Ryan McCarthy

General Manager

“I want to be General Manager.”  That is what Ryan McCarthy told the Passion Food Hospitality owners every year in his annual performance review, beginning in 2001, when he started at DC Coast.  A native of Poughkeepsie, New York, Ryan had worked in restaurants in some capacity his whole life, delivering pizza, washing dishes, working as a bar-back and bartender, and earning a political science degree at the University of Pittsburgh along the way.   That led him to the nation’s capital, where, coincidentally, his brother-in-law was opening a small casual dining restaurant and needed a manager.  Ryan took the job.

After three years, he set his sights on a career at a larger fine-dining operation, and was hired as a manager at DC Coast.  Training under the careful eye of General Manager Boo Kim and the rest of the Passion Food Hospitality team, Ryan was elevated from manager at DC Coast to assistant general manager at all three restaurants, DC Coast, TenPenh [now closed], and Ceiba.  While they are all owned by Passion Food, and held to its top-notch standards of service and cuisine, Ryan points out that working with three different staffs and being exposed to three different managerial styles was a valuable, rigorous experience.  He began to focus on in-house marketing, making concierge visits and organizing off-site promotional tastings.

Early in 2005, as plans were underway to open Acadiana, the group’s fourth restaurant, Ryan stated again in his annual review, “I want to be General Manager.”  Little did he know that his long-held wish was about to be realized: to be General Manager of DC Coast.  His mentor was moving on to Acadiana, and had assured the owners that Ryan was ready to take over. Then in the Fall of 2011, Ryan moved to PassionFish in Reston to take on the role of General Manager.

 Ryan McCarthy is perfect management material, with his gregarious smile, gracious demeanor, and eye for detail.  He moves swiftly across a dining room, spotting an entrée finished on table 11 and wine ready to be poured at table 34.  Discreet and unobtrusive, he is quick to clear a table and re-arrange place settings so that courses are served seamlessly from the kitchen.  He may seem like the quiet genius of the dining room, but if you strike up a conversation, Ryan will happily engage in discussion of world issues – or about his young daughter. 

All of the Passion Food Hospitality restaurants enjoy the role of well-established popular Washington institutions with a clientele devoted to Chef Jeff Tunks’ innovative cuisine.  According to Ryan McCarthy, this is a blessing – and also the challenge.  “We have a great clientele, and they have certain expectations,” he explains.  “We are always striving to exceed those expectations with exciting new dishes and trends, without affecting what it is they like about us – that’s Jeff’s job.  Mine is keeping the service top notch!  That’s the thrill.”