HELLO FRIENDS! I'M DANA...I am not a chef by trade, but rather a chef by passion. My free time is consumed with food, cooking, beverages... anything that involves taste.
Growing up, I was always curious about what my mom was doing in the kitchen, and I was always eager to help out. Standing on a chair pushed up to the kitchen counter and helping her make cookies was one of my most favorite things to do as a child. As I got a little older, my brother and I would conduct fun experiments in the kitchen involving marshmallows, peanut butter, and the microwave. When I was a senior in high school, I finally got my first job. It was at a cafe/bakery that made everything from scratch. I never wanted to work in food service, even though my family owned a food service distribution company and I was constantly surrounded by it. But there I was, hooked. At the time, I was already signed up for nursing school, but I knew that wasn't the right path for me. I changed my major to culinary arts and entered a whole new world of food and cooking. I started culinary school not even knowing how to properly hold a chef's knife. Over the 2+ years, I learned a ton about food and cooking techniques, developed an appreciation for different flavors and textures, and fell in love with the kitchen. It's now been about 20 years since I graduated, and my abilities and confidence in the kitchen have grown tenfold. I attended culinary school with the intention of one day opening my own restaurant... although I never wanted to be a "chef". I just figured I'd better know how to cook and how to run the back of the house if I was going to open my restaurant and be successful. Well, it should come as no surprise then that I have never professionally worked in a kitchen. Instead, I stuck to the front-of-house positions in restaurants (hosting, serving, bartending) and eventually moved into event management, wedding planning, and sales and marketing. All the while, I still cooked all the time at home, trying new recipes, building my skills, constantly learning. The kitchen has always been and always will be my happy place. My escape. My therapy. My passion. |
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