Chef Rich Knowles, owner of Bradenton’s enRich Bistro and a catering company called Innovative Dining, is a restaurant industry veteran. Now 40, he started his career at 13 at a restaurant in downtown Bradenton, but even that wasn’t the beginning of his cooking journey. “I’m the oldest of six kids,” he says. “I was making chicken fajitas for my siblings around age 10.”

Knowles credits his childhood adventures hunting and fishing with his father, learning to clean and cook his bounties, as the spark for his interest in food. After college, he moved to Big Sky, Montana, where he could hunt and fish to his heart’s content. “Montana was where I got my first job in fine dining,” Knowles says. “I loved the energy, the people, and, of course, the food I was learning to make.”

When he left Big Sky, Knowles traveled around the world, cooking in the Czech Republic, Thailand and Italy. He credits his world travels as the inspiration for his menus at both the restaurant and catering company, where he leans into global cooking flavors with dishes like tomato-braised rabbit served over handmade pasta, and venison with shishito peppers and chili-candied cashews. And if you ask him his favorite international cuisine, he’ll say Mexican. Those robust flavors are also found throughout his menus.

Knowles says he can’t imagine any other career than leading kitchen teams. “It’s one of the hardest jobs and can be painful, both emotionally and physically,” he says. “But the community we build as a staff and the community of patrons make everything worth it. The end goal was always to come home and open a restaurant here, and now here I am.” 

Quick Bites

Food Craving: “It would have to be döner kebab; shaved beef and lamb tossed with fresh veggies, similar to a Greek gyro, and best enjoyed in the wee morning hours.”

Food Memory: Catering for the who’s who at swanky events in Florence, Italy. “The events I catered there likely cost more than I’ll ever make in my lifetime,” Knowles says.

Pastime: Hunting and fishing

EnRich Bistro | 5239 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton, (941) 289-1299