Daryl Trainor Twerdahl has one of the most unusual backgrounds you can imagine to be the founder of the Los Angeles School of Etiquette and Protocol. She hales from Greasy Corner, Arkansas, where Southern manners and doing things the "right way" were valued. After graduating from the Hutchinson School in Memphis, and Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia, Daryl received a Masters' Degree in Irish Studies from University College in Dublin, Ireland.
With an early career in retail including a stint at Williams Sonoma, the cooking bug bit.
"Growing up, we always had a cook so that I never really appreciated the art and skill of good cooking. But having many Southern friends who were fine cooks, living in Europe, and enjoying the emerging California cooking scene in the 1970s really gave me an appreciation and love for fine cooking and dining", commented Daryl.
Over 20 years ago, Daryl purchased a local catering firm, The Village Catering Company. Village Catering was a full-service catering company serving clients in the greater Los Angeles area. The Company specialized in serving groups of 20 to 200 people.
Clients included individual families, corporate clients and major law firms. "We called it 'catering with a personal touch' because every menu we prepared was tailored to the client and their particular likes and dislikes. We created sophisticated menus, but for great nostalgic memories we also prepare dishes for our clients from their grandmothers' and great-grandmothers' recipes. We did formal multi-course meals as well as jambalaya or extra hot chili, based on our clients' wishes. I don't think we ever repeated a menu from one client to another."
Village Catering and the work of Daryl Trainor Twerdahl have been featured in Gourmet, Bon Appetite, L.A. Weekly, L.A. Style, Gault Mileau, Los Angeles' Magazine's "Best of L.A." and most recently in Town and Country. Daryl has been a teacher and lecturer for major universities, schools, clubs, commercial firms and for the Young Presidents' Organization.
Because of her Southern upbringing and having seen the way people behave and misbehave during 20 years of catering, Daryl has had a strong interest in etiquette and protocol. That led her in 1998 to take the instructors' certification course at the renown Washington School of Protocol, the same school where diplomats and other world leaders are trained. Following her certification, she founded the Los Angeles School of Etiquette and Protocol.
Daryl and her husband, businessman Jim Twerdahl, have four children and live in Los Angeles, California, where she has been very active in civic and charitable activities. Her principal charitable passion is for The Meals on Wheels Association of California where she serves as Executive Director.
