DUSTIN JOHNSON | CHAMPION LEGACY

This month’s cover star is a golf legend who has 24 PGA Tour wins, has won the US Open as well as the Masters and has dominated in the sport. At LIV Golf, he is an Owner/Captain of the 4Aces and has achieved success here as well! Dustin Johnson is passionate about the game of golf and with the season kicking off in Riyadh on Feb 4th, we wanted to know more about how he came to this game, how he trains for it to optimize himself for his game, and to know more about why he joined LIV Golf and to understand what it is like for him to be in this role. We also talk with 4Aces GM, Chris Rosaasen to know more about this team, its vision, sponsor brands, and more!

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with golf and when did you realize that you wanted to play it professionally?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I fell in love with golf as a kid when I was 6 years old. I always wanted to play professionally since I started playing. I knew I was going to play on tour when I was a Junior in college.

AM: In terms of optimizing yourself to hit the course, what is an average week like in terms of fitness or workouts that you do?

DJ: After dropping my kids off at school in the morning, I head straight to the gym. My personal trainer’s name is Joey D, and I have been working with him for a long time. After the gym I head straight to the golf course. When I am on the road during tournament weeks, I am in the gym every day, whether it’s at the gym at the golf course or the hotel. Working out is in my DNA.

AM: You have had a number of accolades in your career, from 24 total PGA wins, being ranked number 1 for 135 weeks, winning the US Open in 2016, winning the 2020 Masters and winning all 4 World Golf Championship events, just as the topline notes. What do those achievements mean to you?

DJ: [Laughs] It means I am pretty good and I won a lot of tournaments.

AM: Why did you want to join LIV Golf as you have done this for 4 seasons, you won the inaugural 2022 LIV Golf Team Championship, and you are about to start your 5th!

DJ: I appreciate and enjoyed my long career on the PGA Tour, and LIV offered me a new opportunity I really believe in. I get to travel the world growing the game that I love, while building one of the first sports franchises in professional golf.

AM: You just signed a 3-year extension to continue playing with LIV. Why are you invested in this League and how are you going to continue to build off your team’s success?

DJ: Similar to my answer above, I feel LIV is the best place for me, and I truly believe in its vision and growth and the 4Aces.

AM: For those that may not be familiar with LIV Golf in terms of its season and its team play, can you tell me more about this?

DJ + CHRIS ROSAASEN: On LIV we play a 14 event global schedule. We play in nine different countries and incredible countries/cities. We are like the Formula 1 of golf, putting on the biggest events in the most exciting places across the world.

AM: You’re the Captain as well as the Co-Owner of 4Aces. Can you tell us about how teams are created?

DJ: In 2022, we started the league with a draft. We’ve continued to evolve and mature as a league, as we welcome new players to the Aces and across all of our teams. I always have my eye on new & young up & coming stars to continue to carry the legacy of the 4Aces.

AM: Chris, you were previously the CEO of TravisMatthew before becoming the GM of 4Aces. Can you tell me about your background, how you came to this team, and what your role entails here?

CR: I originally was introduced to LIV through a handful of players that decided to make the switch from the PGA Tour. I attended the first US event in Portland, Oregon in July of 2022. While attending, I saw team golf apparel being sold for the first time and approached LIV about getting the contract to do apparel for all the teams at the time. That got my foot in the door to understand what LIV was all about. I started sponsoring the 4Aces in 2023 with an apparel company I founded called Extracurricular, and midway through the 2023 season, Dustin approached me about becoming GM of the 4Aces. I have been running the team ever since.

AM: What is your relationship like in working together in this Captain/Co-Owner and GM dynamic?

CR: It’s been great. Dustin has given me the freedom and his trust to run the team. I still see Dustin as my boss, and I run all important decisions by him before they are made, as we are running this business together.

AM: From a back of house perspective, what are the kinds of things that you worked on in the off-season to prepare for the upcoming season?

CR: I work with Max Russell (Our 4Aces Head of Sponsorship) on sponsor pipeline and getting deals to the finish line for the season. Also, strategizing on our team roster for the upcoming 2026 season is always top of mind. Lastly, from a brand building standpoint, we are investing in a new YouTube Series Behind the Aces which will be making its official debut later this year.

AM: How would you define the 4Aces brand?

CR: Our tagline is Primetime. We are the aspirational team on LIV that always gets noticed first when we show up at events. We model our brand off of the winningest, most prestigious brands in professional sports a la Lakers, Yankees, and Mercedes Benz of Formula 1.

AM: Tell us about your fellow teammates and what are your goals for the upcoming season?

DJ: Really excited to add Thomas Detry to the team, our newest team member. He is a proven winner on the PGA Tour and is hungry to continue getting better. I am also pumped to have Thomas Pieters back for this season. He is one of the most talented players on LIV and has so much upside. I am expecting big things from everyone and am optimistic this will be the best roster the 4Aces have ever fielded on LIV.

AM: Throughout the season, you play all around the globe in a number of amazing destinations. What are your favorite destinations and why?

DJ: Love Australia and the energy and atmosphere that crowd brings. Hong Kong is really special and is a great city to play and stay in. Lastly, I am thrilled to be playing in South Africa for the first time and have heard really exciting things. It’s honestly hard to choose, we go to so many great places...

CR: Australia is always top of mind for me and on top of the great crowds and city, the music LIV brings is always top notch and full of energy. Mexico City is the best if you love a food energy on top of a really unique challenging golf course. Finally, my favorite is Valderamma, Spain, an iconic golf course set on one of the most beautiful coastlines of the Mediterranean.

AM: As someone who is always on the go, what are 3 items that you like to bring with you so it feels like you have a sense of home with you?

CR: [Laughs] The road feels like home more than being at home sometimes. We are living out of suitcases 24/7.

AM: You just played at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and you’re about to begin the 2026 LIV Golf season at Riyadh. What are you looking forward to as 2026 seems exciting with going to a 72-hole format.

DJ: I am excited about the 72 hole format. It goes back to the type of golf and format I grew up playing. Also, I think it favors the better players, which I believe benefits my game out here on LIV.

AM: For fans who come to watch you play, what is that experience like as the blend between golf, entertainment, and culture must be such an immersive experience.

CR: LIV Golf’s format is unique in the sense that there is an individual and team competition occurring simultaneously. The shotgun start with everyone teeing off at the same time lends to fans having a 5 hour window on the golf course which allows them to see more of the action in a condensed period. I think LIV does a tremendous job bringing in local food and sourcing world class musical acts, making the experience something that is new and unique to golf. We have artists like Calvin Harris, John Summit, etc playing at tournaments. These are some of the biggest names in Music.

AM: What is the 4Aces Social Club and how does this take attendees enjoyment to the next level?

CR: The 4Aces Social Club is something we are really excited about ramping up in 2026 and beyond. We use it as our moniker to activate exclusive hospitality events both on and off the golf course. In 2025, we had our own private structure in Miami where we hosted friends and family of the team, sponsors, and VIP’s, and threw a couple amazing off-course activations – one being at a private car museum in Indy and a private dinner in Dallas. We have more events planned in 2026 and are continuing to invest in the success of the programming.

AM: From a brand perspective, you have a number of partnerships including your recent Under Armour contract, Santo Studio, Celsius, FlyHouse, SWAG Golf to name a few, You are the first team to have a men’s jewelry partnership via JAXXON and your brands reflect an incredible intersection between culture, luxury, and performance! What is the thought process you implement in terms of determining those brands that you feel best fits 4Aces ecosystem?

CR: Everything with our partners starts with authenticity. Our partners reflect our players and team ethos. Having new partners such as Under Armour – a leader in performance athletic wear and footwear – exemplify those premium brands who are coming on board because of our shared vision for the future of the sport. Frankly, all of our partners fit categories that are important to us as a team, whether that’s Celsius and their Live Fit mantra, which is core to us or FlyHouse, as our Private Aviation Partner and a standard of excellency and innovation in private travel, to DAOU Vineyards which is a world class wine California Wine Brand.

AM: You have a phenomenal career and you’re an owner of this franchise. Who have been mentors of yours as you have navigated your career?

DJ: I have had a some really important mentors in my life. Most important have been my dad, Wayne (Gretzky, my FIL) and Coach Terrell, my college golf coach.

AM: Why do you love this game so much and what do you want your legacy to be known as in this sport?

DJ: I love the challenge of golf. You are never going to be perfect at it. There’s always something you need to work on.

IG @dustinjohnsongolf

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | LIV Golf

Read the JAN ISSUE #121 of Athleisure Mag and see DUSTIN JOHNSON | Champion Legacy in mag.

COURSE BOUND WITH JULIE TYSON

On Aug 16th - 22nd, THE NORTHERN TRUST golf tournament will be back at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, NJ. We attended back in 2019 and in anticipation of the upcoming event, we wanted to find out more about this tournament, its importance in the golf season and how it benefits its communities. Julie Tyson is the Executive Director of the PGA TOUR of THE NORTHERN TRUST. She shared her career journey, how she came to working in the golf industry, her approach to putting on one of golf's biggest tournaments as well as how she balances a myriad of schedules.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Back in 2019, we had the opportunity to go to THE NORTHERN TRUST and had an amazing time there so it’s so great to find out more about this tournament and your role in it. I’m also excited to chat with you as we are fellow alumnae at Indiana University so it’s always nice to connect with people from there!

JULIE TYSON: You are! You’re a Hoosier?

AM: I am and I was impressed that you were a founding member of the IU Dance Marathon on campus as I enjoyed going to that and raising awareness!

JT: That’s amazing and so cool! I’m on this sports board that they have now at IU and we had a board call last week and it’s like a who’s who of sports. I was listening on the call and I thought, “gosh Indiana turns out some really talented people!”

AM: Without a doubt!

JT: Well you included!

AM: Well thank you!

JT: You have quite a business!

AM: Thank you for saying that! It’s been an incredible journey and even in this time of the pandemic, we were really able to take stock to optimize what we’re doing while working on some really amazing things that will be launching soon! You know, in doing this magazine, we talk to so many people across a number of verticals and a number of them have come from IU and it always makes me think of just how phenomenal of a school it is and how far their arms reach! I’m from Indiana originally so I always wanted to go there, but looking at it from where I am now, seeing all the people that come through there it truly is incredible.

JT: I have 2 older brothers and I’m from Chicago originally and they went to school there during the Bobby Knight era.

AM: Same!

JT: And just like you, but for a different reason, we really wanted to go to Indiana University badly. I remember my first foot steps onto the campus, I had a couple of those pinch me moments like, “I can’t even believe that I’m here!” It’s such a cool experience.

AM: I loved it so much that after my freshman year, I became an Orientation Leader there every summer for the incoming students that were coming in! I’m still friends with a number of the people from those teams as well as students that I oriented. Bobby’s last year was my senior year, but my memories there were truly incredible and anytime I get to talk to others that went there, I know that it’s good people.

JT: Awww me too. I agree completely.

AM: Exactly. You have worked in this industry for a number of years. What is your background and what led you to working in sports and specifically to the golf industry?

JT: I was in media sales for a long time out of Chicago and I remember very distinctly boarding a plane and it was one of those really small 19 seat planes and I was in Michigan and it was in Feb. and I thought that it was freezing cold and dark and I need to do something different. I started to think about what would be next for me and I thought that being an agent would be interesting and fun. So my easiest path in I thought would be women’s sports to become an agent. I thought that I didn’t want to travel all over the globe at that stage in my life so that eliminated tennis because they were playing a lot of their events globally and I thought that golf would be an interesting thing because it was very well established and sort of fit with the lifestyle of not being in freezing cold Michigan weather.

So I reached out to the Vice President of Business Affairs at that time and said, “If you ever need help with your television, I’d love to help.” We got through a bunch of conversations and lo and behold he became the Commissioner of the LPGA, a guy named Ty Votaw. So I went to go work with the LPGA initially and worked there for a long time. It’s a very entrepreneurial setting where if you can dream it, you can do it. I loved my first foray into golf through the LPGA and then my career progressed and I ended up working at the PGA TOUR first in Account Management and then in Global Sales. Then, in 2017, my path led me to a counterpart and a friend that had become the head of our Championship managed event that we own and operate a portfolio of events and he asked if I ever wanted to come and run a tournament within this group of events? That began my event management experience was in 2017. THE NORTHERN TRUST happened to be moving from LA to NY so it was a perfect time for me because I got a new title, we were playing new venues and so everything was new. I didn’t walk into a big legacy really even though this event has been played in and around this area for over 50 years!

AM: That is quite a journey. Before we get into THE NORTHERN TRUST, can you tell me about your role at the PGA and what your day-to-day is like?

JT: So, I’m the Executive Director which means that literally if you think about it like a CEO of a small business, every aspect of the event rolls up through me whether it's client relations, whether it's operations, local relationships with the city or the state – putting on an event like this you have to let everybody know you’re coming to town and make the appropriate accommodations, marketing, HR, everything under the sun. Now the great part about this is that if you think about it like a franchisee, I have the PGA TOUR in the backdrop that we’re owned and operated and I have those resources that I can tap into on a daily basis. But we’re pretty much in NY running our own show up here.

AM: As you mentioned, THE NORTHERN TRUST is over 50 years old, can you tell us about this tournament which is the first of 3 Fed Ex Cup Playoffs events? What makes this such an important event?

JT: This is probably one of the most competitive events in all of golf where players compete throughout the regular season to earn enough points to make it to the Playoffs. We are the first Playoff event as you said. So we only accept the top 125 players in the world. If somebody gets sick or decides that they don’t want to play this particular week, we will play with fewer people. We won’t bring anybody else in. Not only do they compete to get into this event, after this event, we will cut as the Playoffs progress as they go from this event to the second event it will go to 70 players. So for some number of players like 55 players, their season will end at the conclusion of our tournament at THE NORTHERN TRUST because they didn’t earn enough points to make it into the top 70. So that’s 1 and 2, we tend to be one of the largest global platforms first being in and around NYC which is a huge enough platform to begin with. This event is also televised in over 220 countries worldwide so it’s a really big stage that we're putting these guys on. Lastly, over the course of those 3 weeks, these players will pay for over the 3 week run between the bonus pool at the end and the 3 weeks of purses, almost a $100 million in prize money. So that in and of itself, the scale of the stage, the number of hours of television, the platform, the fact that their season could end – there is a lot at stake here that these guys are playing for. So, really competitive environments tend to produce memorable moments on the golf course.

AM: Wow that is very critical in the fact that you could be ending your season after that particular tournament. How far in advance do you begin working on a tournament like this and as we’re a few weeks away, what does your schedule look like leading up to it?

JT: This event typically rotates in and around NY and NJ and in 2020, we played in Boston. We start planning 18 months in advance for where we are going to be in the upcoming year while simultaneously completing the steps towards the current year’s event. We have to be building 2 events simultaneously.

AM: When people think of golf, they think about The Masters, The Players or The Open as opposed to thinking of a tournament that’s minutes away from NYC, what are the intricacies of having a PGA TOUR event in NYC?

JT: Yeah. Interestingly here a local NYer or someone from NJ that is from the area will tell you that convenience is key! You have to have an easy way to get to something no matter how compelling. Unlike some of these other places where you’re in Augusta, GA and it’s convenient and easy to get to once you’re on the grounds of Augusta – you’re pretty local there. Here we battle traffic and all of these other kinds of modes of transportation. I think in 2021 what you will see as fans is that we have made it more convenient to get to the tournament. This being our first time back since 2019, we learned a lot from our fans so parking will be easier, we’ll have our rideshare much closer, our Ferry will drop off at the Liberty National Port instead of at Port Liberté. It will be super easy to get the opening and closing holes. So we have made it more convenient – that’s 1.

2, I think that if you live in the area, you have access to pretty much anything that you could ever dream of from world-class food options to entertainment so we really have to try harder to make this a singular experience that is super memorable. So we have really held ourselves accountable to building something that we think will get people to come back time and time again and hopefully your experience proved that we’re working hard on that front.

AM: I thought it was awesome. We went to the Media Day the day before and took the ferry over that day. I thought it was really cool. Who would have thought that steps away from the city, we have a golf course that we can go to without having to go to other regions in the country. It was really well produced and I’m excited to see what this year will be like. When I think about the music festivals and fashion weeks that we have attended it’s always challenging to do them when you’re talking about doing them here!

JT: I totally agree and we’ve lived through every challenge. COVID being what it is, to have THE NORTHERN TRUST last year in Boston during COVID which I can’t think of anything that is more complicated and we successfully pulled that off so we learned a ton about running events in a COVID environment just like everybody did in running their businesses.

AM: Speaking to that, running any type of event during COVID is problematic. What was your approach last year to tackling it and being in a different locale and keeping in mind all of these other factors that were literally outside of your control?

JT: Well, first we had to determine what was going to be our North Star. Our North Star was always going to be safety. Safety of the players, safety of the fans, safety of the volunteers, of the staff and in every step. We decided that we were going to operate without fans because we didn’t know if we could effectively do it as there were a lot of unknowns about COVID, there were no vaccinations - we just didn't think that we could aggregate people in a safe way. We knew that with the areas with the population of people and volunteer staff and players, that we could control how they could engage, we could control social distancing safety measures. So safety was always going to be our North Star. The second part of this and I think with anything that you’re going through with a crisis, is communication. We over communicated to everybody, the league, we communicated to the state and health officials. We over communicated with people and brought everybody into the process so that they could transparently see what we were planning to do and to advise us if we were going down a bad path. It helped us to be able to play in a time where most sports were unable to. We were really excited to be able to do that and to deliver to fans so that they could at least watch it on TV.

AM: In 2019, we had the best time watching Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka play and walking the course as they played. So for this year’s event, what kind of hospitality features and experiences that fans can enjoy while watching their favorite players.

JT: I think one thing to note is that if you’re a golf fanatic, we’ve got an option for you which is golf with a side of fun, but if you’re not super into golf and you just want to watch a little bit of golf, we’ve got fun with a side of golf. I think that more and more our fans are starting to see that you don’t have to watch 8 hours of golf if you don’t want to. We’ve got hospitality options that range from anywhere from over a little over $100 a ticket to all the way to $7,500 a ticket. It just depends on the level of convenience that you're looking for. So at the high end of that, the $7,500 ticket gives you valet right up to the door of the club. At the lower end of that, you’ve got access that will keep you out of concession and food lines and it gives you a reserved seat which generally is hard to find in golf. We’ve got hospitality options with everything in between and it just becomes things like climate control, shade or location on the golf course if you’re on a finishing hole. Those things come at a premium. We’ve got people and opportunities that can help coach you through any kind of opportunity that you want to experience. I think that the most interesting thing is for our Grounds Patron. We have 6 miles of front row seats for our Grounds Patrons which is unheard of in sports. Also, our amenities bring in local flavor with our food partners that you saw in 2019. So Shake Shack, Luke’s Lobster and Pizza Vita are there. We also brought in Playa Bowls which is a healthy option that was one of the bits of feedback that we got back from our food partners. We’ll have a wine garden that we fashioned after a North Fork vineyard experience with Adirondacks and food for purchase that pairs up nicely with wine as well as other kinds of experiences that people can enjoy. Again, if you’re interested in fun with a side of golf, we’ve got all kinds of space on a 6 mile golf course that is out in fresh air for you to enjoy with your friends.

AM: In addition to watching amazing athletes and having fun on site, there is also a charitable component as I know you’re focused on food scarcity. Can you tell me about where the proceeds will go to this year?

JT: Thank you so much for raising that as it is super important to us. Right now, we’re trying to frame up our relationships with our charitable partners and part of the reason why we’re still working on that is that it is the tournament’s proceeds that go out to that charity. So we have to hit the numbers in order to take the proceeds and provide them out. What we have tried to do is to pick some themes under the umbrella of Community Champions and Community Heroes. We know everyday that there are people going to work to make somebody else’s life better. Wherever we and THE NORTHERN TRUST as our title partner can go to work and help make those folks lives easier, we want to be able to do that. Things we've focused on include food scarcity that is coming out of COVID in NJ. They're focusing on real issues and summer is always tough with kids not going to school and having a guaranteed meal so that was one that we knew we wanted to be able to help. We’re looking at Boys and Girls Club, The First Tee which is our national charity partner with local chapters. We work with Tackle Kids Cancer, so we have a whole host of charities that we’re talking to right now and we want to help them in 2 ways. 1, with proceeds and financial underpinning and 2 is to take the PGA TOUR’s broad spotlight and shine it on those charities so that not only are we giving to them, but others that can afford to give are also supporting them. So you will see a lot of that going into the weeks leading up to and during tournament week.

AM: Going back to the point you were making with safety being a North Star, what can fans expect when it comes to their experience on-site at the tournament this year in terms of protocols and adherences that are taking place?

JT: Happily, NY eclipsed it’s 70% mile marker with vaccinations so that has been a mile marker that we have been waiting on for a long time! That being said, we also know that as people take their first steps back out into society, they’re going to do this in a cautious way and we want to meet them where they are. First, our food service, even when you’re in a shared structure for hospitality, where we used to have a buffet, we’re going to modify those experiences in terms of the way that we serve and produce the food so that we can make sure that everything is done safely, prepared safely and served safely. Second is, we’ve got fresh air that people can enjoy so we will keep things largely open air this year, more than we have in years past. That's due in large part because of COVID, but also because we have all been cooped up and we think that people want to be outside a lot more. Thirdly, we want to remove the judgement from mask wearing so we will be an environment where if you feel that you want to wear a mask, there will be no judgement and we will encourage it, but it will not be required. Generally speaking, we have an army of volunteers that will be wiping down surfaces and making sure that we keep people a reasonable distance apart – all those things that we have come to expect and want at a golf tournament will continue. I think that our 2020 experience made us much more knowledgeable to know how to operate in this environment.

AM: Wow, it seems like you have so much on your plate with so many different types of schedules running, outside of your job at the PGA TOUR, how do you take time for yourself?

JT: You know, I think that work and life sort of blend together and I’m fortunate because I work in golf and golf is a passion point for me. Being outside is a passion point, so I get to do a lot of what I like to do anyway. I have a family and I have a dog and things like that and when they want your attention, you sort of just give into it at those moments. So everything has its place and I’m grateful that I have all of those things because they are welcome distractions.

AM: How do you give back to the community whether it’s golf or philanthropic endeavors that you’re involved in?

JT: I sit on a couple of boards, but I think that really the thing for me is that my job marries to my passion point. Every day I get up and I get to think about the tournament that my team and I, THE NORTHERN TRUST, that operates with us will be able to benefit the communities where we play. I’m really lucky in that regard because I get to do that every day for a lot of hours a day. We all work a lot of hours and part of my mission is to make sure that we’re serving those communities and building deep roots and I’m grateful that we get to do that so that work and life get to blend together in that way.

AM: It’s always great when we get the opportunity to talk to changemakers and I think especially when we talk with women in sports that are dominating their fields and doing such an amazing job. I know our readers will enjoy it and personally, just prepping for this interview and seeing the dynamics of your career, I was really impressed and excited to talk with you and to see this event from another vantage point!

JT: I’m impressed with you! You’ve got this business that you created from the ground up are you kidding me? This is amazing. We love your support in covering this tournament.

AM: We’re always about storytelling and I love bringing awareness to a number of our topics especially when it comes to areas where people may not think of women being involved in. It’s exciting to see what the landscape can be especially for younger women that are coming up that they will have a better footing than what we had when we started on our journey.

JT: Hopefully that is true or we’re not doing our jobs. Someone once told me, “when you get to the top, send the elevator back down for women.” I’m grateful that you’re helping to do that and any way that I can do it, I want to do it!

IG @PGATOUR

@Thentgolf

PHOTOGRPAHY COURTESY | PGA TOUR/THE NOTHERN TRUST

Read the JUN ISSUE #66 of Athleisure Mag and see Course Bound with Julie Tyson in mag.

TASTE OF DERBY WITH CHEF DAVID DANIELSON

Known as the greatest sport in 2 minutes, The Kentucky Derby takes place the first Saturday in May. Although last year's Derby was postponed until the fall of 2020, all eyes are on Louisville this year. The Kentucky Derby consists of a number of events that lead up the big race. Derby Week and Derby Day is filled with races, fun events, cocktails and food.

We caught up with Executive Chef David Danielson who has consulted on numerous large scale special events throughout the world including Super Bowl XLV, U.S. Open Tennis tournament, Summer Olympics in Beijing 2008, Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010, Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014, Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Lollapalooza, was the personal chef to The British Consulate General and has lent his expertise to PGA Tour events and the Grammy Awards. He is the co-author of The Bourbon Country Cook Book: New Southern Entertaining: 95 Recipes and More from a Modern Kentucky Kitchen. In addition to a number of appearances on-air nationally and locally, he was a celebrity judge on BRAVO Season 16's Top Chef.

Chef Danielson has been at Churchill Downs for 10 years. We caught up with him right before Derby Day to find out about his culinary background, why the Derby is so important, what the official menu is and how you can make it at home during your viewing parties if you won't be on site this year for the races on May 1st.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Can you tell me a little about your culinary background and how you came to Churchill Downs?

EXECUTIVE CHEF DAVID DANIELSON: I've been here for about 10 years and am classically trained in fine dining as my career began at Dumas Pere L’Ecole de la Cuisine Francaise in Chicago and continued at the Ecole Hotelier Tain l'Hermitage in France.

I continued working along with the industry's most renowned chefs in North America, Europe, the Caribbean, Asia and South America.

Before joining the team here at Churchill Downs, I was an Executive Chef at Rockefeller Center New York with Restaurant Associates and was Executive Chef of the United Nations Plaza Hotel in New York City, the Chicago Ritz Carlton, the Palmer House Hilton Chicago just to name a few.

When I was in NY, I started doing some large events and I spent the next few years doing the Olympics, the PGA, US Open Tennis and that's when it brought me here to Kentucky to be the chef at Churchill Downs. This is my 11th Derby and it's the most amazing sporting event that I have ever worked.

AM: Our Co-Founder grew up in Indiana and went to college at Indiana University so visiting Louisville regularly in the months, weeks and days leading up to the Kentucky Oaks and the Derby was filled with excitement! As the Executive Chef at Churchill Downs, what is Derby week like for you leading up to the big race typically?

EC DD: You know, like everybody else, it builds up and there is a ton of excitement. For us, it's lots of work. We have thousands and thousands of people coming through our doors. So we work, not only for months in planning and preparing for this, but then we get to Derby week and it's really about production. It's about getting everything organized and getting everything together. It's about getting with the fans and really creating an amazing experience for the whole week but certainly leading up to Derby day on Saturday!

AM: It's been quite a year, but with more people getting vacccines, we're seeing things opening up again like the upcoming Derby. What is it about the Derby that is such a great an event?

EC DD: The thing here is that it's a beautiful day out here. It's a combination of one amazing racing, it's the most exciting 2 minute sport plus amazing food, great drinks, fashion and you know you can feel the energy when people come in here. Everyone is watching the races and then you get a break. You get to make new friends, see old friends. It's really a day long party and a day long celebration. That's what really makes it unique for us.

AM: For those who will watch from home, what is the official meal for this year's derby and how can we recreate it at home?

EC DD: Every year we write a new menu and change it up. We try to give a new experience every year. One of the things that's so exciting this year is our partnership with Vidalia Onions. They are official partners of The Kentucky Derby and they are on our menu. We're featuring several of their onions in our recipes both here on our official menu as well as recipes that we have created for people to be making at home when they are watching the Derby. So that's a lot of fun for us.

AM: What is it about Vidalia onions that we should know about as it seems that much like Champagne is designated by its region, the same is true of this varietal.

EC DD: Absolutely, Vidalia Onions only come from 20 counties in Georgia and it's really a combination of the weather and the soil that makes these onions so unique and so special. They have a really great sweetness and crispness. They are really unique and different from any kind of onion. We love to showcase these amazing products. We also like the seasonality of it. They really come into season in the middle of April and then you see them in the grocery stores and they really available until about August.

AM: What are some tips that you can provide in order for those that are holding viewing festivities at home?

EC DD: One of the things that we're doing here is that we have several different dishes. We have chicken, a sauteéd chicken dish with Vidalia Onions and mushroom sauce which is really easy to make at home. But I love the versatility. We've got a black-eyed pea salad with some pickled Vidalia Onions. Then we've turned it into a chutney with some roasted down peaches putting that down over some barbecue pork sliders. There are just so many things that you can do with it that that is one of the things that we do when you're putting recipes together and looking at these menus, you're trying to find those ingredients that really stand out and make a difference when people bite into that and taste it. They say, "wow that's really something different and something that we don't see everyday." For us, that's the fun of being able to really showcase this type of product.

AM: These dishes sound great and whether it's making the official meal served at The Kentucky Derby or the one for those that are viewing at home, where can we get those recipes?

EC DC: You can visit VidaliaOnion.org and KYDerby.com at the Recipe Central. The recipes will be there and we will be sharing all of these dishes as well as some other dishes. You can see them as well as try to make what we will enjoy here at Derby or those that are meant for viewers at home that we have created.

AM: What is your beverage of choice after completing a successful Derby week of events?

EC DD: The first one that I can get my hands on haha! It's a long week. I'm usually pretty careful as we work about 20 hours a day all week. So, when it's finally over Sat. night, I get home and I usually pour myself a couple fingers of bourbon haha.

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 62 Vidalia Onions | PG 60 + 65 The Kentucky Derby |

Read the Apr Issue #64 of Athleisure Mag and see Taste of Derby with Chef David Danielson in mag.