Chef Daniel Massie began his culinary career in a smokehouse in Texas – smoking briskets and cleaning the smoke pit at the age of fourteen. Growing up in a large family – one of four siblings – Daniel’s mother had the task of preparing well-balanced meals on a budget. Meals of sirloin tips and red beans and rice with cornbread were staples in the household. To this day, Daniel is fascinated by his mother’s humble expertise in the kitchen and proudly states, “That woman has no idea what an amazing cook she is!”

Despite his early introduction to the kitchen, Daniel’s restaurant career would soon bring him to the front of the house. Working as a manager, Daniel learned the finer points of service and those subtle nuances that enhance the guest experience – skills important to any future chef. In 1996, Daniel made a brief visit to Atlanta to wait tables during the restaurant boom that accompanied the Summer Olympics. Good fortune smiled upon him when he took a job at Brookwood Gril and met Geoff Kokoszka. Their paths would cross again ten years later at Stoney River Legendary Steaks – where Kokoszka was a Managing Partner.

In those ten years, Daniel would re-discover his love for the kitchen at Lombardi Mare – an upscale Italian seafood restaurant in Dallas where Chef David would ultimately convince him to hone his culinary skills at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. While on externship, Daniel worked at the Television Food Network, preparing food and working side-by-side with Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay, Tyler Florence, and Rachel Ray. After graduating at the top of his class in 2003, Daniel and his wife purchased Schemmy’s Restaurant in historic Rhinebeck, New York. It was there that Daniel began to develop his own personal style of creating contemporary flavor profiles while paying homage to his comfort food roots.