RYAN SUMNER has 3 main passions in life: 1. Seeing people reach their full potential, 2. unity & communication between different peoples, 3. and pursuit of education & knowledge.
Born in Texas, but raised in Saudi Arabia, Ryan Sumner traveled to over 35 countries by the time he was a teenager. The youngest in a large Texan Cajun family, Ryan grew up in a family of caterers, competitive bbqers, chefs and artists. This instilled an early, passionate love of different cultures, their customs & hospitality. It also heavily impacted Ryan’s ability to relate to and meet the needs of guests, clients & peers in any given situation. With a profound respect for his roots, an ability to make any individual feel at home, and experience in different aspects of hospitality business, those passions persist today in all that Ryan Sumner pursues.
In 2013, Ryan Sumner worked to revamp the legendary dive bar Power House into a cocktail bar & then joined the team at Houston Hospitality’s celebrated cocktail bar Harvard & Stone. Finding a niche in Hollywood’s cocktail community, Ryan went on to act as General Manager of No Vacancy, then on the leadership team at The Spare Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt. In 2016, Sumner worked at André Balazs’ Sunset Beach on Shelter Island, NY.
In the midst of all of this, Mr. Sumner still found time, in 2015, to consult , craft menus & train staff at cocktail bars in smaller markets like Oklahoma City(Rockford Cocktail Den) and Edmonton, AB, Canada(El Cortez Tequila Kitchen & Have Mercy, Holy Roller).
Before diving into professional bartending, Ryan Sumner planned, executed & analyzed market research studies for high-profile brands such as Jack Daniels, Sonoma Cutrer Wine, Smirnoff, Miller Light, Motts/Clamato, TGIFridays, Chilis, Wing St, Southwest Airlines, PepsiCo & many more, as a cultural anthropologist & video ethnographer.
Mr. Sumner currently is consulting on several projects in Edmonton, AB & Los Angeles. He also still applies himself “behind the stick” at Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirits Lodge; an award-winning cocktail bar in Houston, TX.
Mr. Sumner’s objective is to educate, empower & train professional restaurant & hospitality management, with a focus on stellar guest experience, as well as sustainable & profitable processes & procedures.
