Daniel Garwood

The Climb

Movement across kitchens is the throughline in Daniel Garwood’s development. Starting as chef at Garagistes in Hobart, then working as Chef de Partie at Kadeau in Copenhagen, he moved into chef roles at Evett in Seoul and Atomix in New York. Each posting added another layer of technical fluency and operational experience, and together they show a cook building seniority by working in rooms with different standards, cadences, and expectations. The present role at ACRU (since 2024) sits at the top of that progression, carrying the weight of everything that came before it.

Today

At ACRU, Daniel Garwood’s work is organized around sourcing discipline. The restaurant’s brief is explicit: local, sustainable produce only, with ingredients coming from at least the tri-state area, basically the northern east coast. That standard shapes the kitchen’s identity as much as any technique does, tying the menu to a defined geography and setting limits that also become a method.

Signature

Daniel Garwood’s signature dishes include Confit Potato, Scallop, Maine Uni, Yakju Glaze, Pickled Garlic Chives, Smoked Beets, Oxidized Pear Juice, Sturgeon Caviar, and Fig Leaf Lamington. Read together, they point to a kitchen language built on restraint, layering, and contrast, with sweetness, smoke, brine, and acidity held in balance rather than pushed to excess.

In Their Words “The whole philosophy of the restaurant is to only use local, sustainable produce. Everything has to be from at least the tri-state area, basically the northern east coast.”