Ryan Gall / Tchefuncte’s Restaurant, Madisonville, Louisiana
An avid golfer and career chef, Ryan Gall found the perfect job when he became the Executive Chef for TPC Louisiana in Avondale. A short drive from the Big Easy, TPC (Tournament Players Club) Louisiana is host to the state’s only PGA tour event, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
As the one responsible for creating menus to satisfy the well-traveled visitors and world-class golfers who train and compete at TPC Louisiana, Chef Ryan says he tries to strike a balance with dishes that showcase Louisiana’s spicy seasonings but are still fresh and contemporary. Big names, big appetites and big spenders at The Players Championship also require a degree of sophistication and volume from crepe stations, BBQ shrimp and an abundant raw bar.
A lifelong southerner, Ryan spent seven years working for the man whose name is synonymous with new southern cooking — Emeril Lagasse. Along with offering Ryan a job after culinary school, Emeril introduced him to The Perfect Purée in the early 2000s.
“I have since used them with multiple restaurant groups and have always brought them in where I am for drinks as well as food,” Ryan says. “The variety surpasses most purée companies and they are very consistent.”
Ryan says the bright, refreshing flavors of The Perfect Purée are especially welcome in the summer to balance his spicier dishes, not to mention the oppressing weather. In one recipe, he uses The Perfect Purée Mango Puree in a citrus coulis to temper a cayenne-ginger seared Muscovy Duck breast. For Cinco de Mayo, Ryan created a Prickly Pear Jalapeño Margarita with a sweet-hot kick from The Perfect Purée Prickly Pear Puree and a seeded jalapeño.
Ryan began working in the restaurant industry when he was 14 and never looked back, spending a portion of his teenage years learning banquet and resort-style cooking at Saddlebrook, a premier golf and tennis resort in Tampa. Ryan attended culinary school after high school and almost as soon as he graduated, he was approached by The Emeril Lagasse Group to work for City Walk Orlando. Over the next seven years, Ryan helped Emeril’s company open multiple locations throughout the Gulf Coast, ending his run as executive sous chef at Lagasse’s former Gulf Coast Fish House in Gulfport, Missouri. From there, Ryan worked for the Ruth’s Chris family of restaurants and as an executive chef for a Spanish tapas concept in New Orleans. Although he’s happy to have found such a good match for his skills and interests at TPC Louisiana, Ryan says he dreams of opening his own restaurant one day. As of 2022, he currently works with Tchefuncte’s Restaurant in Madisonville.