The Untold Truth Of Daphne Brogdon

As a comic, radio show host, television personality, and blogger, Daphne Brogdon's comedic timing and charisma have constantly put her in the spotlight, according to Food Network. You might recognize Brogdon from when she began to host her own show, "Daphne Dishes," in which she used her sense of humor and vast knowledge of food to put together family-friendly recipes.

Behind the scenes, Brogdon also helped boost the career of her chef husband Mark Peel, co-founder of Los Angeles culinary staples Campanile and La Brea Bakery. Brogdon married Peel in 2005, according to the New York Times. After that, she took on the role of testing food, consulting, and helping with marketing for Peel's businesses, as In Good Taste Denver pointed out. When award-winning chef and restaurateur Mark Peel died on June 20, 2021, Brogdon paid tribute to her late husband.

Here's how comedian and cook Daphne Brogdon has left her mark on the blogging world and used her passion for food to innovate. 

Daphne Brogdon is not just the wife of the late world-famous, award-winning chef Mark Peel. Nor is she merely the mother to her two young children with Peel, Vivien and Rex, although she does happen to be known for prioritizing time spent with her children over time spent pursuing work outside the home (via Food Network). Quick-witted and in possession of strong improvisational skills, Daphne Brogdon had been acting professionally for years, as well as making television appearances on some of those "listicle television" quip shows that were popular in the early aughts, including Country Music Television's "20 Sexiest Men" and "40 Sexiest Videos" and VH1's "20 Most Awesomely Bad Songs" of 2004" (via IMDb). 

After marrying Peel, Brogdon began branching out into reality television with appearances on "Trading Spaces" and "After Hours With Daniel Boulud." By 2015, she had her own Food Network television show, "Daphne Dishes." However, as she and Peel built their family, she longed to find a way to "perform without leaving her children behind at home," according to Food Network. That desire inspired Brogdon's creation of the websites Coolmom.com and Momversation, both of which pulled in millions of unique visitors each month. Coolmom is her comic outlet, on which she vlogs. Momversation was a more serious outlet, bringing top mommy bloggers to "discuss issues via video." 

Daphne Brogdon's professional interests had previously been focused on performing on radio and television as both a comedian and a comic actress. After her marriage to Mark Peel, Brogdon came to be increasingly involved in Peel's culinary ventures. A foodie herself, she even appeared as a competitor on "Beat Bobby Flay" in 2019 (via IMDb). In order to help out her professional chef husband, "Brogdon began helping to cater, test recipes, and manage the business development and marketing for his ventures," according to Food Network. 

Brogdon also focused on opening a Los Angeles eatery with Peel in late 2015, as Food Network noted. It seems likely that the L.A. eatery that Food Network was likely referring to is the seafood stall, Prawn, which opened in the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles. According to the restaurant's site, Peel and Brogdon had hoped to offer quality seafood in a casual, accessible setting. Unfortunately, Prawn was shut down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic before reopening, according to the New York Times.

Although Daphne Brogdon was still married to Mark Peel at the time of his death on June 20, 2021, the marriage would likely not have continued for much longer. Peel's daughter from his previous marriage with Nancy Silverton, Vanessa Silverton-Peel, confirmed to the New York Times that her father, Peel, and stepmother, Brogdon, had been moving ahead with their plans to divorce.

In 2015, Brogdon explained the realities of their marriage to In Good Taste Denver: "First it was just 'isn't this fun having a chef boyfriend and a chef husband and it'll be fun to meet my girlfriends at the bar and we'll eat and drink.' And then when I had kids, I was like 'he wasn't kidding when said he was never home.'"

Despite their separation, the Larchmont Buzz reported that Brogdon and Peel had been amicably navigating the last year of remote school by sharing the parenting duties together. "He was in the house often and we shared many close moments and co-parented ... Our young children were foremost in his mind," Brogdon wrote on Instagram.

"Mourning doesn't fit into a news cycle," Daphne Brogdon posted on Twitter on the morning of June 22, 2021 (via Twitter). Brogdon appears to have been referring to her grief over the death of her husband Mark Peel. Since news of Peel's death emerged, Brogdon has been posting prolifically on Twitter, including lots of old photos and recollections of Peel as well as elegiac commentary on him as a loving father, a groundbreaking and award-winning chef, a celebrity, and a man.  

"Mark would be surprised at how much coverage his death has gotten. Humble to a fault. I'd say 'don't you get it? You are Mark Peel," Brogdon posted. On Instagram, Brogdon shared: "He was a great chef, a smart, warm, man. He was a father. He leaves five children and two grandkids."

According to the Larchmont Buzz, Brogdon plans to set up a culinary scholarship fund in her late husband's name, as Peel was looking into teaching future chefs in more recent years. "Not in a fancy cooking school but at Los Angeles Trade Tech College," Brogdon told the Buzz. "Mark learned on the job. He always said it was better to take the worst job in the best kitchen than to go in debt for a culinary school."

It would appear that Daphne Brogdon has an interest, if not a passion, for cannabis-infused cooking (via L.A. Cannabis News). Her LinkedIn profile indicates that she is the founder and Culinary Director for the venture, "Weed to Table," which is a California venture dedicated to "pop up and catered infused dining" (via LinkedIn). As founder and Culinary Director, Brogdon has hosted a variety of pop-up culinary tasting events, including 2019's "High End Dining Experience," a four-course cannabis-infused event featuring a terpene-infused dessert. 

In addition, Brogdon works closely with the greenhouse and environmental controls firm, MicroGrow Systems. As a Sales and Marketing Manager for MicroGrow, Brogdon has been tasked with developing and executing "the marketing and branding strategy to reintroduce this greenhouse and environmental controls firm to the cannabis industry and beyond," according to what Brogdon has stated on her LinkedIn profile.