Chef Ryan Taliaferro, executive sous chef for The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas, has led the culinary charge at several noted Ritz-Carlton properties since joining the brand in 1997. An aficionado of slow food, molecular gastronomy and farm-to-table cuisine, Taliaferro has designed some of the company’s most heralded menus, including the new Italian-inspired dinner offering at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas’ Medici Café & Terrace.
Since joining the lakeside resort 17 miles from the Las Vegas Strip, Chef Taliaferro has added numerous culturally-significant Italian selections to the Medici menu, including Prime New York Steak with Basil Zabaglione, Sea Bass Aqua Pazza, and restaurant favorite Osso Bucco with Lemon Gremolatta. He has also unveiled a popular Farm-to-Table Prix Fixe dinner option featuring regional ingredients from independent local farmers and a healthful organic approach to tasting-menu dining. Taliaferro has paid no less attention to morning cuisine, crafting a healthful Farm-to-Table choice for Breakfast Buffet, complete with a newly-nutritious, organic and sustainable take on the traditional “Vegas breakfast buffet.”
Further expanding on dining innovation, Ryan Taliaferro recently designed and implemented a series of weekly dining experiences for the Lobby Lounge at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas. Dubbed “Sunday Gravy” and inspired by the traditional Italian Sunday favorite featuring freshly-made sauce Bolognese on pasta, Sunday Gravy at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas offers three variations on the weekly-special theme, including Sunday Gravy, Macaroni Monday and Wine Wednesday. A highlight is weekly Lobster Mac-N-Cheese, served each Monday as part of Macaroni Monday. Also supporting the resort’s popular Lobby Lounge and Ritz-Carlton Bar Experience, Taliaferro has introduced a versatile small bites offering to expand dining options in the centrally-located lobby and bar area.
Ryan Taliaferro has over 16 years of experience in the culinary industry. A Pennsylvania native, he began cooking at age 15 and received a culinary arts degree magna cum laude from Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina. He began his career in 1997 as a café sous-chef for The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta, winning four nominations and one victory for “Employee of the Quarter” and soon advancing to the position of sous chef for the hotel’s renowned Atlanta Grill. After moving to two other dining properties outside the brand, Taliaferro returned to Ritz-Carlton in 2002, serving as garde manger sous chef and chef tournant for The Ritz-Carlton, Naples and overseeing a team of 80 cooks while at the resort. Since then, Ryan Taliaferro has seen further advancement to culinary positions at The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay (California), the Penha Longa Hotel & Golf Resort (Portugal) and The Ritz-Carlton, Powerscourt (Ireland), where he served on the hotel’s opening task force and developed all menus and recipes for the hotel’s garde manger and banquet kitchens.