The executive chef and partner at Osteria Georgi carries on his wife’s legacy and finds strength and purpose in his incredible support system
By Anna-Rhesa Versola | Photography by Cornell Watson
Dan Jackson is emerging from a dense fog of grief and heartbreak after losing his beloved wife, Stephanie McIntyre Jackson, in February 2023 to brain cancer. “She was just always happy to see you,” he says of his late wife’s warmth, attention to detail and optimism. “One of the hardest things for me over the past 18 months is being comfortable in my own shoes, because I don’t have my right-hand person there.”
Dan grew up in Chapel Hill, graduating from Chapel Hill High School in 1998, and went on to excel in New York City, where he met Stephanie in 2010. She herself was entrenched in the hospitality industry, working for heavy hitters such as Union Square Hospitality Group and the world-renowned Eleven Madison Park. Dan, now the executive chef and partner at Osteria Georgi, credits much of his success as a chef and a father to Stephanie, who was the embodiment of enlightened hospitality, he says.
Stephanie was often insightful, too. “She was like, ‘Dan, the best is yet to come for you and the kids, but the first year is gonna really suck,’” he says. “She was right, and she’s been gone for 18 months. Not to say that all of a sudden things don’t suck anymore, but they have gotten better. The kids are doing great. I’m able to be a little less of a shell of myself in a lot of ways.”
Their children, Eliot Jackson, 9, and twins, Camille Jackson, 7, and Leon Jackson, 7, cope with the help of family and friends. “They’re Stephanie’s gifts to me,” Dan says. “They’re my biggest responsibility. They give me reasons – I don’t want to be too dramatic – but they give me purpose and hope. My oldest son has really just blossomed in a lot of ways, among really incredibly hard circumstances.”
In 2021, Dan was a contestant on “Chopped,” a chef competition on the Food Network, and he also appeared on “Beat Bobby Flay.” He likens preparing meals for his three kids to “Chopped,” because he creates a meal based on what’s available in the kitchen. “Let’s make the best of it,” he says, holding back tears. “I think that’s kind of my attitude toward the restaurant, maybe life in general.”
These days, he has family backing him up in the cooking department – his mom, Ronnie Jackson, often leaves meals in the refrigerator. “If there’s any chef in the family, it’s her,” Dan says, adding that she makes delicious homemade meatballs. Ronnie also regularly makes the floral centerpieces for the restaurant. Dan admits that he and the kids eat out more often now, too, at places like Monterrey or Grata Diner in Carrboro or The Town Hall Grill in Southern Village.
“The last year has been really, really tough,” he says. “But you know, I’ve had this amazing, amazing support system that has really allowed me to not only live, but [also] thrive and feel like we’re moving forward. The team here [at Osteria Georgi] has been through every ebb and flow of me and has always had my back. I have a family, I have my parents, and I have my mother-in-law, who moved down from Toledo, [Ohio]. And I have the kids. Really, when I say there’s power in numbers, I can’t say that enough. What I’m learning as a widower is that there is real power in having multiple kids, because you rely on one another. I see a lot of other widowers in this area, because that’s sort of my field now. And I’m very visible. And it’s part of my story now.”
