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Ryan Pera, Agricole Hospitality


Chef Ryan Pera first appeared on the Houston food scene in 2003 as Chef de Cuisine at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston under the critically-acclaimed Chef Tim Keating. Ryan next became the Executive Chef at the celebrated 17 Restaurant in the Alden Hotel, where his food was the "must have" meal for anyone in the city who enjoyed fine dining. Pera's modern American menu, with its richly-layered global flavors, was praised by the Houston Chronicle's restaurant critic Alison Cook for its clean style, "spot-on" execution and "ideas that are as interesting as his palate."
Given his pedigree, no one should have been surprised. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in anthropology, Ryan moved to Manhattan to pursue his passion for cooking. He trained in the traditional European style of apprenticing, working with culinary luminaries that include Chef Sottha Khun at the four-star Le Cirque and Chef Jonathan Waxman at Washington Park, where Ryan was sous chef.
While he honed his skills, his palate and his commitment to seasonal, local ingredients in New York City, it was in Houston that he found his culinary voice. Ryan explored the Asian markets and the ethnic restaurants for which Houston is known, shopped at the burgeoning farmers markets, and experimented with the region's rich array of flavors, working each into his classically trained palate to develop his own signature style.
Most recently, Pera has discovered an interest in and affinity for the craft of butchering, charcuterie and salumi. Ryan's mastery of all things cured, hung and stuffed into sausage casings will be front and center at Revival Market, which will showcase Charcuterie, Salumi and Deli in forms both traditional and cutting edge, made with all natural meat from his partner's Revival Farms. Houston will also reap the reward of that time spent with his Dad learning to make vinegar, pickles and wine -- Ryan plans to have a seasonal repertoire of house-made staples for the home cook's larder that includes stocks, sauces, pickles, jams, and preserves, to be sold under the Revival Market label.