Dano Holcomb is a Cook County, Illinois native who has developed a keen palate for Southern food. After spending 14 years coaching NCAA Division I soccer, Dano put his first career to rest in 2009 and moved to New Orleans, LA in order to attend culinary school and pursue his dream of cooking. During the his time in the Crescent City, Dano worked and staged in some of NOLA’s finest kitchens, learning essential qualities of classic Creole, French and Southern cuisine under James Beard nominated Chefs such as Frank Brigtsen (Brigtsen’s), Aaron Burgau (Patois) and Justin Devellier (La Petite Grocery). In 2019 Dano took over the kitchen at Salvage Station on the banks of French Broad River in Asheville

Upon completion of his degree from Delgado Community College Culinary Institute (2011), the aspiring chef had a brief stint at Harvest Moon Grille in Charlotte, NC where he worked under Farm to Table pioneer Cassie Parsons and Charlotte Food Truck legend Brian Stockholm (Papi Queso) during the spring & summer of 2012.

Dano spent the next few months carefully assembling the pieces of his new project, Root Down, in Statesville, NC.  In January 2013 the Food Truck hit the streets and spent the next year rolling through the Piedmont and Lake Norman area gaining confidence and building a solid foundation.  He and his family relocated to Asheville in 2014 to spread the love and introduce the Blue Ridge Mountains to his version of Soul Food.

​Root Down has taken Asheville by storm; being named 4-time Best Food Truck, featuring in Southern Living Magazine’s Best Southern Food Trucks, as well as making an appearance CNN’s Wander Musts and was chosen as a Guest Chef on the Cloud 9 Adventure’s music festival voyage Jam Cruise. In 2021 Dano was chosen by The Food Network to appear on Dinner Impossible with celebrity Chef Robert Irvine.