Daniel Kedan

Daniel Kedan is an Associate Professor of Culinary Arts at the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus. As a member of CIA at Greystone’s inaugural associate degree class in 2006, he now teaches restaurant operations, fabrication, and the Farm-to-Table concentration of the bachelor’s program. His work emphasizes local ingredients, sustainable practices, and technical mastery, reflecting a career spanning roles as a chef, farmer, and educator.

• Education:
  • BAAS, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
  • AOS, Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, St. Helena, CA

With a focus on ingredient-driven cuisine and sustainability, Chef Kedan has shaped culinary education and practice through hands-on instruction and real-world experience. His philosophy bridges farm-to-table principles with professional kitchen techniques.

Daniel Kedan received the Norcal Public Media’s Food and Wine Award (2024) and contributed to Backyard restaurant’s nine consecutive Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand distinctions (2012–2019) and Slow Food’s Snail of Approval.

• Professional Roles:
  • Owner/Executive Chef, Backyard (Sonoma County farm-to-table restaurant)
  • Farmer/Bee Charmer, Bee Run Hollow (organic farm producing heirloom crops, honey, eggs)
  • Instructor, Wind & Rye Kitchen and Ceres Community Project
  • Former Executive Chef, Peter Lowell’s; Executive Sous Chef, Cantinetta Piero; Chef de Partie, Ad Hoc and Solage; Sous Chef/Chef de Cuisine, The General’s Daughter and Il Palio Restaurant