Today we’d like to introduce you to Eliza Daly.
Hi Eliza, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I am a 2020 Food Network “Chopped” Champion who has spent the last 12 years working in the food industry so I could share my knowledge with the next generation. I have worked in restaurants all over NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco. Now, a culinary teacher in San Diego, I aim all my efforts at getting folks of all ages to get more comfortable in their kitchens.
I was raised in farm-country Pennsylvania, and food was always important growing up. My Dad is an incredible cook and would create the most artistic dishes for our family. My mom’s Italian side would make enormous ravioli feasts for our Easter meal. I learned that food could also mean LOVE.
I was living in New York City, trying to make it as an actress, so obviously, as most starving artists, I was a bartender. I kept wandering into the kitchens of the places I worked and found myself inspired. I had only recently learned to cook a few things for myself, and it felt so empowering. I decided to pitch a college cooking show to a TV industry regular at my bar. When he asked if I actually knew how to cook, I demurred. He suggested I check out culinary school first before trying to teach the whole world…I started culinary school just a few months later and tumbled into restaurant world for the decade that followed.
After having the gift of working with so many wild and wonderful chefs, I believe it is the culinary world’s responsibility to give the gift back to the next generation. If chefs don’t share the knowledge of beautiful food with the world, who will?
I am a firm believer that anyone can cook if given the opportunity to learn. I also believe it is our duty as chefs to pass on our food knowledge to the next generation, or it will become a dying art for so many. I believe food is a powerful and universal language of love and connection, and it needs to be practiced and studied by anyone who enjoys eating. I think food education should be the norm, not the exception.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
12.5% of all executive chefs are women. It’s not an easy job to run restaurants or teams. And a culinary career is not for the faint of heart. Restaurants are filled with their own challenges, from enormous prep lists to long hours, to heavy lifting, to equipment or delivery fails. Anyone in the culinary world is a creative, which means we all come with our own pursuit of perfection. That can get a little deflating. I think I’ve struggled with my own self-doubt as a leader, a chef, an artist, a teacher. But I have been so fortunate to have mentors who have guided me with compassion (and when they were not compassionate, I count it as a learning opportunity) I realized I had to lean into what made me my favorite self and lean on those skills. My joy for learning and sharing can be contagious. My insatiable curiosity makes me a better teacher. I had to let go of the “mold” of what I thought a “real chef” should be in order to become the best one I could be.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a professional chef- turned educator. I run cooking programs for all ages in schools located in Oceanside and Vista and local community classes for adults through MiraCosta’s college programs. I run college keynotes to get kids excited about cooking for themselves. I firmly believe ANYONE can cook. And I am determined to get as many people as possible cooking in their own kitchens. I’ve worked professionally in Creole, Italian, French, and Indian cuisine, dabbling in Food magazine and television world, as well as restaurants all over the country. This basis of knowledge allows me to share about food from many angles.
I am the first recipient of the James Beard Foundation Women In Culinary Leadership award and am proud to be a woman in the culinary field.
I run Italian pop-ups in Oceanside and Carlsbad as my creative outlet and get to sling delicious Italian goodness on the sidewalks of our community.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Cooking is just removing water and adding salt. You’ve already got the two most important tools in a kitchen: your own hands. Never be afraid to get in touch with your food…or make a mess!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elizathechef.com/
- Instagram: @elizathechef
- Facebook: facebook.com/elizathechef
Image Credits
Brandi Rollins
