Even before the prestigious culinary degree, the ascent through a celebrity chef’s demanding Bay Area restaurant program, Chef Daniela Vergara already had a serious cooking master imparting the wisdom that would shape her food journey.
“I would say the strictest chef I had was my mother,” said Vergara, executive chef at the chic Bungalow Kitchen in Tiburon. “I still have her in my head sometimes.”
Vergara is a rising star in the Bay Area’s food scene — working her way steadily through a number of well-heeled restaurants, exploring the international flavors of a variety of cuisines.
Growing up in Queens, New York, Vergara was immersed in the family’s Colombian heritage, especially when it came to food. At family weddings and other celebrations, there were no outside caterers. The family did the catering — with mama at the helm.
“Cooking with her really struck that wanton to learn and explore more of this culinary dream,” said Vergara, who has helped run a number of restaurants operated by Chef Michael Mina’s restaurant group.
These days, mom’s cooking advice is just a phone call away as Vergara runs her own cooking staff at the Bungalow Kitchen, which boasts a sweeping menu as well as sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay.
Vergara has plenty of experience under her belt since earning a degree at the Culinary Institute of America in New York and then accepting a job with Mina’s Chef Fellowship Program, which gives burgeoning chefs experience working in a series of restaurants specializing in vastly diverse cuisines. Through her time in the Bay Area, Vergara has alternately specialized in Hawaiian, Greek, French and Japanese restaurants.
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“It definitely broadens your palette, your sense of culture," Vergara said.
As a kid growing up in New York, Vergara grappled with the decision of becoming a chef or an architect. Her mother’s passion for cooking nudged her in the direction of food. But as a young woman trying to break into the male-dominated culinary world, she found many doors were closed. So she tried a different route and entered the Culinary Institute of America.
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“I’ll take it on my own hands, I’ll learn, I’ll get a degree in it,” she recalled. “And we’ll take it from there and hopefully the doors will open.”
The door swung wide open with her entry into Mina’s program. Yet despite all her education and experiences, elements of her childhood have also played a key role in her success. The Spanish she spoke predominantly as a kid has helped her communicate with her kitchen staffs. And her mother’s passionate cooking created an early appreciation for technique.
"Just the way she would ferment the corn for the tamales, the way she would stay up overnight preparing ingredients,” Vergara said.
Inside the Bungalow Kitchen, Vergara’s vast culinary worldview is on display every night. In one corner a Japanese chef assembles delicate sushi. Vergara turned out a perfect double pork chop accompanied by sautéed peaches. Barrels of zucchini were topped with arugula pesto and pecorino Romano cheese. It’s comfort food, run through a kaleidoscope of flavors.
But Vergara’s ultimate cooking dream is a full-circle journey of sorts. She hopes to one day open her own restaurant, devoted to the Colombian cooking she grew up with. Only, this Colombian restaurant will borrow from Vergara’s culinary travels through a universe of flavors. Maybe the experience cooking Hawaiian-style porchetta will help her execute perfectly crispy pork. Or her experience running a Greek restaurant will inform a delicate octopus dish.
“I just want to show people my culture, show the world Colombia and what I grew up in,” Vergara said.
And of course if she needs any help with the Colombian recipes, she can always hit up mama.
