About the.ironic.chef

- Rather that blogging anonymously -

Ethan Ray

Bio:

Ethan’s culinary epiphany started at the age of 15 – when he took his first job at the local college’s cafeteria in his hometown. Though initially planning to pursue education in art, it was through working alongside the operation’s chef doing private dining functions at the school’s president’s home, as well as working at the historic Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant (which the college also owned) Ethan was exposed to a higher level of cooking. The realization that food and cuisine could be so much more than just for sustenance – and could combine all the elements of his interest in the arts -  Ethan came to the conclusion that cooking was the ultimate expression of art and craft. While fine arts are traditionally limited to a maximum of 3 dimensions, he found food encompassed so much more than that: the dimensions of food continued into aroma, temperature, flavor, and countless other nuances.

After spending three years working there, Ethan left to attend Sullivan University’s culinary program in Louisville and channel his aspirations into a career. While still enrolled in culinary school he landed a job at Asiatique. Shortly after the restaurant’s move to its present location, he assumed the role of pastry chef and focused his attention to raising the caliber of the dessert program to compliment that of chef Peng Looi’s savory food by crafting equally adventurous Asian-inspired desserts. In addition to his work as pastry chef, he also maintained sous chef duties. The last two years there, he also maintained the role of consulting pastry chef for Asiatique’s sister restaurant: August Moon Chinese Bistro.

After a 3 year tenure at Asiatique and building a reputation for his work with daring desserts, Ethan heralded to a new calling: to again raise the bar for desserts in Louisville – this time by creating equally progressive desserts to match that of chefs Todd Richards’ and Duane Nutter’s eclectic interpretations of modern American cuisine at the AAA five-diamond rated Oakroom at the Seelbach Hilton in Louisville, KY – serving as pastry chef from 2007-2010.

In July 2010, Ethan and his wife Sarah (also a chef) reunited with chefs Richards and Nutter, joining their team with Lush Life Group LLC in Atlanta, GA to begin work on new restaurant ventures.

 

When not in  the kitchen his hobbies include: photography, electronics, hiking, graphic design, music, the arts, reading, spending time with his wife and son, and of course anything to do with food and the craft and sciences of cooking.

 

Culinary Synopsis:

Equally adept in both savory and pastry techniques, Ethan’s individual style tends to lean of contrasting elements of both disciplines: desserts echoing subtlety and light and ethereal preparations, a restraint of using the natural characteristics of each ingredient to carry their own individual balance to the plate and palate. Careful explorations in the sensory perceptions and sensations the guest experiences also come into play: His savory fare showcases attention to detail with a mindful eye to visual aesthetic and color he learned through years of pastry work. All the while being mindful of paying close attention to the flavor notes he feels are most important to balancing the composition of a dish: fat, acid, bitter, sweet, earth, and fresh/green elements. Textural and sensational contrasts come into the forefront through not just hot and cold, but also with differing measures of mouth feel – from soft, to crunchy and going as far as once far-fetched notions as ‘pop’, and carbonation.

Through the act of continually reinventing and redesigning the traditional notions equated with cuisine, Ethan’s vision of ‘progressive cuisine’ comes forth – through modern interpretations of flavor and execution: the careful usage and utilization of traditional and non-traditional ingredients. Ranging the full-gamut of sources – With desserts – from the unexpected: vegetables, herbs, spices, chiles, mushroom & truffles; to the familiar: chocolate, custards, ice creams, fruits, cakes & tarts; the chef leaves no stone unturned. For savory food, he’s fond of exploring flavors and techniques traditionally employed with pastry intertwine with traditional structure. Whether pairing vanilla and chocolate with proteins, or crafting savory meringues, marshmallows or sugar candies as accent notes; the chefs limits know no bounds. By using traditional, inventive and unexpected preparations, the chef achieves the general objective of eating: sustenance all the while simultaneously redefining and blurring the lines of what should be expected. Oftentimes the inspirations behind Ethan’s dishes are esoteric, his work is equally intended to challenge the perceptions and senses, as much as they are meant to be satisfying in the traditional sense.