CHEF DAVE
OPTIMAL HUMAN PERFORMANCE THROUGH FOOD
During his 8-year military career Chef Dave traveled extensively in service to his country, including two operational deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. These travels included stops in Thailand, China, the Philippines, Korea, and throughout the Middle East. Following the military Chef Dave turned his talents and passion toward a career in the culinary arts. He continued to build on the breadth and diversity of experiences he had in the military, traveling extensively across North America in pursuit of cooking excellence with work and training stops in San Diego, Mexico, New York, Napa, Scottsdale, Montana and now Nashville. His travels have provided him with a food education and approach to cooking that is as expansive and diverse as the places and cultures he has visited.
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Chef Dave’s passion is to prepare and serve the freshest, highest quality, most nutritious meals possible to all those he feeds, and in particular athletes seeking to perform at the highest level. He does this by using always fresh, organic, “farm-to-table” sources. Chef Dave combines ancient healing techniques, traditional farming and food resourcing methodologies, with modern culinary practices, to produce the freshest, most nutritious and delicious meals. He brings a “Team First” mentality to his work, combining his culinary specialties in partnership with the athlete, along with their strength, speed, and medical staff, with the knowledge and talents of local farmers, to optimize human performance in professional athletes.
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His commitment to fresh food, healthy and sustainable farming practices, and using Farm-To-Table products, aligned him with the experiences he has had with visionaries and change-makers like human performance coach Wim Hoff, James Beard Award Winners Drew Deckman, Diego Hernandez and Javier Plascencia, and environmentalists and activists Jojo Ruiz and Joel Hammet. All of which has expanded and broadened the perspective he brings to his work.
Dave got his start in the culinary world washing dishes for famous chefs in San Diego and Mexico. “The world is a scary place for the first couple of years when you get out of the Military. You are so used to one thing and it’s hard to find your place in the world.” Chefs such as Brian Malarke, Chad White and Hanis Cavin recognized Dave’s work ethic and taught him to cook so he could fill in open roles as needed to run their kitchens and businesses efficiently. Dave’s ability to absorb and adapt opened doors to becoming a sous chef, launching restaurants and taking on research projects with medical students at UCLA.
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There was an opportunity to blend his past with his present when the US Government offered Dave a job cooking with individual seal team operators. Dave was there to be a chef but his knowledge and ability to adapt had him taking on other tactical roles as the team needed. Dave has worked with foreign and domestic farmers to develop seed saving and regenerative agriculture programs in audacious environments.
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Out of high school Dave was drafted to the Chicago White Socks and since then has always had a strong interest in athletics and now as a Chef with the maximization of their performance through proper meal preparation. Dave eventually became Chef and training partner for CrossFit professional Josh Bridges. It was there the team worked with Nike to test and develop the original Nike Metcon. As a devoted sneakerhead, Dave was once again drawn back to his athletic roots and began to develop his professional athlete clientele with his passion for cooking. He has since worked with MLB athletes such as AJ Pollock, Charlie Blackman and Paul Goldschmidt.
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Dave is currently living in Nashville, TN where he his most recent clientele includes:
- NFL: George Kittle, Trent Taylor, Justin Skoule, Tua Tagovailoa, Conor McDermott, Rob Tonyan, Oren Burks and TJ Hockenson.
- NHL: Filip Foresberg and Roman Josi
- Celebrities: French Montana, Khloe Kardashian, Rick Ross, Morgan Walen, Lauren Elena, Dan & Shay,
and Florida Georgia Line.
Through his brand PLANT SEEDS SAVE SOULS, Chef Dave is committed to raising awareness of regenerative agriculture and teaching people to have a connection with their local farmers and food. Dave believes his job as Chef is to always be 3 steps ahead of the farmer and athlete to create a trusting environment based on open communication where everyone can do their jobs seamlessly.
As a civilian and a chef, Chef Dave maintains his operational readiness to support ongoing government agencies as well as private contractors, both domestic and abroad. His work with farmers in agricultural regeneration and food development also focuses on the needs and preparation for modern military warfare development.
