Dave Baker
Brochu's Family Tradition | Savannah, GA
November 2024
When he was 16, Dave Baker started working as a busboy at a local Italian restaurant in his hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A year later, he joined the kitchen team at CJ Callaway's, a fine dining spot where he learned the basics of life on the line, gained an understanding of professional kitchens, and worked his way up to sous chef over the next three years. Baker left South Dakota and moved to Chicago to enroll in culinary school at Kendall College. After several stages around town, he started an externship at Graham Elliot. During his first week, the restaurant got a new chef, Andrew Brochu. Over the next year, Baker sharpened his skills and forged a lasting friendship with Brochu. The restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars that same year.
Soon after, Baker left Graham Elliot and helped take over the kitchen at The Monarch, a bar in Wicker Park, with Chef Mike DeStefano before joining the team at Momotaro as a butcher. At Rising Stars alum Gene Kato’s West Loop restaurant, Baker learned about meat and fish butchery before becoming the sous chef at the izakaya-style restaurant downstairs. In 2016, he joined the opening team at Grant Achatz’s Roister. Working under Brochu once again, Baker learned to stay organized in the kitchen, manage a team, and oversee ordering. In 2019, after getting married in New Orleans, he came back to Chicago and worked as the morning prep manager at Gather in Lincoln Square while developing a brick-and-mortar concept with Brochu. When the pandemic hit, their plans fell through, and they started a temporary pop-up. Baker went on to lead the kitchen at Uproar in Old Town after Brochu relocated to Savannah.
A year later, Brochu reached out to Baker to see if he would be interested in moving down to Georgia to open up a restaurant. At Brochu’s Family Tradition, Baker is focused on creating opportunities for his staff to grow and building a more positive kitchen culture for the future. He is also exploring the flavors and traditions of Southern cooking while making the most of the innovative culinary techniques he learned during his time in Chicago with dishes like his dirty fried rice with chicken tenders, livers, butter-braised cabbage, egg yolk sauce, mustard hot sauce, and Cajun spice.
2024 StarChefs Charleston-Savannah Rising Stars Award Winner
