Ryan Allen, former executive chef of Reid’s Fine Foods in SouthPark, has taken a new position. Allen takes over the role of executive chef today at Barrister’s, a restaurant that opened this fall in downtown Gastonia.

Barrister’s, inside the recently renovated Esquire Hotel, has a focus on local ingredients and wood-fired cooking. Allen replaces former executive chef Kyle McKnight, and plans to keep the heart of the menu the same but make it more accessible to local Gastonia residents. He also wants to menu to reflect the entire kitchen staff, and says the chance to work with pastry chef Hannah Woociker was one of the opportunities that drew him to accept the job.

Allen says he plans to move to Gastonia to be closer to his new kitchen sometime after the holidays.

“When I walked through the downtown area — I’ve been to Gastonia, but I’ve never been to the downtown — what they’re trying to do out there, I really want to be part of that community,” he says.

Unpretentious Palate subscribers got to know Allen at a recent Meet the Chef event, when he shared his past with diners over dishes that meant something to him. —Kristen Wile

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