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Eat & Drink - Chef

Tucson Restaurants & Dining

The restaurant's Executive Chef is Ryan Clark. A native Tucsonan, his farm-to-table concept and slow food motif is an ideal complement to the casual elegance of Lodge on the Desert.

After initially working as Sous Chef at Fuego Restaurant, he went on to graduate from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Graduating the Dean’s List near the top of his class, Clark was selected by The American Culinary Federation as one of the top sixteen junior chefs across the nation.

After stints in New York City, Clark returned to Arizona where he worked under Iron Chef America winner Chef Beau MacMillan at Elements Restaurant at Sanctuary Resort in Paradise Valley. He ventured back to Tucson where he seasoned his culinary background at Canyon Ranch Health Resort and most recently The Dish Bistro. In October, 2009 and October, 2010 at the closing event of the 36th and 37th Annual Tucson Meet Yourself Festivals, Chef Clark competed head-to-head for first place in the TMY Iron Chef Competition with legendary Chef Albert Hall (2009) and Tucson Country Club's Ken Foy (2010). Each year Ryan won! Throughout his culinary adventures, Ryan also cooked for such personalities as Wayne Gretzky, Britney Spears, Sting, Will Smith and Jennifer Aniston.

His culinary philosophy is straightforward. "Our approach to cooking is simple. We start with the freshest products and ingredients, most locally grown and locally sourced. And we believe our guests have a right to know the source of the food they are enjoying as well as the methods used to prepare it. Our role is to facilitate the food's journey from farm to fork."

Ryan Clark Wins Two out of Three!

With his sleeves rolled up, knives sharpened and mind prepared for battle, Executive Chef Ryan Clark won the initial round of three local 2011 chef competitions on June 25 and 26 when he secured the title of The Original Iron Chef at the Tucson Culinary Experience. Previous two-time title holder and defending champion Clark was just edged out the weekend of October 14 - 16 by worthy opponent, Chef Albert Hall in the Tucson Meet Yourself competition. The culinary season's final challenge was the Copper Chef Challenge - concluding event of the annual Tucson Culinary Festival held on October 30. 2010 Copper Chef Addam Buzzalini, Executive Chef at Maynards Market and Kitchen and challenger Clark took center stage to compete. And Ryan emerged victorious! He dazzled actually. Congratulations to Chef Clark on a stellar year culinarily speaking!

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