At first glance, Marc Glosserman may seem an unlikely torch bearer for the Lockhart, Texas barbecue tradition.  This life-long entrepreneur and 32-year-old Bethesda, MD native cut his teeth in the telecom world, growing companies, engineering acquisitions, earning his MBA from Columbia University, and winning seed funding for his first restaurant venture by the school’s Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurial Fund’s new business plan competition.  So how does a talent for all things digital successfully establish an East Coast version of the “Barbecue Capital of Texas”?

It helps if your grandfather was the mayor of Lockhart and your family’s roots there date back four generations.  As a child, Marc looked forward to his Texas visits, where he indulged in all the local traditions, including eating smoked sausages and barbecue at the legendary Kreuz Market, drinking Big Red Soda, cooling off with Blue Bell Ice Cream, and enjoying the sounds of Austin’s rock, blues and country music.  Whether he was listening to his grandfather’s proud tales of growing up in the Lone Star State, or traveling with family and friends through Central Texas “Hill Country,” these are the memories that inspired Marc to open a New York City restaurant to honor the barbecue and live music capital of Texas. 

Before opening Hill Country, Marc served as Chief Executive Officer of Centric Telecom, a broadband service provider based in London.  Under his leadership, Centric grew to $6.5 million in annual revenue.  Marc also led the company’s acquisitions of two primary competitors and several high-profile real estate clients.  Prior to Centric, in 1998, Marc co-founded and served as Chief Operating Officer of eLink Communications, a Washington, D.C.-based telecommunications company.  In April 2001, he completed a management buyout of eLink’s European subsidiary, which subsequently became Centric Telecom.

Marc was an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in 2000 and 2001, and is a current member of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization’s New York Chapter.  He graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in International Relations, and received his MBA from Columbia University.

Passionate barbecue devotees, Marc and his wife Kristen live in New York City with their son, Austin, who was born just hours after Hill Country debuted on the Manhattan restaurant scene.