Chef Gary Danko

Gary Danko is one of America’s most talented and respected chefs. His success can be attributed to his many years of study and hard work combined with a natural ability to create dishes of elegance and depth that evoke the simple pleasures and warmth of home cooking. Danko’s interest in cooking began in his mother’s kitchen in upstate New York, where he watched the Louisiana native deftly balance flavors through the judicious use of simple seasonings and farm-fresh ingredients. It later brought him to the classrooms of French-born Madeleine Kamman, his exacting and visionary mentor who refined him in the techniques, science, and history of French cooking, and fortified the groundwork for his remarkable career.

Gary Danko is a 1977 graduate of the Culinary Institute of Hyde Park, New York. From his earliest days as chef at the Tucker Hill Inn in Vermont to subsequent years running award-winning kitchens in the Bay Area, including Beringer Vineyards and The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, Danko dedicated himself to seasonal, locally grown and raised foods before the practice was widespread. At restaurant Gary Danko, these ingredients are still the foundation of his adventurous and spirited cuisine and are never upstaged. While forging close relationships with artisanal cheese, meat, and produce suppliers to secure the best ingredients possible, Danko continues to push the envelope, incorporating culinary traditions, techniques, products, and seasonings from around the world to create a cuisine of great finesse and balanced flavors.

Gary Danko’s numerous achievements include three James Beard Foundation Awards including “Best Chef – California” and reflect his lifelong pursuit of excellence.