Chef AF Rating | Patrick Ryan
Chef & Owner of Port Fonda
Follow @PortFonda
Facebook: @portfondakc
Instagram: @portfonda
We’ve heard of chefs working out of food trucks before, but Patrick Ryan has one up on them: the first version of his solo restaurant, Port Fonda, was underground in an Airstream trailer. Naturally, Patrick started cooking at a young age, and he credits his mother and her parents with instilling in him a love of food and cooking. One of his first memories as a chef was making cinnamon apples with bacon in a cast-iron skillet and fresh-picked green beans with country ham, as Patrick recalls it being one of his grandfather’s favorite dishes.
After working around the United States in a variety of kitchens, Patrick returned home to Kansas City; as he puts it, he “saw Kansas City as a great opportunity to do something new and exciting for the area…I wanted to become part of the growing food and drink community.” After becoming frustrated with his early efforts, Patrick looked to his time at Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill as being one of the most enjoyable experiences of his career, and he decided to make his own stamp in the world of Mexican cuisine. Patrick opened Port Fonda in 2010, and two years later, he had become successful enough to emerge from the underground with a brick-and-mortar version of Port Fonda.
