Chef
Ryan Ratino
Executive Chef & Owner, Hive Hospitality
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Washington DC, Washington DC, United States
- Venue
- Jônt · Restaurant
Known for
- Youngest chef to receive two Michelin stars at JÔNT in Washington, DC
- Making Bresca the first carbon-neutral restaurant in Washington, DC
- Signature dry-aged duck à la presse at Bresca
- Japanese-influenced wood-fired tasting menu at JÔNT
i. Biography
Duck, dry age, vinegar, and fermentation put change at the center of the cooking. In Ryan Ratino’s kitchens, ingredients are worked through salt, air, acid, pressure, and time rather than treated as fixed points. At Bresca in Washington, D.C., where he is Executive Chef and owner, pressed duck carries that logic most clearly: all parts of the bird are used, and it remains the one dish that has never changed on the menu. In a room built for evolution, the dish holds the line on total use, controlled extraction, and purposeful transformation.
Career Arc
Classical training gave the work its first structure. Ryan Ratino trained at Le Cordon Bleu before moving through American kitchens where repetition, volume, and service pressure shape discipline. Shula’s Steak House at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin resort in Orlando, Florida, supplied a polished, high-output setting; Bluezoo in Orlando, Florida, followed with the responsibility of an Executive Chef role. At wd~50 in New York City, technical possibility and kitchen urgency became part of the vocabulary. Washington, D.C. Brought that technique into sharper tension. As Executive Chef at Ripple in Washington, D.C. (2016–2017), Ryan Ratino worked in a register where refinement had to carry contrast: richness cut by acid, luxury handled with less formality, and technique used for effect rather than display. The current body of work is defined less by a fixed style than by a working method. As chef/owner of Bresca (since 2017), chef/owner of Jônt, and chef of Ômo by Jônt (since 2024), Ryan Ratino has built around ingredients in motion, serious technique without stiffness, and fine dining energy that loosens form without lowering standards.
Current Practice
The restaurant group now spans multiple rooms and markets while keeping a recognizable technical language. Ryan Ratino is Executive Chef and owner of Bresca and JÔNT in Washington, D.C.; his work is also tied to Hive Hospitality, and he is chef/owner at MAASS in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Across the map, the cooking stays vivid, exact, and built on the idea that advanced technique should register immediately on the palate. Bistronomy defines the Bresca approach: vibrant, experimental, informal cooking built around bold flavors and the response they create. Ryan Ratino states the balance directly: “Cook seriously with intention and lots of good technique and all those things, but without the pretense of a traditional French restaurant.” The room’s craft sits in that gap. Structure and play are both active; brightness, savor, sharpness, and richness are used for impact without making the food heavy or cold. Pressed duck gives the method its clearest object lesson. Instead of isolating the bird as a luxury cut, Ryan Ratino’s version uses the whole bird, with pressure and extraction doing flavor work. Its permanence on a changing menu gives the dish a practical role: old-world press service, contemporary total-use discipline, and a full-register expression of duck. Time is more explicit at JÔNT, where menus are built around dry-aged meats, vinegars, lacto-fermented fruits and vegetables, and playful techniques. The craft depends on accumulation: flavors developed slowly, then presented cleanly. At MAASS, the named signature Foie Gras Macaron frames richness inside a precise pastry form, making indulgence small, concentrated, and controlled.
Signature
Signature dishes include Foie Gras Macaron at MAASS.
Standing
Ryan's honors include MICHELIN Guide Young Chef Award (2023) and Rammy Culinary Rising Star of the Year Award. The recognition sits alongside a practice built on controlled change: pressing, aging, fermenting, sharpening, and giving flavor enough time to develop.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Ryan
What is Ryan Ratino's current position?
Ryan Ratino is chef at Bresca — Modern French, Contemporary.
Where did Ryan Ratino train or study?
Ryan Ratino trained at Le Cordon Bleu.
What recognition has Ryan Ratino received?
MICHELIN Guide Young Chef Award (2023).
