MariElena and her father, Robert Dickson, have always bonded over food. “I didn’t tell my dad I wanted to go to culinary school until I was certain, because I knew he’d be all in,” she says.
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MariElena Raya began her culinary career working in her dad’s restaurant, Robert’s of Charleston. She keeps busy running The Gin Joint with her husband, Joe, but makes time for family taco night.
