09/29/2026
🔦✨ THE SPOTTLIGHT ✨🔦
MEET CHEF DANIEL LASH
We asked Chef three questions about the food he loves to make at The Spott.
What do you love about being a chef in New Smyrna Beach?
Chef loves how much he can source close to home. His fish comes from Captain Chris Gercken, a local spearfisherman out of Ponce Inlet. He works with Fletcher Family Farms, and Dutch Oven Bread Company makes the sourdough just down Canal Street. As Chef put it, “It’s fun having a true farm-to-table restaurant.” He gets to know where the ingredients come from and the people who bring them to his kitchen.
What has shaped the way you cook?
Chef has spent 20 years cooking professionally, including time in Miami and Charleston. He loves bringing the Southern and Hispanic flavors he learned along the way to The Spott. He’s still experimenting, still learning, and still proud to serve food that makes people happy.
What’s the one dish you’d make to win someone over?
His oxtail arepa: sweet corn arepas layered with candied oxtail, pickled red onions, avocado, Chef’s made-from-scratch stracciatella, everything bagel seasoning, micro cilantro, and beef jus aioli. The stracciatella is fresh mozzarella pulled into cream. As Chef puts it, “It’s a banger.”
👨🍳✨ Chef Daniel Lash | 🍸 Happy Hour 5–7 PM | 📍 The Spott on Canal Street
