Posts classified under: Food

Chef Darian, is a Jamaican chef bringing the heat to Buffalo, NY. He has been featured on Food Network, CBS News, ESPN, The Jamaican Observer, The Gleaner, TVJ and so much more. He arrived in the states in 2012 and has quickly rose to the spotlight through his pop-up fine dining dinners in surprising and unusual locations, private dinners and meal prep for Buffalo’s favorite NFL players, and his block long lines at his Jamaican pop-up events titled “Jerk Hut”.

Chef Darian specializes in everything extra from his signature fedora hats and chef jacket styles, to his jewelry, to his colossal surf and turf. Recently he opened a brand new dining concept, a boutique for chef services. The boutique allows the Chef to focus on his mission which is redefining the chef, bringing them from the back of the house to the front, with each dining party centered around his cooking.

Chef Darian believes that chefs are rock stars and should be celebrated as such, their food makes people happy and they should feel and see that love too. Through all his success he represents Jamaica to the fullest and loves to merge his Caribbean cuisine with all his fine dining dishes, hence the nickname, “The Fancy Jerk”

Corre was born in Sun Valley, ID and raised in Newport Beach, CA. She played sports at a high level growing up and played D1 volleyball at Brown University, where she was also just inducted into their Hall of Fame. At 23, she moved from LA to London and lived there for nearly a decade. She started her first company there, met her husband, traveled the world, and learned how to cook in London. She has been traveling to Capri, Italy almost every summer since she was 25. A number of her recipes are from that region or have been taught to her by people there. She and her husband Matt have been together since they were 24. They got married in Capri in 2011 and have 2 kids, Coco (9) and Bear (7). They moved back to Newport Beach in 2010. She started a defense contracting company selling armored glass to the military in 2011. She has a woman owned small business and sells directly to the US government. She recently sold her company in March of this year and retained equity. That is what she does in her day to day work. She also dabbles in selling antiques and vintage items on her Instagram page Corre.Marie. With all that she has done and accomplished… She feels like she is meant to work in the world of food. Doing what she is doing on Tiktok feels like she is finally on the path she was always meant to be on. She is highly driven, very successful, has incredibly high expectations of everything that she does, and works hard. She loves food- making it, eating it, and learning about it. She does nothing by halves.

Mark Drabich is a fishmonger by trade and a self-proclaimed “Big Chef” who just wants to assist the home cooks journey to “Little Chef.” Mark’s videos create unique and super easy cooking techniques for fresh seafood and multi-cultural fusion. 

Mark (aka The Funky Fishmonger) has been a Fishmonger for the last 36 years. During that time, he has created over 2,000 recipes for his clients to take the mystery out of cooking seafood at home. Mark’s Fish Market, Metropolitan Seafood & Gourmet, has been featured on the Food Network, the New York Times, NJ Monthly, and countless other media outlets. Mark also has an email following of over 12,000 and more importantly has consistently garnished a 44% open rate.  Mark has been called upon to be the “Fish Expert” on many programs due to his vast years in the seafood business.  If you talk with Mark, it will only be a matter of time before he exclaims “Fresh Seafood is the last hunted food source on earth and that every fish brought out of the Ocean truly is a gift and to be treated as such.”

His entry into social media began when one of his clients simply asked him if he could demo some of his recipes in their home.  One of the guests enthusiastically recommended that he perform these dishes on social media and the rest is history.  Mark is in fact not a trained Chef but as he puts it a very hungry fishmonger trying to maintain his thickness.  He playfully uses the term “Little Chef” to denote the home cook who does not have the luxury of time that professional chefs have.  These recipes, although simple, are “Weekend Worthy” but do not require hours of planning.  Mark leans hard into the flavors of his Mediterranean Heritage and is one of the very few seafood chefs who can not only show you how to make the most remarkable “Spicy Mussels with Pancetta” but will answer the age-old question, “Why am I not wearing a Fedora and Scarf when I cook?” 

His delivery is passionate and sincere as he shows us his life mission statement in every dish.  Mission Statement: To be able to easily and  Lovingly Cook for those in your life with the sole purpose of “Getting Legs Under the Table” and promoting human kindness one full belly at a time.