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Gone for Beijing, Ryan Jaranilla will serve as senior executive chef for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The kitchen will be open around the clock to nourish 12,000 of the world’s elite athletes and the 5,000 media professionals who will cover the event. Chef Ryan (the name he likes to go by) is second in command over it all, reporting to the directing chef. Each day, the menus will be different and tailored to the diets of the different types of athletes. Recognizing the potential challenges, “A weightlifter will probably want a heavier meal than, let’s say a gymnast, and I have to be sensitive to their cultural food preferences, too,” he says.
He will spend three months in Beijing. Because the Chinese government is hosting and funding the event, a traditional Chinese tea house and all its delicacies will also be available to the athletes.
Chef Ryan is a regional manager and executive chef for Aramark Corporation, a food services company that the general public is likely to find in corporate cafeterias, theme parks, university cafeterias, sports stadiums, and the like. Aramark has also been the food company of record for the Olympic Games for the last 40 years.
Chef Ryan had heard about the opportunity to serve as chef for the Olympics through his employer, where all managers were invited to submit their applications. In an interview process that lasted several months, he was one of 11 manager-level applicants, chosen over 250 others. Last February, he received the news he was going to Beijing.
When he isn’t hosting the world’s most talented athletes, Chef Ryan manages the food services for University of California at Irvine (UCI), where Aramark provides the service. He cooks in the kitchen, plans the daily menus, and continues to keep the menus fresh by introducing new dishes. He holds monthly events called “dine with the directors,” a revolving test marketing group comprised of about 30 students and faculty who try his new creations. As a result of these test groups, Filipino food has become a staple on campus. “It’s great to test (new recipes) on kids in college. Part of my success (at UCI) is because a majority of the students are Asian,” he observed. “And, I think when you’re young, you’re open to more different things.” Always on the menu are chicken adobo, vegan pancit (made with tofu and vegetable broth, to satisfy these discerning palates) and halo-halo.
When he isn’t working his full-time job, Chef Ryan runs his own catering and event-planning business, Dream Events by RJ, creating beautiful weddings and other special parties. His next big event will be a princess-themed party for his niece. It’s a business that he’s had on the side for the last 10 years.
His contribution to the Olympics is a culmination of a lifetime spent in the food and hospitality industry, where he has sought out numerous opportunities to perfect his craft.
Strong Credentials
Born in Iloilo, Ryan Jaranilla was brought up in a family that encouraged creativity and an appreciation for meals. His father was a career soldier in the military, but when he wasn’t working, he was cooking. “My grandmother is a great cook as well,” he says. “As a kid, she would call me into the kitchen and ask me to help wash the vegetables and do the basic stuff.” While he has great affection for his mother, a schoolteacher, “She was not allowed in the kitchen!” he jokes.
“My aunt was the Martha Stewart of our town,” he continues. “Whenever there were town fiestas or weddings, she would decorate the church and the places where they held the celebrations.” In his small town, there was no hospitality or party planning industry, so his aunt’s creative eye was a valuable resource.
Ryan earned a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of the Philippines. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1991. Just out of college and looking for work, Ryan landed a part-time job in a hospital, in food and nutrition services.
From this humble beginning, his career took off. “There was a Filipino chef, Alex Jose, who had the ability to inspire his staff and lead people,” Ryan observed. His then-boss encouraged him to pursue a career in nutrition and culinary arts so he began to build his credentials in this newly chosen career path. He went on to earn associate degrees in nutrition and culinary arts from Westlake Culinary Institute, and certifications in catering management and event planning from California Polytechnic University in Pomona.
Ryan then went on to manage events, plan parties and create menus for Wolfgang Puck Catering. Some of his more posh parties included the 2000 Academy Awards and the 2001 Grammy Awards. He also used his culinary expertise at Disney’s food services division, creating menus for Disney theme parks.
Lufthansa Airlines was the next employer of Ryan’s talents, when he became a “sky chef,” managing food services and feeding airline passengers.
In 2003, he joined Aramark, and continues to hone his experience in hospitality and the food industry. Prior to his assignment at UCI, Ryan managed food services for Aramark’s Angel Stadium of Anaheim baseball park and the Staples Center, a 20,000-seat sports arena and concert hall located in downtown Los Angeles.
Throughout his career, Chef Ryan has participated in select culinary competitions. Most recently, he was a finalist in the Aramark Regional Higher Education Culinary Competition, held at the University of Southern California. He impressed the judges with his Asian-inspired glass noodle salad and barbecue pork stick, followed by an Asian-inspired sesame-ginger salmon served on top of paella. He finished off his entry with a coconut crème brulee served in coconut shells. He competed against 50 other Aramark chefs.
Another competition of note in-cluded the making of one of his personal favorite Filipino desserts—turon, or what we fondly call in English, “banana egg roll.” At the time, he was a student in culinary school, trying to come up with a dish that would impress his instructor. “I didn’t know what to make, and my final exam was coming up fast,” he said. So, he pulled together some ingredients he had on hand in his own kitchen, brought them to school and put his own personal twist on this classic Filipino treat.
He piled together a banana slice, a slather of peanut butter, a slice of jackfruit and a sprinkle of brown sugar, rolled them into an egg roll wrapper, deep fried them, and sliced it on a bias cut. He then drizzled caramel sauce over it, sprinkled it with candied walnuts and served it with homemade ube ice cream.
Being the only Filipino in his class at the time, “My instructor said, ‘Oh this is so exotic! This is good enough to serve in the best restaurants.’ Then he encouraged me to enter a cooking competition with his recipe.” He became a finalist.
Chef Ryan finds inspiration in the traditional Filipino dishes, and he thinks, with just an improved presentation, Filipino food could appeal to a larger mass audience. “Sometimes that’s a problem with Filipino food,” he remarked. “All you have to do is take the ingredients, do something just a little different and make it look more appetizing.”
In the meantime, he’ll do his part by introducing the athletes to mango crème brulee served in a Beijing tea house in the Olympic Village.
About the author
Susan Maddela is a free-lance writer and editor based in Los Angeles, CA. When she isn’t writing, she spends her days with her husband and fellow writer, Anthony Maddela and her two children, ages four and six.
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