Meet Master Mentor: Chef Danny Harold
HTA Culinary Instructor, Chef Danny Harold, has been in the culinary industry for over 35 years. Before joining the HTA, he was the Executive Chef at The Grill on the Alley and founder and owner of Harold Catering, where he served President Barack Obama, major entertainment studios and served as Bruce Springsteen’s private chef. Chef Harold has taught at the International Culinary School at the Art Institutes and is a member of the James Beard Foundation. Since 2017, Chef Harold has trained thousands of students and incumbent workers, mentored instructors, and helped grow HTA into a nationally recognized program.
Where did your love of food come from?
I was the ninth of 10 kids in our family, so growing up, dinner at our house in Queens was an important and highly choreographed family ritual – and I started by helping my mom make dinner and set the table. Then I realized I could get a job cooking. My first job was in the 8th grade, working as a kitchen boy at the St. Ignatius Retreat House for the Jesuit priests in Long Island; later I also worked weekends doing Kosher catering for the Shelter Rock Jewish Center. I had early exposure to all kinds of working kitchens, and that fueled my passion.
How did your trajectory go from cooking to instructing?
Given my early start in the industry, by the time I was 20, I had moved up to Executive Chef at a beachfront Hamptons resort. In Los Angeles, my career led me to serve as Executive Chef for Grill Concepts, and then as a personal chef and private caterer for some of the entertainment industry’s top names. In 2009, I began teaching at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of California in Los Angeles, and that’s where I met [HTA Director of Food and Beverage Training] Chef Mitchell Frieder. Our boss, Culinary Dean Christophe Bernard, instilled in us the importance of carrying culinary knowledge forward to the next generation. With my degree in food service management and deep industry experience, joining this legacy of mentoring chefs felt like a natural fit.
What are you most proud of when it comes to the HTA?
HTA is focused on serving our students, helping adults facing barriers to employment who need a vocation to make a living and overcome challenges to forge a better life for themselves and their families. Many of the students who come to our program are housing insecure, food insecure or financially struggling – and we have the opportunity to play a pivotal role in their future. I understand what it’s like to start from scratch, and I can identify with many of our students in sharing my journey. Watching the growth in confidence, knowledge and skill among these hard-working students truly fills me with pride.
What wisdom do you love teaching in the kitchen?
On the first day of class, I try to impart the mentality of ‘just stick with the program…stay on the bus with me… my bus is the winning bus.’ I invest in our students, and I want them to make that same investment in all of the knowledge and life skills we are there to teach them. And when it comes to techniques, I think all chefs have a soft spot for braising because it brings out deep flavor and richness in a dish. That is one of my favorite skills to teach.
Fun Fact: You were the expert hand-double for Jon Favreau’s character in the movie “Chef” – how did that come about?
Jon Favreau took culinary classes while preparing to film Chef, and Chef Roy Choi – who helped shape the film’s food truck and kitchen authenticity – ultimately brought me in when the production needed real knife skills for the close-up cooking scenes. I stepped in as Jon’s hand double, slicing and chopping at full restaurant speed for those fast kitchen shots. They even matched my forearms to his and added fake burns and tattoos for the shoot.
What’s cookin’ at your house?
Growing up in my home, it wasn’t uncommon for me to make a cioppino, a jambalaya, a braised brisket, short ribs or bouillabaisse. If you were to come over for a family meal now, the standout would be that everything is made by me…the pesto, the salad dressing, the pasta, the demi-glace…there are no boxed or prepackaged foods in my pantry.