Digital Social Hour
Chef Lawrence Duran : What I Learned Working 14 Years with Mark Wahlberg | DSH #1603
02 Nov 2025
Chapter 1: What is it like to travel the world as Mark Wahlberg's private chef?
A lot of people think that like oh yeah you have this amazing gig you work for Mark Wahlberg and you get to travel the world but it's
not really all that it's cracked out to be like it's a job we're on the road and i yes i get to go to australia or germany or you know columbia or whatever but he always says like it's a fanciest prison you will ever be in and that's because we go to work and we go straight back to the hotel and if there's anything on the week if we have any downtime on the weekend it's either to church or we go to dinner and then it's right back but it's again it's a grind and i love it it motivates me it motivates all of us on our team and it just it pushes us and drives us to want more and do more
All right, guys, Chef Lawrence here, finally back in Vegas. You've been busy, man. Yeah, it's been nonstop, man.
Chapter 2: How did Chef Lawrence Duran become Mark Wahlberg's personal chef?
It's been crazy. But it's a fun one. It's a fun ride, you know, get to travel, do what I love, and with a family, basically. We've been together for so long. Nice. We're a team.
Chapter 3: What challenges does a private chef face while on tour?
How often are you on the road these days? Last year, I mean, it was seven months in Australia, three or four months London and Paris, and then I think we did another one out here somewhere, but... I mean, it's just it's anywhere from eight months to 10 months out of the year, just traveling nonstop. And holy crap. Yeah, it's a hell of a lot. But it's again, it's fun.
Chapter 4: How does Chef Lawrence balance family life with a demanding job?
It's you get to see the world and, you know, again, be with like people that you genuinely love. Yeah. How was Australia?
Chapter 5: What life lessons has Chef Lawrence learned from working with celebrities?
I'm going there for my honeymoon. It's awesome. Australia is beautiful. We were the last four months. I mean, was the Gold Coast and gorgeous. We spent some time in Sydney, which is beautiful. But I think the Gold Coast was it for me. It was beautiful. But out there, I mean, anything and everything can kill you. So it's kind of scary.
Chapter 6: How do chefs maintain relationships and find new clients?
I mean, you've got like these huntsman spiders that just kind of like walk up everywhere and they, you know, coming out of the sinks or up on the walls and stuff. And It's just like kids are playing with these spiders that are the size of your hand, and you're, like, freaking out because you're not, you know, from the place.
So you have those, the world's deadliest snakes, the world's deadliest slugs, I mean, everything. Did you have any sketchy encounters? Every morning I would walk out, and there would be, like, these big slugs, and they're, like, orange and red and beautiful, but... Like, I was just kicking them around or whatever, and then I find out later on that they're, like, you know, extremely poisonous.
I'm like, great. Holy crap. But, I mean, other than that, it was just, like, spiders, like, crazy just popping out of everywhere.
Chapter 7: What unique experiences has Chef Lawrence had while cooking for celebrities?
Saw a few snakes, but... As long as you stay away from them, you're good. I don't know if my girl will like it out there, bro. She doesn't like insects too much. Oh, they're everywhere. But we're going to Brisbane. I don't know if that's near where. Brisbane is beautiful. Were you there at all? A little bit.
Chapter 8: How does Chef Lawrence stay motivated and push his limits?
We filmed out there for a little bit. OK. Yeah. Damn. And three months in France, you said? Yeah, I was like a little over three months, I believe, in France, Paris and then London. And. And then home. And I'm assuming this is for Mark, right? Yeah, this is for Mark. So does he want the same exact meals even if you're in a different country? Yeah, same exact meals.
You know, it's basically like Monday through Friday. I do the same meals for him. And then weekends, he kind of like takes a little break. So I'll do breakfast and lunch on the weekends. And then we'll, you know, do dinner somewhere, kind of splurge or whatever. You know do something a little different to break it up a little bit.
But um, yeah, it's it's he's very regiment very consistent and I've been eating the same meals for the past few years I respect that consistency especially on the on the road because when you travel it's hard to find what you're used to you know and For you it might be hard to source those ingredients when you're out there.
It's extremely hard when you're in countries that you just you're not familiar with Australia is very similar to here in a sense to where they have some amazing cattle. Basically, all your ingredients that you would find here, you'll find them in Australia. Germany was a tough one. They've got a lot of sausages and just things that you're not familiar with.
So you kind of have to source things from different restaurants and whatnot. And that's where you, as a chef, you have to kind of like... branch out, talk to people, you know, figure out where you're going first and foremost. And then, you know, kind of like name drop, you know, that kind of gets you everything.
So if you're like, you got to go to a restaurant and be like, you know, I need, you know, this Wagyu steak or, you know, whatever vegetables, they're not just going to hand them to anyone. Really? I'm like, well, I work for this guy and Mark Wahlberg and show him a picture. I'm like, oh, okay, whatever you want, whatever you need. So restaurants are the plugs.
Restaurants are definitely the plug when you're out of the country. Restaurants and hotels, because obviously we stay in hotels. So a lot of the hotel kitchens and hotel chefs are very accommodating. That is interesting. I never would have thought of that, to approach a restaurant to buy some of their food. Yeah, because I mean, especially if you're in a country that
or you don't speak the language, it can be very, very tough and very confusing. And a lot of people get very angry when they get confused or what you're saying, basically. So again, hotels, staff, they're all accommodating restaurants, like I said, and everyone knows everyone when you're working with, you know, high end clients or whatever. So yeah, in that sense, it's, somewhat easy.
Did you always start off in the private, uh, chef space or did you kind of, um, I actually started off in, uh, at a company called Mario's catering. Um, and it was, uh, a good friend of mine. Uh, his name is Christian.
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