2013 Chefs to Watch – Chef Daniel Causgrove

CHEF DANIEL CAUSGROVE

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Young people wondering what to do with their liberal arts degrees should gain inspiration from Chef Daniel Causgrove, who graduated with a combined major in environmental studies and English writing. Daniel started cooking in restaurants just after college in Syracuse, New York, and later in Vermont. “I found cooking suited me because there are intellectual and athletic elements to it that I found exciting, and it was artistic, too.”

Eventually, Daniel landed at the venerable (and now shuttered) Café des Artistes in New York City. “That’s where I learned to be a professional cook,” he says. “The guys there had been there for years, and they taught me how to be a true worker. I would compare it to a place like Galatoire’s in New Orleans.” Later, Daniel did stints at the elegant Jean Georges and high profile Le Cirque, which led him to Jack the Horse Tavern, a sophisticated neighborhood restaurant in Brooklyn Heights.

Having visited New Orleans, he decided that cooking in the Crescent City presented a lot more opportunity than New York City. It’s in this city that he obtained a sous chef position at La Petite Grocery. As Daniel worked hand-in-hand with Chef Justin Devillier, his love of the Crescent City only grew.

Most recently he has cooked at Dijon, upscale eatery that Daniel describes as “based in French cooking, but playful and hopefully a bit different.” So, how does that play out? “For example, in all the entrées, I’ll serve multiple parts of the chosen animal (except for fish). I treat each part of the animal in different ways to take advantage of the different characteristics. I want it to become something that is equally exotic and innovative, having just as polished a technique as you would have in the top French restaurants in New York.”

Recipe

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Meet the 2013 Chefs to Watch

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