Forklift Media was founded by Danielle Turner, a classically-trained chef whose superpower is making cooking simple. Her expertise includes more than 20 years of experience as a personal chef, cooking instructor, food stylist and writer. Her unmatched skillset combined with a love of cooking sparked by making her first batch of Rice Krispie Treats, are the building blocks of Forklift Media’s food-focused foundation.
Danielle graduated with distinction from the professional Culinary Career Training program at L’academie de Cuisine, the DC area’s premier culinary school prior to its closing in 2017. As a culinary instructor she’s taught more than more than 8,000 students in more than 800 classes at L’academie de Cuisine and numerous other venues like Anne Arundel Community College, Whole Foods, Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma. Danielle built the recreational cooking class program at Tastemakers DC food hall, where she was responsible for hiring instructors, developing class calendars and menus and day to day operations for the program.
She has penned articles for the Food Network Holiday Survival Guide and The Food Network Summer Grilling Guide. She wrote a recipe column for Patch.com and has contributed to sites including the MICHELIN Guide website, FabulousFoods.com, Culinate.com, ChefsBlade.com and DivineCaroline.com. Danielle served as the Dining Editor at DC Metro Plus and was Contributing Editor at Restaurant Digest, a monthly trade publication covering the foodservice industry in metropolitan Washington, D.C. Her crab cake recipe is featured in Just One More Bite! More Than 150 Mouthwatering Recipes You Just Can’t Resist by The Mr. Food Test Kitchen. As a featured chef in The Baltimore Sun’s ‘Make Over My Meal’ series, she developed original vegetarian recipes for a holiday meal.
Danielle was the food stylist for seasons one and two of the national, PBS cooking show, Pati’s Mexican Table. She was food stylist and recipe tester for Made with Love: The Meals on Wheels Family Cookbook and her food styling tips were featured in Woman’s World Magazine. The Food Network contracted Chef Danielle as a freelance food stylist, hiring her to style television appearances and live cooking demonstrations for network personalities Rachael Ray and Giada De Laurentiis. She has styled television segments and satellite media tours for numerous associations, public relations firms, chefs and cooking personalities. Danielle styled and photographed more than a dozen images in The China Study All Star Collection Cookbook for Benbella Publishing Company.
Danielle is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier. She lives and eats adventurously in Washington, DC with her husband and daughter. You can learn more about Danielle’s experiences as a chef, cooking instructor, food writer and food stylist at ChefDanielleTurner.com.
