Ryan Ratino

Ryan Ratino’s cooking centers on change. In his kitchens, ingredients are shaped through salt, air, acid, pressure, and time rather than treated as fixed points. Duck, dry aging, vinegar, and fermentation define a style that values transformation, controlled extraction, and total use. At Bresca in Washington, D.C., where he is Executive Chef and owner, pressed duck best reflects that approach: all parts of the bird are used, and the dish has remained unchanged on the menu. In a room built for evolution, it stands for a practical discipline that holds the line on purpose and completeness. Classical training gave his work its first structure. Ryan Ratino trained at Le Cordon Bleu before moving through American kitchens where repetition, volume, and service pressure shaped his discipline. Shula’s Steak House at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin resort in Orlando, Florida, provided a polished, high-output setting. Bluezoo in Orlando followed with responsibility as Executive Chef. At wd~50 in New York City, technical possibility and kitchen urgency became part of his vocabulary. Washington, D.C. sharpened that technique. As Executive Chef at Ripple in Washington, D.C. from 2016 to 2017, Ryan Ratino worked in a register where refinement had to carry contrast, with richness cut by acid and technique used for effect rather than display. Since 2017, his work has been defined less by a fixed style than by a method built around ingredients in motion, serious technique without stiffness, and fine dining energy that loosens form without lowering standards. He is chef/owner of Bresca and Jônt in Washington, D.C., chef of Ômo by Jônt, and chef/owner at MAASS in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He also works with Hive Hospitality. Across these projects, the cooking remains vivid, exact, and rooted in the idea that advanced technique should register immediately on the palate. Bistronomy shapes the Bresca approach, with vibrant, experimental, informal cooking built around bold flavors and the response they create. Ryan Ratino describes the balance as cooking seriously with intention and strong technique, but without the pretense of a traditional French restaurant. Structure and play both matter, and brightness, savor, sharpness, and richness are used for impact without making the food heavy or cold. At Jônt, time becomes more explicit. Menus are built around dry-aged meats, vinegars, lacto-fermented fruits and vegetables, and playful techniques. The craft depends on accumulation, with flavors developed slowly and then presented cleanly. At MAASS, the signature Foie Gras Macaron places richness inside a precise pastry form, making indulgence small, concentrated, and controlled. The same logic runs through his broader body of work: pressing, aging, fermenting, sharpening, and giving flavor enough time to develop. Ryan Ratino’s honors include the MICHELIN Guide Young Chef Award and the Rammy Culinary Rising Star of the Year Award.