Daniela Moreira
Daniela Moreira | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Moreira in 2016 | |
| Born | 1989 or 1990 (age 36–37) |
| Education | The Culinary Institute of America |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Spouse | |
| Culinary career | |
Current restaurants | |
Daniela Moreira is an Argentine-American chef and restaurateur. Trained as a fine dining chef, in 2015 she joined a mobile pizzeria business called Timber Pizza and helped it establish its first brick-and-mortar location in Washington, D.C., as executive chef. In 2018, she developed a bagel recipe and co-founded the Call Your Mother delicatessen chain alongside her business partner and future husband Andrew Dana. She has been recognized by Eater for her work as a chef and restaurateur, and both Timber and Call Your Mother have become popular restaurant chains and received critical praise.
Early life and education
Moreira was born and raised in Argentina. She grew up in Alta Gracia, where her parents ran a summer camp and restaurant. She began making pizzas during a summer job in her teenage years. Moreira attended culinary school in Córdoba until moving to Washington, D.C., at age 20 to work as an au pair. In Washington, she studied in the culinary program for immigrant adult learners at Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, then studied at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. After graduating, Moreira worked at Eleven Madison Park.
Timber Pizza
After a brief stint back in Argentina, she returned to Washington, where she met Andrew Dana and his business partner Chris Brady, who were running Timber Pizza by baking pies from an oven trailer at farmers' markets. She worked for Dana and Brady part-time while waiting to line up another fine dining job, but after a few months decided to remain at Timber.
Moreira became a co-owner and executive chef at Timber and helped to open Timber's first brick-and-mortar location in Washington's Petworth neighborhood in 2016. The small restaurant served what its owners called "Neopolitan-ish" pizza, along with items like empanadas due to Moreira's influence. The small restaurant, with a single large wood-fired oven, became a popular spot in Petworth. With her culinary training, Moreira professionalized Timber's operation. In 2017, Moreira was named to Eater's list of the best new chefs and restaurateurs. That year, Timber was named to Bon Appétit magazine's list of the 50 best new restaurants.
Call Your Mother
Moreira had never eaten a bagel before deciding to open Call Your Mother. To develop her bagel recipe, she sampled bagels from around North America and spent nine months developing the recipe in Timber's D.C. kitchen. Eater describes the bagel that emerged as having a "hint of honey" and occupying "a happy medium between fluffy, savory New York bagels and dense, sweet Montreal bagels." Call Your Mother's first location opened in the Park View neighborhood in October 2018. It quickly became popular, with lines down the block. It was named to Eater's list of best new restaurants in 2019.
During the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, Call Your Mother avoided layoffs of staff and grew 120% in the first nine months of 2021. The restaurant received major media coverage after President Joe Biden visited its Georgetown location in January 2021. Amid a wave of protests after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Call Your Mother received criticism on Instagram for alleged cultural appropriation. Moreira and Dana issued an apology, and the company removed photos of rapper Drake and renamed bagel sandwiches that had been tributes to Rihanna and Amar'e Stoudemire. "We now understand that these choices were co-opting Black culture and profiting off it, without truly paying homage," Dana and Moreira said. "As our company's leaders, we have not done enough to show what we have always known to be true: that Black Lives Matter. We stand with Black people, Black Washingtonians, and our Black neighbors in Park View."
In 2020, Moreira and Dana opened a full-service, South American-inspired restaurant in D.C.'s West End neighborhood called Mercy Me. The restaurant is located in the Yours Truly DC hotel.
Personal life
Moreira was briefly married in 2016. She and Andrew Dana became engaged in 2019 and married in January 2022. As of 2019, they lived in Petworth.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Black, Jane (February 11, 2020). "When a girl meets a guy and they make pizza pie, that's amore". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
- 1 2 Weldon, Sarah (June 22, 2017). "Daniela Moreira Took Pizza From Sibling Rivalry to One of D.C.'s Best Neighborhood Restaurants". Eater. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
- ↑ López, Natalia (October 25, 2023). "The incredible story of the Argentine woman who fascinated Biden with her bagels and built a gastronomic emporium in the United States". La Política Online. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
- ↑ Sidman, Jessica (August 14, 2017). "Two Guys, Daniela Moreira, and a Pizza Truck". Bon Appétit. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Goldberg, Morgan (February 13, 2024). "How I Got My Job: Making D.C.'s Buzziest Bagels". Eater. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
- ↑ "Eater Young Guns 2017: Meet the Winners". Eater. June 22, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
- 1 2 Alford, Monica (January 26, 2019). "A Day in the Life: Call Your Mother Deli's Daniela Moreira and Andrew Dana". District Fray. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
- 1 2 Shane, Cari (February 25, 2022). "How Andrew Dana Built a DC Pizza and Bagel Empire". InsideHook. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
- 1 2 Greenberg, Rudi (July 13, 2020). "How chef Daniela Moreira would spend a perfect day in D.C." The Washington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
- ↑ Byck, Daniella (June 29, 2020). "Call Your Mother Is Renaming Its Sandwiches and Removing the Photos of Drake". Washingtonian. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
- ↑ Spiegel, Anna (March 11, 2020). "Call Your Mother Owners' "Sorta South American" Restaurant Opens Soon With Breakfast Tacos and Tropical Drinks". Washingtonian. Retrieved November 5, 2026.