meet the chef :: chef dani larson, founder & certified natural foods chef
Growing up in Los Angeles, California, I was always surrounded by lush farmers' markets. I then ventured to a much colder Boston for college, where farmers' markets were an anomaly. Senior year at Boston University, I took an elective course in Traditional Chinese Medicine that introduced me to holistic health and macrobiotics. After this course, I was hooked on the world of holistic nutrition and natural foods. Upon returning home to sunny California, I saw my nephew (who is my age) and he challenged me to go vegan for two weeks. I asked him two questions: 1.) Could I eat pasta? and 2.) Could I satisfy my sweet tooth? When he said yes, I was sold. For those two weeks, I felt better than I had in a very long time. Thus, my journey with the feasting on vegetarian foods began. I continued to self educate and became increasingly interested in the power of raw foods and other ancient healing systems, such as Ayurveda. Overtime, as I continued to develop a passion for eating and cooking from the earth, I realized that this kind of food was my passion and my main focus of every single day. I realized that I had to make a change in my life so that this could be my daily occupation. This led me to Santa Cruz, where I received my natural chef training and certification at Bauman College for Holisitc Nutrition and Culinary Arts. One of the leading schools in producing the finest talent in the industry, Bauman College encourages cooking for the individual, as opposed to the health trend of the moment. I gained further expertise in my externship with a personal therapeutic chef, my externship in the kitchen at the Babbling Brook Inn in Santa Cruz, and finished my training off at the lovely and magical Sequoia Retreat Center in Ben Lomond. I worked at Fatty's Cafe, a fine dining vegetarian bistro and wine bar and currently work at Terra, a fine dining restaurant in Malibu that utilizes fresh organic produce from its garden. My favorite thing to cook is gourmet, therapeutic vegetarian food. It brings me joy and pleasure to put my experience and passion to use for you in your kitchen. Let me show you how truly amazing a life of food from Mama Earth's garden can be.
