5 Questions for Ryan Morrison

By Jenn Harris

Oct. 8, 2012 12 AM PT

Ryan Morrison is executive chef at the newly opened Towne Food & Drink downtown. He attended culinary school at the age of 16 in Toronto before going on to work in restaurants in New York City and Toronto, including davidburke & donatella, L’Impero, and Chez Josephine-Morrison. Morrison worked as director of culinary development for Scott Conant and helped Conant open the Scarpetta locations in Toronto, New York and Beverly Hills. At Towne, Morrison executes a playful menu of American comfort foods, including the lobster smoky “pig in a blanket,” popcorn chicken liver and the pastrami pork belly sliders.

What’s coming up next on your menu? Right now we are playing with a lot of different types of pumpkin and squash. There is a friend we have up the coast that grows a lot of heirloom varieties that are pretty unique. You will be seeing them in pasta sometime soon. Fall is one of my favorite seasons for cooking.

Latest ingredient obsession? Peppers! I’ve always hated them. I have been seeing some gorgeous ones at the market, and I’m now obsessed.

The one piece of kitchen equipment you can’t live without, other than your knives? Our band saw. I love butchering and it’s the only way to get unique cuts.

The last cookbook you read – and what inspired you to pick it up? I actually got it a while ago, “Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book.” The combinations are awesome and very translatable into dishes.

What chef has most influenced you? Scott Conant. I feel very fortunate to have been able to work beside him for so long. He taught me food as a business and the importance of the customer. I also learned how to make pretty decent spaghetti. I left with more passion than I started with.

Towne Food & Drink 705 West 9th Street Los Angeles, CA 90015, (213) 623-2366, www.towne-la.com.

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