Featured Florida Chef

Chef Dan Drayer

Chef Dan Drayer's culinary interests started in his grandmother's kitchen. "She taught me the love of food", Drayer says of his grandmother. This early influence eventually steered him away from a career in medicine to a career in the culinary arts. Although he decided not to follow his dad into medicine, Drayer didn't strike out for culinary school on a whim. During college and graduate school (the physiology program at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas), he waited tables, cooked and also did front-of-the-store management in various Texas restaurants. "I had a lot of seafood in my system," he says, referring to the abundance of seafood restaurants in his coastal hometown, Galveston, Texas. While food and science both lend themselves to creativity, the balance tipped toward food when Chef Drayer realized that entrepreneurial spirit is encouraged in the hospitality business, but is often missing in the science fields.

While attending an 18-month associate's degree food program in Denver, Drayer joined the cooking staff of the Heather Ridge Country Club near Denver. His professional career began at a small Italian restaurant in Denver that featured Mediterranean Italian country cuisine over the typical spaghetti and meatball fare, enabling him to stand out as one of the top three chefs in Colorado. After a move to Houston, he was recruited by Club Corporation of America, the first of several corporate positions that led Chef Drayer to Las Vegas to open Sfuzzi Vegas. It was a resounding success garnering critical reviews worldwide for the restaurant and the chef.

During this time of high visibility, Chef Drayer won top placement in the Culinary Olympics and taped a segment on The Food Network's "Cooking with the Stars". This exposure eventually led to a position with the Palm Restaurant at Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas and ultimately a move to Orlando to open the newest Palm Restaurant. After spending a couple of years at the Palm in Orlando, Talk of the Town Restaurant Group recruited him to work on a developing concept for Moonfish. With his strong background in creation, menu development and staff training, Chef Drayer fulfilled the Moonfish concept so successfully that the restaurant received awards as one of the Top 10 Seafood Restaurants in the country in its first several months of operation and recognition from the famed Dirona awards.

Chef Drayer has an easy, laid back demeanor but he is clearly passionate about his food, his profession and his restaurant. His cooking style has a well-thought out flair that draws on a multi-cultural base ranging from the Pacific Rim, the Italian countryside, the bayous of Louisiana or maybe even the streets of Chicago. "In food, you can grow continuously, and it is the growth that I enjoy the most," says Drayer. For him, growth comes with executing different types of cuisine, matching flavors and learning about food and wine pairings. "We do not want our dishes to be intimidating, but at the same time we hope each dish offers a little bit of culinary education. I always follow my instinct with my craft, trying to work with the highest quality people and products to ensure each dish speaks for itself by tasting great and satisfying the palate."

Moonfish is located at 7525 West Sand Lake Road, Orlando, Florida 32819. For reservations call (407) 363-7262.