Meet Dani Morales

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dani Morales a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Dani with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

It most definitely comes from my parents. My mom and dad have always worked. My dad has been a commercial painter for as long I have been alive. He went from the bottom to now basically running the company for the owner. My mom has been a house keeper. To this day still doing it. They are resilient people coming here with very little. But worked for what they have. I saw us move from a small studio, to a duplex, to a buying there first small home and then selling that home years later to buying a bigger house. Just showed me what hard work and determination looked like.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m born and raised in Santa Barbara California. Went to a small two year community college culinary program. My love for food is imbedded in nostalgia and trying to just bring people together through food. I really care of using locally sourced ingredients and really having a relationship with the local farmers in my area. Either that be in Santa Barbara or here in portland where I am now. It really matter to me to know the people behind the produce and in turn I think that makes for a better product we created by the chef.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think resiliency is definitely a strong attribute to have especially in this industry. Let alone being a women in a male dominated field. Hoesntly knowing Spanish has really been an advantage in my field of work. Hard work ethic is my definitely needed and I would say is also my advice work hard keep your head down and wait for your opportunity it will come

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I think I wouldn’t say it has just been one person but more like a few doing a little bit in their own way to make me grown and develope as a chef. One would definitely have to be my mentor and chef Peter Cham. We worked together for about 3 or 4 years maybe on and off. At various different restaurants in Santa Barbara. He taught me a lot about being able to work in stressful moment and keeping a calm and having good organization skill and cleanliness. Importance of respecting people you work with. I would have to say two other people are my current bosses Olivia and Angel. I would say in the almost 4 years I have worked for them I have definitely grown and developed because of their kindness and willingness to trust me and my processes but also in turn trust them with their processes.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Dani morales
Caroline Harper

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