Dave Martin / Chef / Culinary Consultant / Cooking Class Teacher / Cookbook Writer
An inaugural, and arguably one of the most memorable participants of Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’, Dave Martin is a chef on the go. He juggles his numerous cookbooks and personal appearances, teaching classes, culinary consulting, product R&D and charitable work for Ronald McDonald House, the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the American Heart Association.
Chef Dave took a less than traditional path into the culinary world. After leaving a successful technology career, Dave chose to pursue his real love and passion- cooking and making people smile through his food. He graduated with honors from Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, California, and formed his own catering company called As You Wish Catering. He also took on the Executive Chef role at Manhattan Beach’s XO Wine Bistro. He soon built a strong local following of customers that enjoyed his multi-regional cuisine that ranged from Southern Barbecue to Southeast Asian and beyond. Dave enjoys modernizing and revitalizing old school comfort foods, sometimes even with a lighter and healthier approach thanks to his many years of Southern California coastal living.
Chef Dave has been working hard to keep himself and most importantly his food attainable to the public. Since his last restaurant adventure as Executive Chef at ‘Crave on 42’ and his consulting for Chow Down, Inc. (VYNL Restaurants-UES & Chelsea locations), Dave’s first cookbook, Flavor Quest was released in October 2009 and is available at www.chefdavemartin.com as well Amazon and barnesandnoble.com. He teaches classes at ‘The Culinary Loft’ in SoHo with clients ranging from MTV and Oracle to Lloyds of London. He works with and trains culinary teams at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) and has helped them launch one of their new on-campus dining programs. Dave is also working on his latest project, a healthy food line for kids along with consulting, catering and doing guest chef events across the country. Since its inception in February 2010, Dave has been the Host for Ronald McDonald House (NYC) and 4Good Productions newly launched ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ Celebrity Chef Series. He also works with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and American Heart Association on various charity events and fundraisers across the country. Dave’s second book in his Flavor Quest series was released in October 2010.