What a great guy. A friend suggested we have coffee together so I could meet Daniel Lanzilotta and see what he was up to. Great idea. Born in the Bronx, this self-made guy, who calls himself ” The Mindful Chef,” is trying to get people to understand that the world comes together over food. Daniel is a vegetarian, has been for decades, but says he doesn’t pass judgment on anyone who eats meat, it’s just not for him.

Daniel has cooked for some of the wealthiest around, but what he’s trying to impart to the world is that simple is best, that what you can grow in your backyard, planted with your own hands, is a beautiful thing. He knows all about that growing up in the Bronx. His folks grew everything on their little patch of ground. He watched his mother can everything, and make sauce while listening to his father who was a concert violinist. He wants to teach others about the simplest of pleasures. He’s working with school students and parents and is essentially reteaching what so many in this country forgot about. He says we’ve gotten so used to taking frozen stuff out of the freezer that we don’t know how to cook  fresh ingredients and that’s where Daniel comes in.

He told me in his classes with young children many just haven’t experienced the enrichment of cooking and he’s trying to bring that back. Home Economics isn’t much taught in schools these days with all the cutbacks.

Over coffee he told me about how he lives part time in France and loves the culture there because things are simpler and we can learn a lot from other countries and embrace it.

The video below shows you what Daniel is trying to do, I think he’s doing a great job of getting people up close and personal with food and the pleasure it can bring when shared with family and friends. Somebody get this guy on HGTV!

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