Dave Krohn
Executive Chef/Owner

Chef Dave Krohn started cooking at the age of 15. His cooking career spans 18 years with a long list of great hotels and restaurants on his resume to include; The Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown and The Castle in Tarrytown NY. He is an honors graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park NY. and he has a degree in Business Administration. Chef Dave also served 4 years in the United States Marine Corps completing two tours in combat as an infantryman during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has traveled around the globe and learned about a variety of cuisines and continues to educate himself and his employees about fine food and service. He looks forward to a career of cooking and teaching in Southern California. At the age of 15, he worked for a small catering company in Southern Connecticut under Chef Pasqual Puglia who taught Dave all the basics of preparing fine food with a strong emphasis on Italian Cuisine. After a few years of apprenticing, he became the Sous Chef under Chef Puglia, and after six years of learning Italian Cuisine, Dave moved to New Jersey to pursue his education.

While studying Finance and Business Administration,Dave continued to learn about food and wine. He worked his way through school as a Banquet Chef at The Sheraton Hotel at Woodbridge Place and at Stage Left American Bistro, a fine dining restaurant in New Brunswick, New Jersey which is consistently rated in the top five in Central New Jersey by The New York Times. Upon graduating with a degree in Business Administration in 1997, he decided to enroll in Culinary School.

In February of 1998, Dave was accepted into The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York to begin his formal culinary education. He quickly surrounded himself with culinary knowledge by joining a variety of clubs and extra-curricular activities. He became the President of the Service Club, an Officer in the Wines Club, a Peer Tutor, and Class Leader. He also became involved in the Chefs Collaborative 2000, which was a club devoted to community based agriculture and organic growing principals.

After a year at The CIA, Dave did an externship at The White Mountain Hotel and Resort in North Conway, New Hampshire before returning for his second year of school.

In October of 1999, Dave graduated with honors, earning a degree in Culinary Arts. He also earned the title "Chef". During the graduation, Chef Dave was given The Service Award for his outstanding work and dedication towards the culinary arts.

After Graduation, Chef Dave was hired by the Castle in Tarrytown, New York. While working there, the Castle gained Relais and Chatau status and was recognized as the #1 rated privately owned Inn in the Northeast. He was instrumental in teaching and training the staff about the Classical French Cuisine and Service.

Chef Dave moved to Washington DC in 2000 and began working as a sommelier at Taberna Del Alabedero, arguably the best Spanish Restaurant outside of Spain. He learned from Executive Chef Santi Zabaleta about Spanish Cuisine and Spanish Wines.

Later that year, He moved to the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown to help in the opening of a new restaurant at the hotel. Again, he was able to pass on his knowledge of food and wine to the staff and in return received a great education himself. The Hotel was rated 29th in the world at the time and its menus were as diverse as the eclectic clients who dined there.

The summer of 2001 was the beginning of new adventure for Chef Dave. He started his own cooking school called "The Cooking Coach Culinary School" where he taught clients out of his home in the northwest section of Washington DC. Word of mouth spread quickly about the fun and great food being sampled at the classes and a steady stream of clients followed. Then September 11th happened, and changed everything.

After observing the unbelievable events of that day and the days to follow, Chef Dave decided to hang up his chef jacket and turn it in for an M-16. Five days after the events of September 11th, he was enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Infantry. Placing his career on hold but not his education, Lance Corporal Krohn (his new title), was training for war and that is where he was faced with his most difficult culinary challenge.

In April of 2003 in An Nassriya, Iraq, LCPL Krohn was given the task to cook Easter Sunday Dinner for the 150 Marines in his company. With an infantry squad of Marines and two heavy machine gun trucks, he went to the market place in An Nassriya. By tasting and experimenting with ingredients that were completely foreign to him, he made the purchases necessary to put together a meal. Upon returning to the command post, he quickly assembled a culinary team and transformed a blown out building into a sanitary kitchen to work in. In a few hours, with the help of his team, he served a meal of flat bread with grilled minced lamb, marinated vegetables and Middle Eastern curried potatoes. While this meal was not the finest Chef/LCPL Krohn had ever created, it was the one he was most proud of. That one meal brought tremendous appreciation to those who ate it.

The Marine Corps has provided a remarkable learning experience for CPL Krohn. He was able to taste a variety of foods and learn about cooking techniques from all over the world including the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Hawaii.

Chef Dave now makes his home in Southern California .  He is the creator and owner of Chef DK Catering and has built a solid clientele of food enthusiast.  He only utilizes the finest local vegetables, meats and seafood, creating a truly eclectic menu of appetizing hors d' oeuvres , salads, entrees and deserts.  He looks forward to cooking for you at your next special event.