Bio
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 (as well as working at the college-owned Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant) – that 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.
