MAREDITHE MEYER
BizNews
the
Interview
LAST MONTH, Dane Baldwin became one of only five Milwaukee chefs to earn
what’s considered among the most prestigious national recognitions of culinary talent: a James Beard Award. The 40-year-old chef and owner of The Diplomat, a neighborhood restaurant serving modern-American cuisine on East Brady Street in Milwaukee, was named “Best Chef: Midwest,” putting him in a category with the likes of notable local chefs Sanford D’Amato, Adam Siegel, Paul Bartolotta and Justin Aprahamian, who was Milwaukee’s most recent Best Chef: Midwest awardee in 2014. BizTimes associate editor Maredithe Meyer caught up with Baldwin to discuss his latest achievement. What does winning a James Beard Award mean to you and for The Diplomat? “It means a great deal to me, and I know, (my wife) Anna, it means a great deal to her. My kids are walking around tall these days, as they usually do, but as to say they’re very proud. So, it’s fantastic to know – not in an effort to toot my own horn at all – that a lot of people who I’ve worked with have said, ‘You are one of the hardest-working guys that I’ve worked with.’ I do have a certain drive to just keep pushing forward, and 8 / BizTimes Milwaukee JULY 25, 2022
Dane Baldwin Chef and owner The Diplomat 815 E. Brady St., Milwaukee thediplomatmke.com
it makes you realize that to be recognized for something like this is such an honor, and you know how much work goes into it, there have been early mornings and late nights. And I don’t want that to be confused for a sense of burden at all because we’re entrepreneurs, so it takes a little bit of extra gumption to do anything we do anyway. But to know that it’s being recognized and well received by so many is such a great feeling, it really is. “We’re seeing a lot of new faces in the restaurant – it’s so nice to have that kind of exposure. Obviously, we’re in the business of return visits,
