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Nick Balla grew up in rural Michigan. His family cooked with plenty of spice, abundance and the flavors of preservation. As a child his father lived in New York City which led to many culinary adventures and developed a love of discovering new flavors and cultures. Nick spent time living in Hungary in high school, visiting markets after school and tasting the incredible homemade cooking of his friends and neighbors. Later, in culinary school at the CIA in Hyde Park he developed a love for Japanese cuisine, leading to his first executive chef jobs opening O Izakaya Lounge and Nombe restaurants in San Francisco.

He later explored his Central European roots as the chef of Bar Tartine in San Francisco where he developed a culinary program that focused on preservation and wrote a James Beard and IACP award winning cookbook on the subject. In 2018 he moved to Big Sur to open Coast Gallery and Cafe as the executive chef and project director.