Daniel began his journey in the food-service industry back in 1972.  The setting was a neighborhood butcher shop located in White Plains, New York.  The tasks at hand were the sifting of sawdust, bagging chitterlings, stocking shelves and cleaning produce.  After a couple years there, Daniel moved on to a New York delicatessen where he served as the chef’s commis.  By the age of eighteen, Daniel’s motivation brought him to Florida.  He worked in three of Florida’s finest seafood houses from 1977 to 1985. From 1986 to 1990 Daniel worked as the Executive Chef of the Fraternity House Restaurant in Clearwater, Florida.  In the early 90’s Daniel moved back to New York to begin his pursuit of a higher education.  In 1994 he returned to school, attending Johnson & Wales University, where in 1996 he received his Associates Degree in the Baking and Pastry Arts and a Bachelors Degree in food-service management in 1998.   It was also during this time when Daniel was introduced to The American Culinary Federation and the thrill of competing in culinary competitions.

From 1998 to 2008 Chef Scannell and members of the United States Culinary Team have won many international cold food competitions, including an Olympic Sieger for Category B in Cold Food. Along with the Olympic Sieger, Team USA won 3 Gold Medals at the Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany in 2000.  In Basil, Switzerland, Team USA won Gold and Best in the World for their cold food display and yet another 4 Gold Medals at the World Culinary Grand Prix in Scotland.  In 2003 Team USA won the World Championship and swept the competition at the American Culinary Classic in Chicago, winning 8 Gold Medals.  Team USA placed its focus on the 2004 IKA Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany, and came away with the title of World and Olympic Champions in Category R/Restaurant of Nations of the two-fold completion, placing third overall in the world out of 32 nations.

From 2000 to 2005 Daniel was the Executive Chef at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, which played host to the 2003 PGA Championship. Also, in 2003, Daniel passed the Certified Master Chefs® examination and is one of only 64 Certified Master Chefs to have successfully completed the Master Chef’s Examination. Administered by the American Culinary Federation and the Culinary Institute of America, the title Certified Master Chef (CMC) represents the most rigorous culinary testing a professional chef can obtain.  He was also the chef at the historic Cherry Hills Country Club which played host to the 2005 United States Women’s Open. In 2007, Chef was named Northeast Regional U.S.A.’S Chef of the Year™.  Daniel had the distinct honor of being the 144^th Distinguished Visiting Chef at Daniel’s Alma Mater, Johnson & Wales University in Providence, April 20, 2005 and received an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Culinary Arts from that same institution in May 2006.   In May 2008, Daniel was granted Global Master Chef Certification from the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) at their world congress in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

In 2010 Daniel was asked to return to Oak Hill to lead the team through the 2013 PGA Championship. Club House F&B for the week of the PGA was a staggering 1.2 million generated from nine full service buffets. Over 200.000 people attended the event. Chef currently lives in Palm Beach Florida with his wife Pamela and daughter Ireland and is the Executive Chef at the Frenchman’s Reserve

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