This week on the Titans of Food Service podcast, Nick Portillo speaks with celebrity baker Dana Herbert. With a background in both savory and pastry arts, Dana has made a name for himself not only in Delaware but also nationally, thanks to his appearances on shows like TLC's Cake Boss. Nick and Dana discuss the importance of mentorship and the unique challenges of running a bakery while maintaining high creativity and quality standards. Dana also reflects on his experiences working with celebrities and emphasizes the significance of practice, resilience, and the joy of baking, revealing how these elements have contributed to his success in the competitive food service industry.

Quotes

• "So when you get these surprise ingredients, I think you really just have to fall back on your training and on the knowledge that you do have. When I was in school, I had this one teacher, and she said, if you can smell anything sweet in something, it can be used for a dessert." -Dana Herbert

• "Life can be circling around you the whole time, and you don't even see some of the possibilities and things and connections that are going to happen in your career." -Dana Herbert

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Intro

(01:08) Meet Chef Dana Herbert

(03:31) Dana's Culinary Journey and Inspirations

(05:59) The Story Behind Desserts by Dana

(06:28) Competing on TLC's Cake Boss

(10:44) The Challenges of Cake Design

(19:34) Lessons Learned from Mistakes in Baking

RESOURCES

Portillo Sales

CONTACT 

Nick: nick.portillo@portillosales.com

There are a million ways to make money in the food service industry.

You just have to find one.

On the Titans of Food Service podcast, I interview real life movers and shakers in the food game who cut through all the noise to get to the top.

My name is Nick Portillo, and welcome to the Titans of Food Service podcast.

Let's jump right into it.

Welcome back to another episode of Titans of Food Service.

I'm your host, Nick Portillo, and today I continue my across american 50 weeks tour where I interview one titan of food service from every single state in the country.

And on this week's episode, we're going to be highlighting the beautiful state of Delaware.

But before I jump in and introduce our guest, I want to remind everyone, please, if you're liking the channel, if you're enjoying it, if you could leave me a five star review.

Whether you're on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcast, that would mean a lot.

It helps more listeners discover these incredible stories from across the food service industry, and it would just mean a lot to me.

So thank you.

Without further ado, I'm excited to introduce today's guest.

Today's guest, he's a true master of the culinary and pastry arts, none other than chef Dana Herbert.

He's also known as Delaware's King of Cakes and the Sugar daddy.

Dana, the owner of Desserts by Dana in Bear, Delaware has made waves not just in his home state, but nationally as well, with his.

With his incredible wedding cakes, sugar sculptures, and custom desserts, plus many, many more.

Many of you may actually know Dana from his time on Cake boss, the next great Baker on TLC.

On that show, he took home the top prize in the finale.

He wowed everyone with his design skills and his impeccable taste.

And since that show, he has appeared on numerous national media outlets.

And we're going to talk about that in the episode as well.

But things from ABC's deals with Kat Kosley to being on Fox NBC, and he was even the grace, the COVID of Dessert professional magazine.

Truly remarkable.

But his skills go beyond sweets.

He's also, he's a trained chef in both culinary and pastry, making him a double threat in any kitchen.

His ability to blend sweet and savory flavors even earned him a spot on the James Beard celebrity chef tour, where his dessert was named one of the top ten all time desserts on the tour.

Whoa.

Highlighting a little bit about Delaware, his home state.

Delaware's food service industry.

While it's small in size, it punches above its weight the state is home to a thriving food culture that supports more than 50,000 employees and generates nearly $3 billion in annual sales.

From its rich agricultural roots to the influence of nearby metro areas like Philly and Washington, DC, Delaware has a diverse and growing food scene.

Whether it's the abundance of fresh, local seafood like blue crabs and oysters, or the growing farm to table movement, Delaware restaurants and chefs just like Dana bring creativity and passion to every dish.

Okay, without further ado, let's go ahead and welcome Dana.

And remember, if you're enjoying the show, if you can leave me a five star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast, that would mean a lot.

Let's go ahead and welcome chef Dana.

Welcome to the Titans of Food Service podcast.

I appreciate you taking time to come and talk with me anytime.

Thank you for having me.

So tell me, how did you get into the baking business or the food business?

Oh, goodness.

I totally blame it on grandma.

I'm a guy that likes to eat, and she was a woman that loved to cook, so I really just developed this love for food.

You know, for me, it was the one place you would find everyone at the end of the day was around that dinner table.

So food and love just kind of came together for me, and I just fell in love with food.

Yeah.

You know, it's my.

My wife, she's actually, she.

She loves to bake as well.

And, like, when she was going through high school and whatnot, she really got into baking cakes.

She did things for, like, weddings and different events.

Like, her and her mom really got into it.

Now they do one day a year annual baking day, which she loves.

But you've taken it to a whole other level.

You've been on television.

You're well known in the space.

So I want to learn more about that.

So you learned with your grandma at a young age how to bake.

Did you go to after that?

Did you go to school?

I saw you went to Johnson and Wales.

Was that to pursue a degree in baking?

Yes.

After I graduated from the University of Delaware in hotel restaurant management, I went on to Johnson and Wales University.

I did a degree on the savory side, on the culinary side, and then I stayed and did another degree on the pastry side.

Gotcha.

Is Johnson, is that by you?

Is that near Delaware?

That's actually in Providence, Rhode island.

There is another campus in.

Where is it?

Charlotte, North Carolina.

And I believe another in vail, Colorado.

Gotcha.

Okay.

At the time where, you know, when you.

When you came out of school, were you working in hospitality, or did you start your own?

Where did you go from there?

After school?

So after school, I did both.

I went to work for Marriott.

And it's funny, I took a job on the savory side.

I started desserts by Dana's, like, this little side business, because I didn't want to lose my pastry skills since I was on the savory side.

So I was kind of doing both at the same time, and the bakery business just started growing.

So desserts by Dana.

I was reading a little bit about that.

Tell me more about desserts by Dana.

So desserts by Dana.

I call it a retail and wholesale bakery.

Of course, we service our clients that walk in every single day, cookies and brownies, tarts, cheesecakes, all types of desserts.

You know, the cake pops, macarons, etcetera.

But then we also service hotels, universities, country clubs, and so forth.

So that's where we get our wholesale side of the business.

Nice.

And how did you end up on TLC's cake boss?

Oh, goodness.

I think on that show, I did a couple before that, and I had a little hiatus, and I was like, why not let me just throw my hat in the ring?

And lo and behold, I got picked.

Yeah.

What shows did you, did you do before that?

Before that one, I did ultimate kickoff with TLC.

Okay.

And I did wedding cake wars with we tv.

We've been blessed since then.

So we got a good run, I would imagine.

You know, you've been on all these shows.

Is there a direct, like, correlation or benefit when you go on that show and then people wanting to buy your desserts?

I believe so.

My feeling is that, you know, as a small business, especially in the beginning, it would be difficult to afford that type of exposure on national television.

So I always say it's always great when you can get some extra fire behind your knee.

And I think it really helps with the marketing and so forth.

Win or lose, as long as you have a decent showing, I think it'll help you draw additional clients.

I think I saw that you won.

What was it, one of the shows, the TLC cake boss?

Well, you were season one winner, correct?

Yes.

How did that work?

How many contestants were there?

Let me see.

I think there were.

I can almost remember it, like, yesterday.

I think there were.

Was it ten of us?

One.

Who's at the end of the table, Pammy?

There were twelve of us.

Uh huh.

And what were some of the different events that you had to or not events, but like cakes and things that you had to bake.

Sure.

Let's see, what was the first episode?

We had to do a celebration of some sort.

So my wife was Prego and I did a baby shower cake.

Lo and behold, I got the sex wrong because we ended up having a girl.

But the first one was a celebration.

The second one, I think we did the 75th anniversary of Monopoly.

Third one, I think was a holiday cake.

Fourth one was pyrotechnic related.

So it had rockets and all kinds of stuff coming out of it.

We did a cake for Buddy's son at the time, his birthday.

What else did we do?

Of course, we had to get into wedding cakes.

Have a cake competition without wedding cakes, of course.

And then we did some cakes for Chevrolet.

And I think the final one was a hoboken themed cake for the finale.

Okay, so he kept us busy.

I bet.

Now give me a peek behind the curtain.

So you're making all these different cakes.

Are you filming every episode essentially at one time?

Do you have to bake all these cakes within the same day?

No, we filmed probably.

What was it?

And this was fast to do a whole season.

I think we did it in 21.

Days and it was in Delaware.

Or did you have to go to New York or LA?

Like, was it somewhere else just outside of New York?

We were in Hoboken.

You were in Hoboken?

Okay.

Gotcha.

Yeah.

One of the culinary schools there was gracious enough to let us take over a wing of their school.

And that's where TLC filmed that show.

My wife and I, we always like watching, like, the themed shows, like whether it's like Halloween or the Christmas ones, you know, the different baking championships, the one hosted by Jesse Palmer.

Yeah.

And I'm always, you know, in watching that show, they always have like, different ingredients that you have to put in.

How do you know?

Like when, when you're presented with something, maybe it's like random different ingredients or to put together like a design, like the cake you have right behind you or a couple of them.

Like, if you were just like your.

Does your mind just like, think of those ideas just like off the top?

The reason I ask, I am like, not a creative person in the slightest.

I get to give myself credit maybe a little bit.

But to be able to think like that, that's just not how my brain works.

I mean, I'll be honest.

Sometimes the client's giving you exact orders.

Sometimes I just let the big guy, give it to me.

I'm not gonna lie.

Spiritually, I'm like, lord, what are we doing today?

I do that a lot with my magazine photo shoots when it's like, hey, Dana, I need a cake.

They show me a mood board, and they don't give me anything else, and they expect me to arrive with something that's photo worthy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

In competition, I think you get used to being thrown to the wolves a little bit.

So when you get these surprise ingredients, I think you really just have to fall back on your training and on the knowledge that you do have.

You know, when I was in school, I had this one teacher, and she said, if you can smell anything sweet in something, it can be used for a dessert.

So from there, to me, it kind of just took all the fear away.

I just had to figure out how to use different ingredients, whether it be, you know, rosemary or whether it be sage or something like that, to be able to incorporate it into a dessert.

Yeah, that makes sense.

That makes sense.

What about, like, I'm looking at the cake right behind you, the white one with the flowers.

Like, how do you create, like, it's like, I can tell.

There's so much detail and design that goes into that.

You make that by hand?

We do, yeah, I guess.

How should I say it?

No, no.

Two flowers are the same, so that takes a little bit of pressure off there.

I think the reality is you have to make it look delicate like a flower, so it can't be too bulky, too dense.

From a petal perspective, they have to be something, and then it just sort of comes to life.

Yeah.

Wow.

That's so cool.

I just love, you know, in watching these shows, like, just the things that someone's mind and, you know, what someone can create, you know, there's some really out of the box ideas that people, and I know that there's pressure.

There's time involved.

Right.

You only have so much time to put it together.

You're competing at the same time.

There is always too little time.

I think sometimes on purpose.

Like, you know, that cake should take 8 hours.

They're going to give you about five, six, because I think part of it is how can you adjust and still achieve something amazing.

Yeah.

When you.

For all these shows, like, how.

You know, in the beginning, it was a lot of applying.

Okay.

You might see, like, casting calls.

Say, like, with the cake boss one.

I saw something on Facebook, and I just clicked it.

I was like, oh, cool.

They're doing, you know, a competition.

You know, I thought it was a one day, but it was a season.

That's a whole nother story.

But that's how, I guess you could say, you start to find out about some of these shows, and then after that, I'll be honest, a lot of times I just get phone calls, say, hey, I saw your work.

Are you interested?

Yes.

Because I've been blessed to work with some of the different networks.

A lot of times they'll just tell me, yeah, we got your info.

You don't need to send that intro packet in or anything like that.

We know who you are.

I was going to ask.

Yes, you have to submit an intro packet for some of these because they have to verify that you can actually bake.

Yes.

Yep.

They definitely have to verify that you can bake, that you can decorate.

So a lot of times they really want to see, like, pictures of your work, things that you can do.

So it kind of gives the producer an idea of what you're capable of.

So as they're creating challenges, it would be pointless to have someone on a show that couldn't do what the producer wanted to, you know, film.

So they're looking for people that are capable of doing different artistic work.

Yeah, I can imagine.

Yeah, you probably have to have a certain skill set or a certain level of skill in what they're looking for in order to be competitive within the show and make it interesting.

Exactly.

And on a show like that one with the kickboss, it was everybody had their own, like, kind of skill set, had their own lane.

So it's like when you put us all in the same space, it was just like, oh, wow, that techniques really cool, or, oh, wow, that is awesome.

And then, you know, you're learning at the same time while you're competing, which was pretty cool.

To elaborate more on that.

So there's not, when it comes to baking, there's not any one specific type of baker.

There's different.

You know, you may all be baking cakes, but the.

Each person has their own twist or their own spin on how they do it.

To a degree, baking is definitely a science.

So there are, like, core recipes that I think that every baker kind of has under their belt, but then you start tweaking and twisting it and adding different spices, and someone might add a pinch more baking powder than somebody else to get a little bit more leavening.

So there's a core, but then we start playing around, like, for example, I think on that show, and it was the only time that I think buddy had said he didn't like my cake, and I was like, what the heck?

So to give you an example of that, the one day that we had off in those 21 days, I just baked, like, it sounds crazy, but I just baked my behind off for 8 hours, and I took this one recipe, and I just tweaked it, and I said, okay, well, let me add a little bit of pudding to it.

Okay.

Let's see how that comes out.

Let me add a little sour cream.

Okay.

Let me add a little more oil.

And, I mean, I just played with this thing all day.

It sounds ludicrous, but it worked.

Yeah, I'm sure.

Yeah.

You're mastering your craft.

Right.

It's like, it's like, I know we talked off camera about the Yankees and the Mets.

You know, those baseball players, they play on the games, but they have to practice in between the games as well.

You know, you're always, you know, you're always getting better at whatever that may be, and especially if you have a passion and a love for it.

You know, I'm sure at times it does feel like a job, especially running desserts by Dana.

Right.

You're.

You're running an actual business.

Correct.

You're doing what you're passionate about, but you're at the same.

You're running a business, and you have to practice.

You have to get better at what you're doing all the time.

Yep.

Absolutely.

You know, coming off of these shows, like, have you ever worked for, like, celebrities?

Oh, sure.

We've done a bunch of different celebrities.

Who have we done?

Ice cube, Oprah, Mike Vick, Bart Scott from the jets.

Being in the Philly area, I get different Eagles players at the time, like Ocellio, Hansen, Samuels, Jimmy Rollins.

We've done Trump, we've done Biden.

I'm trying to think, who else?

Dick Vermeil.

So we get all kinds of people.

Sometimes we don't even know the star athlete that we're doing it for.

Sometimes we get certain planners that say, hey, we need a cake over the top for a birthday.

It's one of the Miami heats.

We just can't say who it is, but he has a house in so and so and so.

Obviously, when you go into the house and you see some pictures, you're like, oh, snap.

So things like that do pop up.

And do happen when you work with these, this type of clientele or I guess just anybody in general.

And let's say they don't live within, you know, driving distance from you.

Do you do you deliver it, like, across country.

How do you get the cakes or whatever the dessert may be to these people?

I fly.

Like, if I have to do something for a client like that, or, say, even a wedding, they might fly me to the keys and be like, okay, here's your room with the oven.

You know, you got the fridge in here.

Make it happen.

So they might get me a suite and just say, make it happen.

I can imagine when the housekeeper walks in or something and she sees all the shelves out of the refrigerator, like, what is going on?

But, you know, I'm creating magic in there.

I bet.

I would imagine there's got to be stress involved as well.

Let's say you take the example of, you mentioned a couple presidents or you mentioned Oprah.

I mean, these are huge name people.

There's got to be stress around it.

Making sure that it's to the level that you want it to be at a certain level so that you're proud of the work and you want the client to be happy.

Have you ever had any moments wherever, like, you were?

There was, like, a lot of things that went wrong or mistakes or, like, a funny story.

Oh, gosh.

I mean, people ask me, how did you get so good at baking and pastry and all this stuff?

You make a lot of mistakes.

I mean, that's just the honest truth.

We go to school, we learn a lot.

But the reality is, like you said, you have to practice, practice, practice.

And sometimes in practice, you know, you miss catching that ball and get hit right in the eye.

So things happen.

Remember one time, and this is one of.

One of my really good delivery drivers.

Like, he was good to the point where I could send him out.

He'd take a little bag of buttercream in case something happened.

And if something needed to happen, he would fix that little spot on the cake.

Like, I mean, he was great.

So I get a call one night, and I forget what award I was winning because I was on the way to an award thing, and he says, hey, can you come back by the bakery?

I think I need help fixing this cake.

And I'm like, well, can't you fix it?

Like, I can't imagine something that bad going wrong.

And he's like, no, I think I need you to help me fix it.

So I walk into the shop, and I don't know why, but on the right hand side, I just see, like, this mess.

Like, it's cake mess.

It's like, cake and icing and this and that.

And I'm like, what the heck is that?

And he was like, that's the cake.

I was like, no way, bro.

No way, bro.

Not the one that we spent 10 hours on.

Oh, no.

Yes.

And as I examined it closer, I could see the zebra print designs and the polka dots.

And I was like, jesus.

So luckily, everybody was still there and each of us took an individual tier and.

And recreated it quickly to get it back up.

Yeah.

Wow.

I mean, like, it was, it was a five tier cake.

It was a big one.

And I was just like, unbelievable.

However, the lesson learned was I need to create a system of how we build the cakes, the structure, and to make sure those cakes can't move when it's on the board and so forth.

So now we build the cakes totally different and we don't have those type of problems anymore.

That's good.

That definitely a valuable lesson learned, for sure.

My vendors say though, they're like, you're the only one that builds their cakes like this and uses that type of stainless steel center pole that's screwed into the wood board.

I'm like, yeah, because it only takes one accident, you know, thousand dollar mistake.

And you're like, I won't do that again.

Because some of these cakes, I would imagine they're not cheap.

People are probably spending a lot of money.

I mean, you mentioned a five layer cake in 10 hours.

Yeah.

You're going to charge a lot of money for something like that.

Correct, correct.

You know, so to have those systems and processes in place, and you've probably been doing it for long enough.

You've been around, you know, being on these shows, and I'm sure just being in the industry, being surrounded by others who are also professionals at baking, you know, learning from them.

There's so many, like, little probably tips and tricks that you picked up along the way that make, made you not just a better baker, but also your company, a better company as well, correct?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Tell me about.

I see you're on television.

Is it called a DetV network?

Ah, detv, yes.

So I did, what was it?

Three seasons of the chef Dana show on Detv.

It airs locally here in the Delaware Philadelphia area.

You know, I think I was just blessed during COVID That's all I could say.

You know, I had a really great company come called Bath Kitchen and tile BKT.

They sponsored the whole kitchen.

It was gorgeous.

You know, they really, they really backed us up.

Appliances were donated by General Electric.

So I don't know, it was like a perfect storm just came together.

Did you do this during COVID Did.

That during COVID yes.

Not.

There couldn't have been a better time.

The in home baking craze was like, hit all time high.

I feel like during COVID I'm a food broker, and I represent different food manufacturers, and one of the ones that I represent is a yeast company, right?

Which I'm sure maybe you use yeast or at least know of yeast people.

I remember we would get orders for, like, normally, maybe like a pallet or two from us, from a food service customer in a month.

That's pre Covid.

During COVID we were getting like two.

That same customer, two truckloads.

And we're like, we can't sell you two truckloads of yeast.

You've been buying two pallets a month.

Because everybody came in, in home baker.

It was crazy.

Everybody.

I mean, yeast.

My wife is a food purchaser, works Gordon food services, and she would give me the heads up, like, hey, bro, you better go get this because it's about to be out.

And I'm like, what do you mean?

She's like, the pizza companies are sucking it up like water, man.

You better go get flour.

You better go get.

If you need yeast, just.

Just put some on your shelf because it's going to be gone.

And to your credit, like you said, here's people asking for truckloads of yeast versus a pallet or two, which was a normal consumption.

It was insane.

Yeah, I know.

It's just a different time, but good for you for doing that.

What about when you look at your career, of all the success that you've had, what is something that you still want to do that you've not yet achieved?

I mean, we're always growing.

I think, you know, I've been blessed to work with Aramark, and so we support some of the colleges in the area.

I would love to get into the stadium, love to get into Citizens Bank park with the Phillies, Lincoln financial with the Eagles, and so forth, or Wells Fargo with the Sixers and Flyers?

I would love to get into the sports side of the business.

I love that.

I actually went to a Sixers game last March.

I flew in for, like, a business conference, and the conference was Tuesday, Wednesday, and I flew in on Monday.

I'm like, okay, I'm going to live.

I'm going to do all the Philly things to do in like 5 hours.

So, I mean, I went to the Rocky Balboa statue.

I had a.

Oh, gosh, of course, a philly sub.

And then I went to a Sixers game.

I think I showed them, like, the third or fourth quarter.

And I like the Phillies, the Eagles, and the Sixers.

Those stadiums are all right there next to each other.

Yep.

And I was just there by myself, but I was like, I'm here.

I'm living the philly lifestyle.

I had 5 hours.

That's what's up.

Let's say experience a little philly while you can.

That's right.

That's right.

Well, chef Dane, I just want to say thank you so much for taking time to do this.

I really appreciate it.

And anytime.

Just thank you, and thank you for sharing as well.

I want to make, I want to go back and watch some of these shows, so I appreciate it.

Look, anytime, anytime.

I'll tell you one last funny thing about that cake boss show.

I competed locally in the Philadelphia area and have won some local competitions.

My wife pulled out a picture of when I won this one particular competition, and as I looked in the photo at the judges, buddy was one of the judges.

This is before he was ever on cake boss or anything like that.

So I just say that to say life can be circling around you the whole time, and you don't even see some of the possibilities and things and connections that are going to happen in your career.

But when I went and looked at that picture, I was like, wait a minute, babe.

Come here.

Look right here.

Who's that judge?

And she was like, no way.

And I was like, way back then, long before I ever, you know, got on any show or competed on anything, he had judged one of the, one of the competitions.

Amazing.

You never know, you know, that's why it's, you never know who's watching.

I, you hear that all the time, like, you know, building, there's some phrase like characters built when no one's watching, but they're all, there's always somebody watching.

Yeah, I remember Ron Ben Israel, another great cake artist.

When we, we lost, we lost wedding cake wars on we tv.

But he came over and he said, you know, you didn't win, but I'm telling you, somebody's gonna call you when they see this thing.

Because the cake that won was like this little cake.

And, I mean, we had been watching Food network, so, I mean, our cake was, like, monstrous.

It was huge.

And he was like, you didn't win, but don't worry.

He's like, somebody's gonna call you.

And then I got home, and there was an email in my inbox from TLC, totally different network.

Amazing.

How cool is that?

That was really cool.

How could people reach out to you.

What's the best way to connect with you?

There's multiple ways.

Instagram is huge for us right.

Nowesertsbydana, Facebook, esertsbydana, and of course, our website, dessertsbydana.com, are three easy places you can catch us.

Okay?

And for those listening, I my dad taught me when I was young how to spell desserts.

If you want to know how to spell desserts by Dan.

Because there's dessert and then there's desert.

Right?

He said desserts.

There's two s's because you want more of it.

So desserts.

There's two s's in desserts.

Yep.

D e S S e r t s.

What does it say?

Stress spelled backwards equals desserts.

Stress spelled back.

You're right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How cool is that?

Well, thank you again.

Thanks, Jeff.

Dana, this has been great.

Thank you so much.

And you have a wonderful day.

You, too.