I created Chef Dane to meet the needs of my family, friends and associates who desired a personal touch to culinary events. Mostly doing private caterings until an opportunity arose to provide business luncheons, which developed into daily on the go style gourmet lunches. The concept of gourmet lunches leaves no hassle for the company and an affordable, convenient and healthy meal for individuals. Paired with the idea of the honor system and providing a full meal service was the final piece for the current "My Corporate Chef" concept. Feedback has been very positive on this.

I have been introduced to others who need someone with culinary experience to help with menu planning, structural concepts and employee challenges. I have consulted with these companies and individuals with positive long lasting ideas for implementation and a strong sense of cleanliness, organization, creativity and frugality for the bottom line increase in motivation and profit.

Also, my current focal point is on My Personal Chef. I enjoy customizing meals to a person's likes. I am able to adapt dishes to any dietary needs. One client, who has a serious medical condition, has made considerable health improvements since enjoying my services. I see this as my main focus as personal chef services by Chef Dane develops.

My career as a chef began early on, prior to Middle School, when I enjoyed Home Economics. Television's influence was strong as chefs began flooding the waves, i.e. Julia Childs, The Galloping Gourmet, The Frugal Gourmet, Great Chef's and multiple guest chef appearances on the Today Show and many of the other talk shows. With this continuous source of stimulation, I began getting a confidence and ability for variety. Experiments were common and social events or barbeques were frequent.

Graduation from high school was a pivotal time, but not a hard one with my confidence in what I enjoyed to do, it seemed the obvious choice to further my education in culinary arts. I attended Skagit Valley Community College in Mount Vernon, Washington. It was a local and accredited school and the facilities were appropriate for my continued education. I was very comfortable in school and it was a great environment for me to excel and build long-term relationships. I graduated with honors at the top of my class and began working in local restaurants.

It has been mentioned that your first career job establishes a foundation on which all of your future actions will be based upon. My first job was at Wildflowers in Mount Vernon under chef David. I was encouraged to explore new levels while holding on to the basic fundamentals of cleanliness and timeliness. Most of the guidelines that I use today in my cooking were formed at that time.