’re rewriting the convention-dining playbook.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 40 Under 40” for founding American Wholesale Floral. Politz is also the founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
