Ryan Ratino

Ryan Ratino, Executive Chef at Ripple, wanted to make guests feel as if they were eating the best steak and eggs of their lives. One of his most well-regarded dishes at this modern neighborhood eatery is the Hen Egg with potatoes, sweetbreads and cured yolk.

He uses a sous vide treatment to perfectly cook the egg at 62.5 degrees for 75 minutes, then serves it with hay-smoked potatoes, grilled maitake mushrooms, pickled shimeji mushrooms, an espuma made from whipped potatoes, glazed veal sweetbreads and pickled onions.

For added depth, he glazes the vegetables, as well as the sweetbreads after they are fried, in a roasted onion stock. Ratino finishes the dish with a grating of cured egg yolk for richness and to bring home the steak-and-eggs profile.

“The ingredients work together to create very rooted, deep flavors of meat served with mushrooms and onions,” he says. With this imaginative dish, Ratino has successfully reinterpreted something as classic as steak and eggs in a unique way.

“Customers see this dish as a treasure chest waiting to be discovered, as most of the elements are covered with the potato espuma,” he says. “The more diners dive into the dish, the more layers they experience.”