[Speaking in French] - Good to go.

[music] Table three.

Cooking is my medium, and what I'm trying to say is something that is just self-expressive, something that comes from within me.

It's a passion that I want to share.

Some of the earliest memories I can have, um, are of food.

Honestly, when I was a kid chopping kiwi and plating it on a plate just for me to sit there and look at and eat was something amazing.

[music] I remember my first day as a dishwasher very, very vividly.

I was 15 years old, new to the industry.

I just really wanted to make money.

I didn't think that it was going to take me anywhere or lead me anywhere.

The very first day, I was hooked.

I mean, first, second, I was hooked.

And what really hooked me was the energy of the kitchen.

The hardest part of working my way up from dishwasher to chef was just putting in the time.

It was long hours, longer nights, learning the techniques, learning how to work well with people, what my style was.

Prep cook, line cook, chef, sous chef to executive chef.

All those titles I had to work for.

They weren't just given to me; I earned them.

[music] The journey has changed who I am along the way quite a bit, honestly.

Um, it's taught me responsibility.

It's taught me to look beyond the box at what I can consider art on; how I can execute a dish, on what I can do to make something better, what I can, what I can be, how I can be as a better chef.

[music] Inspiration doesn't come from where most people think it comes from.

Doesn't really come from big bag of groceries comes from within.

It comes from an idea.

It comes from passion.

It comes from memory, comes from experience.

I put my entire self out there every time that I put a plate out there.

- You can absolutely see chefs personalities in his dishes.

I would say he comes up with something new and fun all the time, and it's always something a little bit different.

Maybe we'll have something similar to a special we've had in the past if it gets great feedback.

But he always tweaks it and makes it just fun and different, something different for everybody that's been coming here for years.

[music] - So there is a lot of repetition in the kitchen.

I mean, you send out hundreds of dishes that are the exact same every time, but that also can fuel creativity by: "Hey, maybe I can tweak it just a little bit this way or a little bit that way to make it just a little bit better."

- These colorful sauce plates, literally and figuratively.

Um.

[music] You'll see some wild stuff, but it's classic and he puts his own twist on it.

You want a filet?

Great, but try it with these really different potatoes that you've never had anywhere else.

That's his kind of uniqueness coming into the dishes.

- French cuisine is very special to me.

It has taught me the foundation of my career.

It's taught me to not cut corners.

It's taught me the basics.

I mean, you have to know the five mother sauces, right?

When you first begin fresh tarragon with a heavy dose of red wine vinegar.

You have to know how to properly reduce a sauce or properly make a stock.

[music] Tarragon and red wine vinegar reduction.

[music] And that's what takes it from a hollandaise to a bearnaise.

The terminology, and the techniques, and French cuisine really, in my opinion, is the backbone of all modern cuisine.

[music] The part of this journey that I'm most proud of is just really being able to express myself.

[music] Restraint doesn't really play a role in my cooking.

I like to take chances.

I like to go out on a limb and maybe try things that other people aren't trying.

I mean, I want my restaurant to be doing the only thing that this town is really doing.

- I find that Chef Ryan likes to keep things in their original state, but at his little twist to it, and I think that everybody appreciates that...not everything has to go be a crazy entree you know.

People like just a chateaubriand as it is prepared.

- So the way I taught my palate is going out on a limb and trying things together, really taking two ingredients, putting them on a spoon and making it one, really, and seeing, hey, maybe this needs a little bit more salt or this needs a little bit more acidity or, hey, this subtleness needs to be enhanced by something crunchy.

Sometimes I try and think outside the box and I take two ingredients that may not match, but hey, maybe I'll smoke one of these ingredients and sous vide the other, and they just have a collaboration.

And a lot of the time, risk equals reward.

- It's fun.

- I would say something chef does in the kitchen that I find artistic is it's going to sound strange but the before prep, like before service starts just taking his time with every little detail.

These dishes don't come out quickly; like they're prepared hours, days in advance.

And I think the artistry is kind of in the little things.

So the attention and care he puts into tiny little details way before they even see a plate.

- I do consider myself an artist, like a painter would study light or a musician would study chords.

I study flavor, technique, ingredients.

[music] - For more information, visit ParlorHouseBistro.net.