Meet Chef Ryan

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Chef Ryan grew up within a melting pot of cultural cuisine and cooking. His love for food began as a child, taking after his father who was a cook in the Vietnam War. From early on, "I knew I wanted to be a chef, an artist, a craftsman," Willing to start anywhere, he began his career as a dishwasher at the Crown Plaza Resort, Garden Grove, quickly working his way up to a lead cook. When he was ready to take his love for food to the next level, he went on to earn his culinary arts degree at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. After graduating, he took an externship at the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans, honing his craft and embracing the art of Cajun/Creole cuisine. Returning to Southern California, "I took a sous chef position as 5 Feet working for Chef Michael Kang. There I adopted his explosive flavor combinations and French-Chinese fusion, and my passion for umami was created." 

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Still desiring more culinary experience, Chef Ryan decided to travel to Hawaii and stage at Alan Wong, Honolulu where he learned to cook fish in a variety of ways. Once satisfied with his acquired skills there, he again moved back to Southern California to be part of the opening team at CUT, Beverly Hills, a steakhouse by Wolfgang Puck. They achieved a Michelin Star within their first year, and learned to cook the highest quality of Kobe Beef. After a successful experience there, he went on to observe the culture of Thomas Keller with his opening team at Bouchon of Beverly Hills, which Chef Ryan credits as a huge turning point in his culinary career. "Once you cook for TK, he's always there embedded in your kitchen DNA." 

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To learn the fine art of Farm to Table cooking, he then embarked on a journey to the acclaimed Napa Valley and found an opening at Bottega in the Heart of Yountville, a Michael Chiarello Italian Restaurant. "Chef Chiarello taught me the foundation of Italian cuisine. More importantly, he taught me how to tell a story through food." Ambitious to learn even more, Chef Ryan dropped everything to travel to Europe to further expand his technique. With fond memories of cooking his way through the city of Paris, the Italian country side, and Arzak in San Sebastian, Spain, he headed back to the Napa Valley, where his true love of rustic, open fire cooking began to bloom. A craft and technique of his own began to form. Spending the next few years cultivating the art of rustic smoke and fire with his roots of Southern California flavor, Chef Ryan is taking his passion, experience, and love to elevate the world with his cuisine, using a plate as his canvas and a food truck as a vessel. 

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