Danny Garcia, Chef

A proud Brooklyn native, Danny Garcia grew up in a large tight-knit Dominican and Puerto Rican family where food was the focus of every family gathering. He secured a scholarship to Johnson & Wales in Providence, R.I., and after graduation took a full-time position at the NoMad, where he rose the ranks to Sous Chef. In 2016, Danny took first prize at the Ment'or Young Chef competition, which afforded him the opportunity to stage with Team USA at the Bocuse d'Or, a world chef championship in Lyon. The next year Danny moved to Napa to join the team at Thomas Keller's the French Laundry and rejoined Team USA at the Bocuse d'Or. In 2019, Danny returned to New York to work alongside his longtime mentor Jamal James Kent in opening Crown Shy and Saga restaurants as Executive Sous Chef. In 2021, he relocated to Hong Kong to help reopen the highly acclaimed Belon as Chef de Cuisine. Danny then returned to New York to reunite with Kent, and leads the kitchen at Kent Hospitality Group's Time and Tide, a seafood-focused restaurant that opened in October 2024. In the months before the opening of the restaurant, Danny competed in and won season 21 of Top Chef.