Dale Talde, Celebrity Chef & TV Personality

Dale Talde’s culinary career began at nine years old, when he refused to eat what his mother made for dinner. He decided to made apple pancakes for himself and learned a passion for cooking.

Knowing he felt at home in the kitchen, Dale attended The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. After graduating in 1999, he traveled back to his roots in Chicago and learned what it meant to be a true culinarian by working with acclaimed chefs Geoff Felsenthal and Jean George Vongerchein to open Vong. This experience started a chain reaction of career growth such as a position at Naha, where his met one of his biggest mentors to this day, Carrie Nahabedian, a James Beard Award Winning chef, and a chef position at Spring Restaurantwith another James Beard award winning chef, Shawn Mcclain.

Two and half years later, Dale decided to move to New York to advance his career. Under the direct tutelage of Iron Chef Massaharu Morimoto, he helped pen the bestselling book Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking and contributed to the Japanese-inspired menu at Morimoto’s flagship restaurant. Later, Dale’s creativity shined at Steven Starr’s Buddakan, one of the country’s largest grossing individual-owned restaurants, with dishes such as Broken Chili Chicken, King Crab Hot Pot, and Black Pepper Soft Shell Crab.

While gaining an abundance of restaurant experience, Dale also consulted with projects in Atlanta, Florida, and Chicago, and ventured to the Philippines, the Caribbean, and across the US to perform cooking demonstrations for the public. He took advantage of his most public opportunity and appeared on Bravo’s Emmy-Award winning series, Top Chef Season 4. Dale quickly became a fan-favorite and later appeared on Top Chef Masters, and on Top Chef Season 8 All-Stars.

Dale continues to travel all over Asia to perfect his modern Asian-fusion cooking style and is currently based in New York City’s lower east side. This fall, Dale will open his own restaurant in the Brooklyn borough of New York.