Haley Duren

Coming Up

Training at Central New Mexico College shows up in Haley Duren’s work as control and repeatability, not flash. The foundation is technical: learn the mechanics, build discipline, then carry both into successive kitchens. That pattern continued in executive-chef roles at Cadence and later Long Count in East Village, New York City, where the job demanded the kind of decision-making that travels well across markets and dining rooms. At Kadence in Orlando, the executive-chef title sits on top of that earlier progression. The role reflects a career built through formal training and repeated responsibility, with Haley Duren’s name now attached to the standards and the dishes most closely linked to the restaurant’s identity.

Where They Are Now

Kadence in Orlando, Florida is where Haley Duren currently holds the Executive Chef title. It is the latest point in a path defined by college training and executive-chef appointments, with each step adding range without changing the underlying method.

Signature

Cajun Grits, Southern Fried Manicotti, and mac and cheese are the dishes most associated with Haley Duren. They point to a kitchen style that works in familiar forms while keeping a firm hand on execution. These are the kinds of staples that give a menu its shape and make a chef’s cooking easy to identify.

In Their Words “I switched to plant-based/vegan eating an cooking to tie in my changing the US’s food systems and my boycott of the animal agriculture industry.” “They are staples and I just couldn’t create a menu without them.”

Honors

Time Out named Duren among the Best Young Chefs in New York City Right Now. The distinction places Haley Duren within a specific moment in New York dining, where younger chefs were already being measured not just by speed of ascent, but by the clarity of their work.