EXECUTIVE CHEF RYAN PERRA
Chef Ryan Perra has served as executive chef at The Grove since its launch in January 2008. Previously, Pera received national accolades while at *17 in the Alden Hotel where he wowed diners for more than 2 years and put the downtown restaurant on the foodie radar.
Pera, a graduate from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BA in Anthropology, traveled to Tuscany during his sophomore year of college where he was introduced to the world of culinary arts.
After graduating, he worked as a pastry chef and later as sous chef at award-winning restaurants Marais and Zydeco in Charlotte, North Carolina. He later traveled to Paris for research and development prior to the opening of Bijoux Restaurant – also in Charlotte – where he worked as sous chef and pastry chef.
Following his time in Charlotte, Pera worked in New York, first as Poissonier at Le Cirque 2000 alongside renowned chefs Sottha Kuhn and Pierre Schaedalin, then AZ Restaurant as sous chef at Chef Patricia Yeo’s Cal-Asian outpost. His last stop in New York was Chef Jonathan Waxman’s Washington Park.
Pera found greener pastures in Houston as chef de cuisine at the Four Seasons Hotel where he worked alongside four-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee, Chef Tim Keating, before becoming executive chef at Alden Hotel’s signature restaurant *17.
