Chef Duane Ward
Head Chef
Originally from Flint, MI, Duane is an award-winning chef bringing his culinary talents and passion to the personal services world. After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Duane moved to New York to continue his education. A few years later, Duane graduated from the The Art Institute of New York City. Chef Duane has held positions with the Dean & Deluca Commissary Kitchen, the trending paleo restaurant Hu Kitchen, and the Ainsworth Prime Restaurant at Madison Square Garden. He has also held various culinary roles with the New York Mets at Citi Field, The US Open Tennis Tournament, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, The Interchurch Center, KPMG, Adelphi University and Harlem’s own Londel’s Supper Club among others. Along the way, Chef Duane’s culinary talents have allowed him to audition for network television programming including the Next Food Network Star, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Chopped. Chef Duane has also executed projects for many well-known chefs and restaurateurs including Dave Pasternack, Drew Nierport, Andrew Carmelini, Jean George, Joe Bastianich, Keith Hernandez and Pat Lafreida. Chef Duane’s culinary accomplishments include the creation of artisan blend sauces through his company Sensational Sauces LLC, some of which have won awards including the World Champion at the World Hot Sauce Awards as well as the Hot Pepper Awards.
Through the success of Sensational Sauces LLC, Chef Duane has been featured at various culinary events such as Kings Who Cook, The American Cancer Society’s Taste of Hope, Resorts World Mid-Winters Taste, Battle of the Boroughs and most recently Star Chef Congress where he won the Ramen Battle as a member of Team Mihoko. Chef Duane has also been able to use Sensational Sauces as a platform to mentor tomorrow’s aspiring chefs and prays to do the same with his newest venture The Gourmet Guide! Outside of the kitchen, Chef Duane likes to be active in the community as a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. as well as serving in church ministries. Nowadays however, he spends most of his extra time with his twin boys Jacob & Douglas and wife Stacey.