PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — He is a rising star in the kitchen. Chef Ryan Schiele has a knack for whipping up the extraordinary.
With a prestigious degree from Johnson and Wales University, Schiele embarked on an incredible culinary journey that took him to France for five transformative years. Most notably, he honed his skills with the acclaimed Michelin Star restaurant group, Frenchie, where he learned the art of fine dining.
“It was a pinch yourself kind of thing,” he said. “I would be FaceTiming my mom in the corner, like watching me plate my food and do everything, making videos. It was fun.”
Today, Schiele is laser focused on transforming the culinary landscape of South Florida by serving up super healthy meals that leave a lasting impression.
“The client that I'm working for full-time, it's about clean eating, not being so much restrictive, but the cleanest you can be in terms of fats, sugars,” he said. “Using small substitutes when you can, but really trying to strip that down to, you know, the whole food bare minimum.”
When Schiele steps into the kitchen these days, he's on a mission to eliminate “bad for you” ingredients while ensuring that flavor remains paramount.
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“We're using almost 0 saturated fats. That's always the goal is to make it closest to the real thing that you can,” he said. “I mean, you're never going to have a healthy doughnut and have it be a Krispy Kreme doughnut. I mean, you can try your best, but it's just never going to be the same. But you can get pretty close.”
Armed with degrees in culinary nutrition and food science, Schiele possesses a profound understanding of the chemical compounds within food, how they interact, and the vital importance of clean labeling in today's health-conscious world.
“In general, if you're trying to have a clean label product. If you can have five, or under, ingredients, you can call that a clean label product, because it's been minimally processed and doesn't have a lot of additives,” he said. “But if you turn it around, and there's, you know, 25 things or multiple things that you can't pronounce, not a good idea.”
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Among Schiele's innovative creations is his blueberry pie, made with zero added sugar—a testament to his commitment to healthful ingredients.
“That’s what’s so great about something like natural fruit sugars. Blueberries, have soluble fiber, anthocyanins, you have so many vitamins, vitamin K, so many good things, antioxidants," he said. "Giving you sugar that you want in something, but without the huge spike or having those negative health effects.”
Schiele emphasizes that excessive sugar consumption can lead to inflammation, increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and weight gain, ultimately paving the way for a multitude of chronic diseases.
Chef Schiele utilizes monk fruit as a sugar substitute—a straightforward one-to-one replacement. This means that for every cup of sugar, you can easily swap in a cup of monk fruit, making it a seamless transition to healthier cooking.
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Looking for more wholesome alternatives, he relies on nutrient-dense substitutes in his recipes.
“Whole wheat and almond flour are normally my go tos,” Shiele said. “The mix of the two gives you a nice in-between product, because if you use all whole wheat, it's not that different, and it's actually five times as nutritious with all these micronutrients and fiber.”
Schiele is proving that eating well and enjoying flavorful meals can go hand in hand.
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