{"id":499325,"date":"2026-01-07T16:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T16:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/499325\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T16:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T16:51:09","slug":"the-joint-and-ocean-beach-community-mourns-loss-of-chef-parr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/499325\/","title":{"rendered":"The Joint and Ocean Beach community mourns loss of chef Parr"},"content":{"rendered":"

OCEAN BEACH \u2013 The service industry is mourning the unexpected death on Dec. 13 of 23-year-old Dalton Parr, head chef of The Joint Sushi & Tapas<\/a> and its sister restaurant The Bowl in Ocean Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cDalton Parr was more than just the head chef at The Joint in Ocean Beach; he was my best friend and truly a best friend to so many,\u201d said Cassidy Thompson, a manager at The Joint and also the organizer of a GoFundMe<\/a> for Parr.<\/p>\n

\u201cDalton was the most caring, compassionate, and loving person you could ever meet. His warmth and generosity touched everyone who knew him, from co-workers to guests, and his presence made The Joint feel like a second home for all of us,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cDalton passed away unexpectedly, leaving a huge hole in our hearts and in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The GoFundMe, set up to help defray his funeral expenses, has raised $5,703 of the original goal of $6,000. Pointing out in his GoFundMe that his family is \u201cnot in dire need of money,\u201d it\u2019s noted that \u201csupport never hurts in a tragic time like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Funds raised will help pay for Parr\u2019s cremation, allowing his family to take his ashes to North Carolina, where they are from, for a celebration of his life there. Afterward, his ashes will be transported to the Virgin Islands, where Parr was raised, to be spread at Hull Beach, his favorite beach there.<\/p>\n

The Joint announced Parr\u2019s passing in a heartfelt message shared on Instagram, describing him as a \u201cbrother, leader, and head chef\u201d whose impact extended far beyond the restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cDalton Parr was known to so many because of his warm-hearted friendliness and super welcoming personality,\u201d the post read. \u201cHe was a leader, a teacher, a talented chef, a friend, and a mentor in life to others, even those much older than his 23 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Joint closed for several days following Parr\u2019s loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked at The Joint with Dalton,\u201d said Amanda Dolance, who has worked there for over a decade. \u201cHe was one of the brightest lights ever to shine in that kitchen. He truly made everyone laugh, even with his choice in music in the kitchen (early 2000s throwbacks, which was always a great mood boost).<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no knowing him without loving him. His talents and his personality are going to be missed in an immeasurable amount,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Ramen-focused, sister-operation The Bowl, which opened in 2024, also cited Parr\u2019s dual role within both restaurants\u2019 operations. The Bowl said that Parr was also a beloved trivia host there.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was truly one of the most genuine, caring, funny, hardworking, and passionate people we\u2019ve ever had the honor of calling our brother,\u201d according to The Bowl\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cDalton lived with joy, kindness, and dreams that inspired those around him,\u201d said co-worker Deanna Asbury. \u201cHis light will remain with all of us at The Joint and with his loved ones. He will be deeply missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT\n\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OCEAN BEACH \u2013 The service industry is mourning the unexpected death on Dec. 13 of 23-year-old Dalton Parr,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":499326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,3596,224211,10505,10086,988,3549,7264,224212,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-499325","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-chef","12":"tag-dalton-parr","13":"tag-exclude-homepage","14":"tag-ocean-beach","15":"tag-restaurants","16":"tag-san-diego","17":"tag-sandiego","18":"tag-the-joint","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115854854512301734","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}