Inside the Kitchen: Seven Questions with Ryan Ratino of Hive Hospitality

My grandmother, mother, and aunts always made stuffed cabbage, kielbasa, and pierogies. I always loved those home-cooked meals. In those moments, I always felt comfortable. Sometimes you’ll see pierogies or plays on stuffed cabbage on the menu at Bresca.

There’s a major evolution in fine dining right now. We’re debunking the pretense of it all. Now it’s about serious gastronomy and hospitality in an environment where guests can still be comfortable and enjoy themselves. It’s fun, experiential, and personalized.

I would love to see the team continue to evolve and to grow our people. I’m all about turning cooks into sous chefs, sous chefs into chefs, and chefs into culinary directors.

Asador Etxebarri in the Basque Country of northern Spain. Simple, focused, quality ingredients. The nicest prawns treated simply over the fire and plated with a good sauce. That’s my heaven.

As I’ve matured, my gastronomy has simplified. Ten years ago, I would have tried to put the same ingredient on the plate 10 different times. Now I just want to put the best ingredients on the plate, just two or three things. The proper fish with the proper sauce. We don’t do too many garnishes because I don’t want to take away from the quality of the ingredients. It’s all about the highest-quality ingredients being respected, cooked as close to perfect as we can, and served simply.

I’ve been to Osteria Mozza in Washington, D.C., more than 40 times. I enjoy the simple, classic, focused pastas, which fill me up and soothe the soul.