NASHVILLE, TN – September 20, 2021 – Bobby Hotel is thrilled to announce the appointment of acclaimed Chef Ryan Poli to Executive Chef leading all culinary operations of the lifestyle hotel. Hailing from Chicago, Poli brings more than 20 years of industry experience to the downtown Nashville hotel, where he has been enlisted to reinvent the dining experience throughout Bobby’s four culinary and cocktail concepts. Most recently serving as Executive Chef at The Catbird Seat, Poli has made his return to Music City with the ultimate vision of placing Nashville on the map as a world-renowned culinary destination.
“We are beyond excited to bring in an executive chef with the level of culinary experience and perspective that Ryan has,” said Jacob Strang, area director of culinary operations for Castlerock Asset Management, Bobby Hotel’s management group. “We feel our values as a property perfectly align with Ryan’s goals for the overall destination: to spotlight the quality and talent that makes Nashville the world-class city it is. Ryan’s vision for our culinary outlets will add a new favorite Music City dining option for locals and travelers alike.”
Having an impressive start to his career, Chef Ryan Poli learned from some of the most notable chefs in the industry including Jean Banchet of Le Francais Restaurant and Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, before moving to Spain to work under Chef Sergi Arola at La Broche. Poli returned home to the Windy City in 2005, where he took on Executive Chef roles at highly recognized restaurants, Butter, Perennial, and Tavernita, respectively – each earning coveted awards within the culinary industry. In 2013, Poli decided to pick up his life and start from the beginning by learning to stage with other notable chefs all over the world in the pursuit of self-discovery and inspiration. For two years, he traveled the globe – landing him in countries such as Denmark, Japan, and Australia, as well as stateside at Osteria in
Philadelphia and Blue Hill Stone Barns in New York. While abroad, Poli studied under prominent culinary names, including Rene Redzepi, Dan Puskas and Dan Hunter, among many others.
In 2016, Poli picked up and moved to Nashville to take on the role of executive chef of The Catbird Seat, one of Music City’s most acclaimed restaurants. In this position, Poli put his personal touch on the everchanging tasting menus, paying tribute to the worldly studies and influences he gained over the past two years. While leaving this role at the beginning of 2019, Poli took the remainder of the year to travel around Asia, ultimately leading him to work in Bali in 2020. Due to the pandemic, he found himself returning back to Nashville to be closer to family, where he fell back in love with the city all over again. In this new chapter, Poli will be utilizing his new title at Bobby Hotel to add to Nashville’s gastronomy landscape while solidifying the destination on the culinary map.
Locals and guests of the hotel can expect to start to experience these changes at Bobby’s beloved outlets by the end of the year. For more information and updates, visit www.bobbyhotel.com.
