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Cynthia began her own career some 38 years ago, when a friend asked her to cater her special dinner party. Catering continued including NYC film companies and Mrs. Merrill of Merrill Lynch. Desiring to see her own recipes in print, she started product recipe development for Best Foods & Lipton, soon moving on to recipe development and writing for Ladies’ Home Journal, Cooking Light, Fitness, and Prevention, co-authoring eight Weight Watchers books, and developing more than 75 recipes for the last Atkins for Life book series, just before his untimely passing. Still enjoying the art of baking, she loves the simplicity of making people happy and continuing the joy restaurants can bring to people.
In the Kitchen. Coming from a close-knit Italian family with a mom, Fascino pastry chef Cynthia DePersio who set high standards for home cooking, and grandmothers whose meals were legendary Ryan knew early on that cooking was what he wanted to do. After NY Restaurant School, Ryan worked at Bouley Bakery and Judson Grill, then traveled to Paris to work at the one-star Michelin restaurant, La Brasserie. Back in the states, Ryan’s talent was recognized by Jean Georges Vongerichten, who hired him first at Vong and then promoted him to the four-star restaurant, Jean Georges. After two years there, he traveled to Florence and worked at the two-star Enoteca Pinchiorri.