Ryan Poli

Chef / Owner

Trained in classic French and American cuisine, Chef Ryan Poli refined his techniques by working at esteemed restaurants like Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry and Jean Banchet’s Le Francais. He also trained at El Celler de Can Roca, and Martín Berasategui in Spain. His early career was spent in his native Chicago, where he opened Butter (2005), Perennial (2008), and Tavernita (2012). He was among a wave of chefs who put Chicago on the map as a food city and won awards including a Bib Gourmand from Michelin Guide, Travel + Leisure’s “Best New Chef,” Food & Wine Magazine’s “Best Dish,” among many others. 

Looking to grow as a chef and a human, Poli traveled, worked, and ate his way around the world. Highlights include working with Dan Barber at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Noma in Copenhagen and Japan, Brea in Australia, and making pasta with Marc Vetri in Philadelphia. 

In 2016 Poli returned stateside to helm Nashville’s Catbird Seat, where he conjured everything from the menu to the playlist, and was awarded “Best Dining Experience” by Eater throughout his three-year tenure. Since exiting, Chef Poli has been crafting menus and consulting on restaurant projects from Las Vegas to Bali to Austin, TX, creating a private dining experience in Nashville that’s booked out months in advance, and launching a hugely successful pasta kit pop-up in Chicago to beta test aspects of iggy’s concept and menu. 

The menu at iggy’s focuses on freshly made pasta, and locally-sourced ingredients. The restaurant is located at 609 Merritt Avenue, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37203, and is helmed by Chef / Owner Ryan Poli and his brother, Matthew Poli.