Life Beyond And Because of Restaurants with Ryoko Yoshida - No. 31

And how our industry can be uniquely tied to travel.

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What can you expect in each newsletter? Sweet stories from women and non-binary people in food. These are chefs, restauranteurs, farmers, and creatives—all with unique stories that connect us to food through intimacy, memory, and experience.

Today, I have the honor of sharing my chat with Chef Ryoko Yoshida. Former Executive Chef of Diner, Ryoko continues to work within the Marlowe collective. Currently, she’s consulting with the team at She Wolf to open up their new production facility in the Navy Yard. A larger facility equipped with a mixer so massive Ryoko compares it to a “giant jacuzzi. No really, I’m afraid to fall in,” and a small cafe that will feature her menu and recipes.

Together, we discuss her adventurous journey to this point, which now includes freelance cooking, her own pop-ups, and a focus on life beyond restaurants. While her extensive experience in New York's top restaurants might suggest a grueling story—today, Ryoko shares the lighter bits instead. Ryoko emphasizes that the culinary industry can be fun, if we embrace it.

When did you first discover your love of cooking?

Growing up in Laguna Niguel, Southern California in a single-parent household, Ryoko wasn’t able to glean her cooking skills from her family. However, she remembers time spent in the garden of a friend’s after school where they would gather lovely fresh produce to whip up amazing seasonal salads and tasty dinners. It was there—in addition to the rise of the Food Network at the time—that Ryoko’s interest in food was born.

Not unlike myself, she didn’t instantly know that cooking would be her career. First, she studied Communications at USC and went on to intern for several faces in the entertainment industry. A well-known LA producer, a wedding planner, a hospitality management company, and finally as an assistant to a health food chef who was gunning for their own TV show. “I was sort of her recipe tester and assistant. I would say that was my least favorite job in food, for several reasons,” she tells me about her internship with the health food chef all those years back.

She didn’t let one bad experience sour her interest in food. Ryoko recalls trying to decide which path to follow right after this and coming back to the idea that she just loved to eat and gather for exciting meals. And how could she make that a part of every day life? Which led her to culinary school.

Something I love about talking with Ryoko is the duality of her modesty and confidence when she tells me about her background. In our industry, and especially in a big city like New York, it’s so common for chefs to act as if they’ve “arrived.” Regardless of her extensive experience as a line cook, sous, and chef in some of the best restaurants here—Gramercy Tavern, ABC Kitchen, and Estela, to name a few—Ryoko remains humble, goofy, and kind.

As she shares her story, she questions, “What do I really know about food? I’m still discovering what I enjoy making and what my voice is.” This introspection and desire to grow make her an inspiring leader. Her humility as a teacher in a field filled with self-assured chefs is truly rare.

What do you do outside of cooking that inspires you?

Ryoko emphasizes the value of travel, especially during transitional periods, highlighting that our industry uniquely allows for long breaks between jobs—or even during them—to seek inspiration. “One of the perks of being in our industry—especially in New York—is that you have an ability to travel and connect with people from other places,” she explains—“If there's ever a place that you want to travel to, just keep asking around and you are bound to know someone or meet someone who has a connection to that place who can get you there.”

Her first experience solo traveling was the summer of 2017, where she spent a month exploring Italy. “I will forever cherish every minute of the time I spent there,” Ryoko reminisces. Her favorite moments were spent in Sicily, where Franco Fubini, the founder of Natoora, put her in touch with a family-owned restaurant to host her. “I stayed in an apartment above the restaurant and staged in the kitchen.” Their restaurant is called I Rizzari and is nestled in a small fishing village south of Catana. It was there that Ryoko discovered her passion for travel; “I was greeted with such warmth and kindness from everyone I met on that trip. I fell in love with it.”

This past summer, she returned to Italy for a wedding in Capri with her partner and they decided to extend the trip to get back to Sicily. Pictured below is Ryoko’s “favorite breakfast of all time—Brioche & Granita. So of course, we had that everyday we were there.” And because it was their summer vacation as well, they also swam twice a day everyday—once in the morning and once in the afternoon. “It's the only way,” she smiles.

Her favorite restaurant meal of the entire year was also discovered on this trip, at DiVino Mare in Ortigia—“it was a quick walk from where we were staying and we ended up eating there three times over the course of the week. Great food and all local Italian wines.” 

Ryoko’s partner is half French and when we spoke for the piece, she had just returned from a trip to France where they stayed with her partner’s mother. Outside of staying in a tiny hamlet that was his family home in the Maconnais, they spent some time in Paris as well as the Beaujolais.

“While we were there, my partner invited the neighbors over for dinner and I was tasked with cooking for them. They have these beautiful local white Charolais cattle and so I figured why not, I'll make some boeuf bourguignon. A New Yorker cooking French food for French people. They found it funny and they loved it.”

What is your dream restaurant concept?

Ryoko’s recent pop-up at Lise and Vito featured bento boxes, but she says she’s still playing around with what she’d want for her own space. She admits that she’s always been envious of cooks who just know they must make a certain thing one day—like the best burgers, or pizza, or croissants. It’s never been quite so simple, and rather, “the place I’m at in life now is more about wanting a family. Now, I’m trying to determine how my career could support the kind of life I want, rather than the other way around.”

We discuss the challenges women face in our industry when it comes to having children. While benefits are improving, balancing a chef's career and motherhood still feels unrealistic. “I had to ask myself if I want to stand at the pass for ten hours while pregnant. I’m reaching an age where it needs to happen soon.” Despite this, she dreams of her own place and plans to explore different possibilities, whether that’s being hands-off, consulting, or finding a flexible balance. Whatever she chooses, I’m sure it will be delicious.

Thank you again, Ryoko for taking the time to talk with me and share your story. We need more inspiring women like you to help pave the way! Interested in following her to hear about upcoming pop-ups and other food-inspiration? Give her a follow on Instagram and check out the new She Wolf for some of her amazing bites when it opens in the Navy Yard.