Dale Talde

Dale Talde is currently a Creative Director at Buddakan in New York City. His passion for food started at the youngest of ages as he watched his mother cook.

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, he went back to Chicago where he helped open Jean George Vongerichtens Vong. He has also worked with James Beard award winning chefs Carrie Nahabedian and Shawn McClain.

In 2005, he moved to New York City to open Morimoto with the Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto. Talde achieved national spotlight on season 4 of the popular Bravo series "Top Chef." He has returned to the "Top Chef" kitchen twice, on "Top Chef: All-Stars" and the spin-off "Top Chef Duels" in 2014.

In 2012, partnering with Restaurateurs David Massoni and John Bush, Talde opened his very own Asian-American restaurant, Talde, in Park Slope, feeding the masses a daring vision of the flavors he loves. He’s since gone on to open Pork Slope, and signed on as chef-partner of Massoni and Bush’s first restaurant, Thistle Hill Tavern. In 2013, Talde was named 2013 StarChefs.com Rising Star Chef.

With his Filipino background, Dale focuses on Asian flavors. "I love the balance that Asian cuisine offers the salty, sweet, bitter and sour and the textures it provides for different experiences in every bite." One of Dale's kitchen favorites is a dry aged kobe rib eye. Dale says cooking meats is one of his favorite things to do in the kitchen and the technique that goes into properly searing and basting a rack of lamb or steak shows a lot of love. A motto that drives Dale is "expect perfection, because if you fall short your left with greatness."