Don Diem

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At 36 years of age, Chef Don Diem has been in the restaurant business for 22 years. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he started cooking in a neighborhood Italian restaurant at 14. 

Realizing his passion at an early age, Don enrolled in the American Culinary Federation’s Chef Apprenticeship program immediately after high school. After completing his training, he followed his dream to live in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, where he landed a job at the highly acclaimed 4-Diamond Breckenridge Mountain Lodge. 

A year later, Don sought employment at the prestigious Edgertown Yacht Club on Martha’s Vineyard. After a brief stint there, his previous chef from the Keystone Lodge sought Don’s talents to open a steakhouse on Hilton Head Island, SC. 

It was not long until Don found himself working for Master Chef Tom Catherall in Atlanta, Georgia, at Tom Tom, a bistro. Chef Tom saw Don’s ambition and quickly made him Executive Chef at Noche, a boutique southwestern restaurant in the Virginia Highlands section of the city. It was here Chef Don achieved many great things, including the Zagat Distinguished Restaurant award; Atlanta Magazine’s Best Reason to Go To Virginia Highlands and, invited to cook at the James Beard House. 

Chef Don has also been featured in countless magazines and newspapers, participated in dozens of charity tastings, and has been on Good Morning Atlanta, Atlanta & Co and featured four times Good Morning Texas.

Chef Don is currently Corporate Chef for the Dolce Group. This position allows him to utilize his diverse skill set throughout various concepts in nine cities around the country.