EMERGING CHEF: Darian Bryan
Darian Bryan of Bratts Hill, 19 Seneca Street, Buffalo, NY 14210
Reserve Steakhouse by Chef Darian, 703 Seneca Street, Buffalo, NY 14210
Already renowned as a high-profile private chef for Buffalo Bills players and owner of the modern Jamaican restaurant Bratts Hill, Darian Bryan emerged in 2026 as one of the country’s most promising chefs. The Jamaican-born chef began the year competing on “Next Level Chef” under chef Richard Blais, and won. Bryan also hosted James Beard Award-winning chef Alexander Smalls for a four-course dinner built around Smalls’ cookbook, “The Contemporary African Kitchen,” at Bratts Hill, which launched in 2023 with a dinner menu that marries French technique and Jamaican ingredients, from lamb ribs in a tropical barbecue sauce to escovitch sea bass topped with pickled vegetables and served with braised cabbage and Jamaican rice and peas.
By day, Bratts Hill becomes the Jerk Hut, serving heartier, traditional Jamaican fare. In June, Bryan opened Reserve Steakhouse by Chef Darian next door, a classic steakhouse showing a different side of his range, including a 14-ounce Angus Prime New York strip on ‘weck, finished with yeasted butter, horseradish foam and kimmelweck au jus and a crisp-skinned salmon with orange segments, kalamata olives, fennel, citrus and herb oil.
The Chef Darian Bryan Foundation, a nonprofit he founded in response to Hurricane Melissa, provides disaster relief and supplies food to local charity- and food-focused events. It also supports Bryan’s annual Jamaican Market Festival, a celebration of his heritage, in its sixth year. As a prominent Jamaican living in Buffalo, Bryan uses his platform to promote his native culture, Buffalo and other local culinary talent.
