Dan Jacobs: Almost Winning Top Chef — and Why Milwaukee Is America’s Best Kept Secret

Dan Jacobs is the chef and co-owner of DanDan and EsterEv in Milwaukee, a runner-up on Season 21 of Top Chef, and one of the most quietly remarkable people to come on this show. In 2016, four months before opening his first restaurant, he was diagnosed with Kennedy's Disease, a rare neuromuscular condition often mistaken for ALS. He went on to compete on Top Chef eight years later anyway. Mark and Kate talk with Dan about navigating a progressive illness in a physical profession, why Milwaukee's restaurant scene might be the best kept secret in American food, the advocacy work that came out of the pandemic, and what it means to build a team that actually takes care of each other. Also: sourdough pizza, cranberry bogs, and a brother who should never work a host stand.

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