Founder Dave Mack leads the team as Culinary Director, extending from his culinary roots an upbringing in catering then into specialty foods. In 2011, as Sales Director role for a caviar + specialty foods startup, he abosrbed from Miami’s culinary scene, prompting an audition for FOX’s Season 3 of Masterchef. Dave transformed a spot within the Top 18 contestants into Savorhous; an Artisan Food company focused on hospitality, customer service + flavorful culinary solutions.
As the timeline goes, the show was to air over the Summer of 2012 while Dave was contributing as a Sous Chef for his family's foodservice operation cooking for 500 people at a summer camp outside Cleveland. On a day off, Dave took heed to a foodie friend's advice to pay a visit to The Chefs Garden where he'd serendipitously run into Farmer Lee Jones. After connecting on food & the importance of the land that nurtures that food, Farmer Lee welcomed Dave back to the farm to volunteer for two events that summer held at The Culinary Vegetable Institute.
Little did Dave know then, but that interaction with Farmer Lee would open two doors that’d lead him down a proverbial rabbit hole. The first door, an introduction to Exec. Pastry Chef Colleen Grapes [The Red Cat] during Veggie U’s Food + Wine Event, then offering Dave a spot in 2012 NYCWFF’s Tacos + Tequila Event along with a week of stages at restaurants she’d arranged to nourish his passion while in NYC. The second door, an invitation to join Farmer Lee & a guest client for dinner at J&G Grill within Bal Harbour’s St. Regis hotel. That evening's thirteen courses over three hours of table conversation left Dave exposed to a culinary world far beyond his humble beginnings as a caterer. Dave would find himself a mentor at that dinner, as Lee's guest was Chef Jeff O’Neill [Aureole, Daniel, Le Bernardin, Barton G], who offered to put him to work on catered events which Dave lept at. This would grant exposure to a top tier chef & the opportunities to absorb criticism to hone his skills, developing his understanding of cookery with O’Neill. Over the next five years, Dave would contribute to every SOBEWFF production team while becoming a familiar face at Barton G Restaurant prepping for all events catered by Barton G in Miami.
2020 SOBEWFF marks Dave’s seventh contribution to the event since his introduction in 2013. He first volunteered to pitch in for Chef Anita Lo [Annisa] during “Best of the Best” at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach & in 2019, debuting his Sephardic comfort food as Executive Chef of his family business, Tastebuds Catering.
Since auditioning for Masterchef, this once avid home cook has earned his stripes through persistent eagerness to absorb & contribute to his unconventional breadth of culinary + event undertsanding. Nurtured his mentor & family catering business of 25 years, Chef Dave’s passion, dedication & creative energy has opened doors for him into the kitchens at The RBC Heritage, US Open & Masters Golf Tournaments, two Miami Open Tennis Tournaments, three consecutive StarChefs Int’l Chefs Congresses, The James Beard House, The Culinary Vegetable Institute, Belmond Charleston Place and most recently, Superbowl LIV here in Miami. Through Savorhous, Chef Dave produces a few popups of his own, offers boutique catering for weddings & events while continuing to freelance for other hospitality companies to keep his knives sharp.
Dave credits his family for the love of cooking food that nourishes souls as well as bellies, Farmer Lee Jones + Chef Jamie Simpson of The Chef’s Garden for sharing their passion for traditional root to table perspective & Chef Jeff O’Neill for nurturing his enthusiasm with culinary wisdom & for allowing Dave to prove the commitment to his “true north”.
At Savorhous, Dave shares his zest with the public via boutique catered events, popup dining experiences & by way of his small batch blends of herbs + spices to deliver flavor to savor. Dave is currently accumulating recipes & stories rooted to his upbringing to exposing how his Sephardic roots growing up in South Florida have shaped his own style of fare, identified as “Mediteribbean Cuisine.