Ricardo Lory is the founder and CEO of Chef Global’s Kitchen. He is a native of Naples, Florida, where he currently resides. Ricardo is a Certified Culinarian, with a degree in Culinary Arts and multiple certifications.
Growing up Ricardo was no stranger to hard work. He gained his first exposure to the culinary field at the age of 10 by helping around his parents’ local restaurant. Ricardo’s passion for food goes all the back to the proud island nation of his parents and ancestors—Haiti. The rich, bold, and strong flavors of the Haitian cuisine are a blend, much like Ricardo’s culinary journey and cooking style.
Growing up as a second-generation child of Haitian descent, Ricardo was conscious of the sacrifices that his parents made. While most children in his neighborhood played outside, Ricardo was learning how to manage and run a full-service restaurant working every position he could. At the age of 18, he moved to Tallahassee, Florida to pursue a culinary arts degree.
While in school Ricardo landed his first job at the state award-winning fine dining restaurant, Food Glorious Food, which changed his perspective on culinary arts. It was there that he met Executive Chef Kevin Stout, who later became Ricardo’s mentor after observing his enthusiasm for cooking.
Upon completing college in the top 1% of his class, Ricardo traveled to Walt Disney World Resorts where he was exposed to numerous cooking styles. This is where his natural passion for food met his infatuation with people and their cultures. This sparked him to take a risk and travel to these countries alone to experiment with culinary styles that were unfamiliar to him.
17 countries later, Chef Ricardo has explored and tasted countless raw ingredients that are now imported to his US based restaurant, Chef Global Kitchen. The motto at Chef Global, “flavors from around the world” is not merely a slogan, but an homage to all the people that truly make this world a place worth living.
