Today we’d like to introduce you to Rick Ryan.
Hi Rick, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My first job was a prep cook in a small Tex-Mex restaurant in Tulsa, OK. In 2006 I graduated with a Culinary Degree with a minor in Pastry Arts. During this time I paid my way through culinary school as a general manager for a French Bistro in Boston, Massachusetts.
My first cocktail program was for a Venezuelan restaurant, where we served an extensive mojito menu highlighting Venezuelan’s flair and flavor. Then, operating a country club with a bourbon focused cocktail menu,
I moonlighted with my own bakery (Doris & Dixie’s) and experimenting with flavors that I could source in the Boston area. 2010 brought me to Austin, Texas searching for a brick and mortar that I could open this bakery in.
Before I had the chance, I was offered the opportunity to run as food and beverage director for a non profit theater, creating a craft cocktail menu utilizing some of Austin’s finest ingredients. After that, a friend in Los Angeles had called and asked if I would come and open a catering company. GritsLA was born with a focus on regional Southern Cuisine and served production companies, magazines, and tech companies for the next 7 years. Jump through the COVID era and I arrived in Columbus, Ohio in May of 2021. Ever since then I have had the good fortune to work at Huli Huli returning to my roots of sourcing amazing ingredients to shape how we not only pay homage to Tiki but what it looks like in 2025.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This road has been anything but smooth. Growing up as a gay man in Oklahoma in the 80’s toughend me up far faster than most. Constantly a fight to prove I had a seat at the table, I pushed myself beyond comfortable limits and focused on finding my voice. I found it in the food I created and later the cocktails I imagined.
A bout of addiction, a few bad relationships, and wandering around trying to find out where I fit in, I realized the journey I had yet taken was inward.
As a roaming soul, every time I had moved, I had to restart, reboot if you will. These decades of moving became an opportunity to focus on who I was and the tenacity I had to be able to start over from scratch. Each move added another layer to my character, to my story. Those journeys were poured into the food I made, the cocktails I crafted.
Even now, a challenge for me is seen as an opportunity to learn, to grow, to add to my story, and my creations.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Some will call me a ring master, others a sadist. I’ve been called handyman, therapist, mad scientist, sage, and some even call me Mother. Actually, I’m a restaurant general manager for Huli Huli Tiki Lounge in Powell, Ohio.
But what do I specialize in? Stories. My creativity has never been limited to food nor drink. I have been lucky to add my own design element into work and constantly look for new ways to tell my story. This creation, however it is consumed, tells a story, perhaps familiar, perhaps enlightening.
Probably my proudest moment is the work I have done at Huli Huli. Dustin (the owner) has allowed me to not only flourish in my creative talents, but has trusted me to shape this business as a legacy for his children. Huli has allowed me to be creative in food, drink, design, even events. Either speaking to the past, with the Moai from the Kahiki getting restored in 2025, to ushering in what could be the future of Tiki and how we define it.
I think what sets me apart is this ability to weave a story into a full sensory experience. Not just the senses, but a story that speaks to mind, body, and soul. The story I tell may be in the form of food, drink, or visual. Its design to create a memorable experience, spark a memory, or even, just for a brief moment, provide sanctuary from the chaos in life.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best way to support us is to visit us. Enjoy the Aloha spirit that Huli Huli brings to its guests. Come have a drink, something to eat, take in the sights. This space was created as an escape, a place to be with Ohana (family), to share in old memories and make new ones. Without you, our story falls silent, it isn’t told, experienced, or shared.
If you are interested in some of my design work or art, come visit me, let me know what you want to create, let me tell a story for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hulihulipowell.com
- Instagram: @hulihulipowell
