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The South Side native now runs an in-demand North Side restaurant.

Monday Sep 29, 2008.     By Michael Nagrant

Who's Who Feed

Though he's a South Side native and earned a nod from Esquire in 2005 for running one of the "best restaurants in America" (the now defunct Butter in the West Loop), these days Ryan Poli, the chef de cuisine of Perennial, is almost an honorary Spaniard. He spent the last few years staging and working his way through the best classic and new-wave restaurants in Spain including La Broche, El Celler de Can Roca, and Alkimia. Couple that experience with his formative years serving under Jean Banchet at Le Francais and Thomas Keller at the French Laundry, and you've got one of Chicago's most versatile and well-trained toques. Now that he's landed back in Chicago to serve up slightly twisted, farm-fresh New American fare at Perennial, we caught up to see how he's doing.

What's the best Chicago-related advice you've ever given or received?
The best advice I was given is advice I also give. Try never to burn your bridges in Chicago. It's a tight-knit cook and chef community. Everyone knows everyone. And you never know when and who you might run into.

What's your favorite hidden gem in Chicago?
Well I don't know if it's a hidden spot, but I love Top Notch burger at 95th and Damen. I always get the same thing, cheese burger and chocolate malt. Also being a South Side guy, the Bacchanalia Ristorante on 24th and Oakley, It's a place I have been going my whole life. It's a small place in a cool little Italian neighborhood. The shrimp vesuvio is great.

If I were to come to your neighborhood, where would you insist I visit?
I live in Pilsen and the Sunday Maxwell Market is something to see. Some of the best Mexican food is there; you just have to find it. Also I love Kohan Sushi. It's in the University Village area. In the summer, we usually walk there and sit outside. It's quiet, good sushi and rolls (try the Shrimp Tempura Crunch). The owners are really nice.

You've spent a lot of time studying cooking in Spain. Why do you keep going back?
There are so many things I love about Spain. But it's the people and the culture that bring me back each time. I have many friends there and every time I am there, they show me something different. From everything that is up-and-coming to great tapas places, to great out-of-the-way beaches. I can see myself returning to Spain to live very soon! It's their view on life and friendship that I cherish so much.

What did you learn from Thomas Keller when you worked at the French Laundry?
He has been and still is the biggest influence in my career. I learned and practice his style of organization and care for products. If you're organized, you can accomplish any task.

What were the lessons you learned from running the Butter kitchen?
There are so many lessons I have taken with me from my experiences at Butter and in Spain; some good, some hard. I am incorporating more delegation and face-to-face training with consistent reinforcement of my ideals at Perennial. There were only four cooks for the opening of Butter and 17-plus for Perennial.

So there is no way I can do all the work myself and I don't want to. I am learning to trust the cooks more and let them learn from their own mistakes. If I am constantly jumping in to fix their problems before they see them, they will never learn. The job here at Perennial carries a greater deal more of responsibility because of the volume we are doing. We are always refining things without taking dishes out of their context or losing their integrity. There is still a great deal of attention-to-detail in the work but nothing unnecessary.

What should we know about Perennial that we probably don't?
We are a value restaurant, for the product we are serving, with the service we are offering, and for the creativity and ambience. We purposely positioned ourselves as an oasis restaurant in Old Town, with our neighbors returning twice or three times a week. When we see them coming back so much, we know we are doing something right.