“Not only does Dani's work reflect the sort of community that we want to support, but she is also a talented chef..... We were excited to have her and her sous chef, Derek Treuer, represent us in Washington... Dani and Derek put on a performance and prepared a menu that made us proud of our North Carolina presence at the (NOAA) Fish Fry. They were organized, poised and skilled. They prepared an outstanding dish of shrimp and triggerfish that embodied the region's cuisine... The Fish Fry was a resounding success thanks to your culinary creativity, planning, passion and hard work.”
“You faced the challenge with passion, strength, knowledge, and a huge heart. I never once saw you walk away from a challenge… You served as a leader in the kitchen, garden, boardroom and any other setting you happened to be thrown into for the day.”
How can I help?
As chef, entrepreneur and Mom, I deeply appreciate those magical words, the opposite of “that’s not my job”.
My first restaurant gigs (at 15) were in a neighborhood Italian restaurant and Taco Bell, (back when they made the beans from scratch, kids!) Since then I’ve done all kinds of work in all kinds of settings, from a tiny kitchen (literally) behind a bar in Philadelphia, to more formal settings like Charleston’s Mills House, The Country Club of Charleston, Durham’s Magnolia Grill and just about everything in between.
Many years ago, we were fortunate to land in Hillsborough NC, where I joined a local farmer’s market and grew, baked, cooked and sold all kinds of food. That evolved into a tiny downtown fresh grocery and bakeshop. Then came the adventure of a place where we could cook that good fresh food, taking over the locally famous Lu-E-g’s (renamed The James Pharmacy Restaurant). Great food, music and art filled that wonderful, vibrant community hub and left a legacy of lasting friendships and great business lessons. Among those is the value of having a strong, knowledgeable, honest consultant as a gut-checker, hand-holder, bubble-popper and coach. Eventually I began doing that work myself, inspired by the example of having the guidance of compassionate helpers.
After JPR closed, as chef I was part of the team that worked with students at Duke University’s Divinity School to create their vision of campus dining to include social responsibility and local food connections. We nurtured that café from one electric stove into a full-service dining hall feeding thousands of people a week, as well as catering every kind of event you can imagine, from breakfast to black-tie. Along the way, our team:
re-invented “institutional” cooking, building relationships with farmers, food producers and pioneers of sustainable food systems
dramatically increased the availability of fresh, scratch-made food to students
challenged and inspired culinary pros who have gone on to do great work in this field
“Local” and “sustainable” were still fairly new in the lexicon. We picked up the ball those students lobbed, and started important conversations. In the ensuing years Duke University doubled down on their commitment to these principles, helping lead the way in high quality, responsible and locally connected foodservice for other university food systems. The movement is strong and growing.
In 2008, as chef I joined an organization doing foundational work in the field of eating disorder treatment. In addition to feeding patients who are medically challenged and often kitchen-averse, our team of cooks, clinicians, and dietitians developed models for innovative and effective therapeutic culinary and garden programming. During my time there, and later at an inpatient hospital for the treatment of adolescents with eating disorders, I also designed kitchens and dining spaces that function at the highest levels of food safety and sanitation, while being warm, inviting and scaled for the use of some of the most challenging culinary learners.
Then, a decades-long interest in issues facing incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people offered me an opportunity to run a prison-based “Cook School”. Teaching, training, developing collaborations and curriculum for this incredibly unique college-based program enriched my life immeasurably. My students continue to inspire me in so many ways, and I am staying tuned to the shape this work will take in the future.
Consulting is an opportunity to synthesize the common threads of all this work. What I do best is see big pictures and fine details with clarity, depth and dimension. I relish the intricacies of a problem, working out strategies that are personal and effective. In collaborations I challenge, support and empower people to clarify and calibrate goals, and help remove barriers to meeting them.
My life-long, solid experience in problem-solving in the culinary and hospitality world has given me a very simple approach. My daughters, and plenty of chefs, cooks and servers over the years have heard my motto in a tough spot or on a dark day:
