MEET THE LEGEND - PAPA GRANDE

“Be Happy, Don’t Worry!” A saying from the local legend himself. Papa Grande, aka ‘Big Daddy” ake Owner Chef Dan’s father. Papa Grande always loved an adventure. He was a charismatic, but humble mentor to his son Chef Dan. Papa Grande is like a character out of a Hemingway story. The ORIGINAL most interesting man in the world. - Papa Grande once made a weeping willow smile- He traveled the world and experienced cultures in five continents. Papa experienced the Running of the bulls, African safaris, cliff diving, and bear wrestling. He even flew his own plane. Papa Grande fought in wars for our country and also worked for voluntary foriegn services, teaching 3rd world countries to rebuild through cultivation and agricultural techniques. Through his travels, Papa Grande has adapted other cultures way of life and outlook on life. This inspired his son Chef Dan to travel with Papa and collect experiences of different cultural cuisines around the world. To find out what food means to different people in different cultures.

MEET CHEF DAN

Dan Armbruster is a classically trained chef from the French Culinary Institute with over 25 years of restaurant management experience. Following culinary school, Chef trained under some of the leading top chefs and restaurateurs in the industry in five major food hub cities including New York City, Key West, FL, The Virgin Islands, Newport, RI, Nantucket and Boston, Massachusetts. Dan also worked in food sales for a local sustainable food purveyor in Boston. This experience connected Chef to Boston’s culinary heartbeat, food trends and customer base. He specializes in catering and has gained the bulk of his knowledge from working for Wolfgang Puck perfecting his craft executing multiple parties and events ranging. Travel has been a great part of Chef Dan’s life. Hearing the inspiring stories of his father Papa Grande drove Chef Dan to take adventures. Even at a young age, if he couldn’t physically travel, Chef Dan would take advantage of his diverse hometown New York City to seek out different cultural foods and learn their culinary creations. He immersed himself in the different ingredients and why each culture cooked with the products and techniques they did. He loves how food defines each culture through memories of their culinary comfort creations. Chef Dan would like to for you to enjoy these foods without having to travel miles to do so.