Executive Chef/Owner

Growing up in Sarasota, Florida, Executive Chef Dave West learned the art of cooking with the help of his grandmother and mother.  His most vivid memory of cooking with his grandmother as a young boy was learning to make her signature dessert, Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  Chef Dave took the culinary skills he learned and continued to expand on them through adulthood.  After spending long hours at the office, he would use his spare time cooking and entertaining his friends with his culinary skills. Cooking for Chef Dave was always therapeutic for him and still is to this day.

After 29 years with McDonald’s Corporation, he retired as an operation executive.  This gave him his chance to fulfill his lifetime dream.  He enrolled in the French Culinary Institute in New York City and graduated in the top 5% of his class with a Grande Diploma in 2004.  While in New York, Chef Dave worked at restaurants such as Dish, James Beard House, and L’ecole.

In August 2006, Chef Dave and his wife, Karen West opened up Rolling Pin Kitchen Emporium in Brandon that includes a 1,000-square-foot Culinary Center so Chef Dave can share is love for cooking with the local community.  Chef Dave is the in-house chef for Rolling Pin Kitchen Emporium.