What do you get when you combine a chef with an engineer? Chef Daniel! Know that any class you take with Daniel, you’ll get to share in his joy of cooking and boundless creativity paired with his skill, precision and knowledge of the science behind cooking.
His background reflects that diversity as well. After receiving his bachelor’s in engineering from Wichita State, he earned a bachelor’s in culinary arts and science from the Culinary Art Institute of Seattle. While cooking in Seattle he helped open Stoneburner with Chef Jason Stoneburner, then joined the catering team on the Microsoft campus he was soon the chef de partie for the entire campus. “That meant feeding 10,00 people a day,” Daniel said. “They had a warehouse the size of Costco for our operations, it was crazy.”
But the desire to build a really great stove led him back to school for a master’s in engineering at University of Washington. “I figured since I already had an engineering degree, I’d just keep going.”
Daniel returned to Microsoft as an engineer and did private catering on the side until family drew him to Fort Collins 2021. Here, he repeated that blend of working as an engineer and catering and joined the G&B team in 2023.
“I love teaching and it’s great interacting with students and the other chefs, seeing what they’re cooking, talking about what’s in season,” Daniel said. “It’s great to be surrounded by passionate people who express the same love of cooking and of life that I have.”
When not working, Daniel spends his time developing new recipes and exploring the Colorado food scene. He’s also a hiker and avid cyclist, putting in at least 10 miles riding area trails every day.
His favorite pie? “G&B’s Passionfruit Meringue is the best pie I’ve had in my life. That was what drew me to Ginger and Baker. Before I worked here people would ask where they should go to eat and I’d say, ‘come here and have that pie!’”
