Vignola Cinque Terre, a leading farm-to-table restaurant located in Portland, has promoted Mitchell Ryan to the position of executive chef.

Born in California, raised in Durham, and a graduate of Brunswick High School, Ryan began his culinary career at a catering company in Brunswick. He joined the staff at Cinque Terre in May 2011 after earning his culinary degree. Following Cinque Terre’s merger with Vignola, Ryan cooked his way to the top, training under chef Lee Skawinski.

In 2015, Ryan won the Maine Restaurant Week Incredible Breakfast Cook-Off with his smoked beef brisket hash, scrambled eggs, pea shoots and cheese fondue to.

Ryan’s time in Italy with farmers and producers affirmed his commitment to the slow food movement and its tenets of fresh, locally sourced ingredients. He often visits the Portland restaurant’s own Grand View Farm in Greene, Maine, where pigs are raised for the restaurant as well as produce, herbs and honey made from the farm’s own bees.

Ryan will carry on Vignola Cinque Terre’s long tradition of marrying classic, authentic Italian flavors with local Maine flavors.

“Keeping Maine’s slow food movement alive is very important to me,” Ryan said. “Food harvested and grown in Maine should be sold in Maine.”

Ryan will also keep the tradition of changing the menu with the seasons, which allows for the creative juices to flow in the kitchen and ensures the menu leverages the best Maine has to offer throughout the year. Under Ryan, the menu will also feature more local seafood. However, there are favorites that will stay year-round, like the pristine Maine oysters and the house-made rigatoni with Grand View Farm pork and lamb bolognese.

Vignola Cinque Terre has always been a place where the European style of relaxed dining still rules. “We will never push people out the door,” said the new executive chef.