Polo Grill and Bar executive chef takes farm-to- table dining to a new level

Jaryd Hearn has never been one to shy away from Mother Nature.

As a child, that meant traipsing across acres of farmland and learning about the various livestock that called the area home.

Years later, as an executive chef for the Polo Grill and Bar, a Lakewood Ranch-based restaurant specializing in American cuisine with a global flair, that means working alongside local growers to bring the farm to the table.

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Jaryd learned early on to appreciate nature and the value that comes from immersing yourself in your surroundings.

“At 6 a.m. my mom would kick me and my brothers out of the house, and we would be gone all day until she called us in for dinner at 6 p.m. that night,” says Jaryd, who spent much of his childhood surrounded by farmland in Carrollton, Ga.

Jaryd’s inspiration for nature, livestock and food only blossomed from there.

“I love nature and what nature has to offer, and I realized that being a chef wasn’t just working in a corporate restaurant,” says Jaryd. “I could still work with these farms and livestock people without actually working on the farm. I knew I loved food, but I didn’t realize until much later that was the catalyst for my career as a chef.”

In the fall of 2012 while attending the culinary program at Keiser University, Jaryd started working for Polo Grill and Bar as a trainee. From there, he completed an apprenticeship before eventually working his way up to sous chef.

It was during his time at Polo Grill and Bar that Jaryd met his girlfriend, Dora Berente, who was a hostess at the time.

Jaryd spent the next couple of years working at Polo Grill and Bar and Pattigeorge’s, a Longboat Key-based restaurant owned by Polo Grill and Bar proprietors Tommy and Jaymie Klauber, which they sold last year after 20 years.

In 2015, the couple moved to Chicago after Jaryd landed a job at Alinea, a world-renowned 3-star Michelin restaurant. During his time at Alinea, which was rated anywhere between fifth and 15th best in the world, Jaryd says he learned how to become a chef.

“You don’t go there to learn how to cook,” says Jaryd. “It either takes you to the next level or breaks you and you quit do to the amount of stress. It taught me to think outside the box. Food can be as big or as small and as creative or rustic home feeling as you make it. It’s not an A and B kind of career.”

While at Alinea, Jaryd worked with some of the best chefs in the world, working his way up to sous chef, and helped bring new concepts and ideas to the restaurant.

After nearly two years in Chicago, Jaryd decided to return to where it all began. In April 2017, Jaryd was named the Polo Grill and Bar’s new executive chef while Dora also returned as the restaurant’s administrative assistant.

Looking to start off on a career of his own, Jaryd realized Polo Grill and Bar offered a wealth of opportunity not only for his own personal development as a chef but for the community as a whole.

“When I came back, it started to occur to me the potential this restaurant has,” says Jaryd. “The more I thought about it the more I got excited. I felt like this was going to be my home. I get to influence people’s lives. I get to change their mood preferably for the better. I get to make them feel what I feel for food for three hours of a night.”

Since returning, Jaryd has been working with Tommy to bring a rustic and modern approach to Polo Grill and Bar through its food and decor.

“He understands my culinary philosophy and his experience is also very exciting,” says Tommy. “We can really talk food; and he knows what the customers like and can build a team around him. He’s just getting started, but he’s already doing some really wonderful food.”

Jaryd also has been diligent in working with local growers to maintain the seasonal menus Polo Grill and Bar has become known for over the years.

“Our menus are 100 percent written to be seasonal,” says Jaryd. “We let Mother Nature write our menus for us.”

Jaryd hopes to bring a foodie restaurant to the Tampa Bay area — one that’s devoted to farm-to-table dining, which he says should be the standard of a restaurant.

The Klaubers have given Jaryd time to settle into his new role and build his own team around him. Together, Tommy and Jaryd plan to continue tweaking their ideas over the summer in preparation for the restaurant’s 10-year anniversary on Nov. 1.

“I’m looking to make this a place where people can get dressed down and still have an amazing meal with amazing service,” says Jaryd. “I want people to be able to experience food in a new light and see the finesse that we put into anything but not feel uptight or pretentious in any way.”

“It’s really fun to have him and exciting too,” says Tommy. “His vision extends out from the kitchen, so it’s pretty cool to see what’s going on back there.”