(Above) Hotel Palomar in 2010.

14-Jan-15 – The head bartender at Sable Kitchen & Bar is leaving Hotel Palomar for a bigger job with the company that owns the River North hotel.

Mike Ryan is being promoted to “national manager for bar education” for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, which owns 62 hotels in the United States.

Ryan had been with Sable since it opened in 2010. For Kimpton, he will train bartenders at new bars and restaurants, ten of which will open this year or in 2016.

Ryan started as a chef. He is a graduate of The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. According to the Sable website, he “became accidentally enamored with bartending” while working as a sous chef at Moto Restaurant on West Fulton Market Street. Before Sable, he was a bartender and chef for The Violent Hour, a bar northwest of the Loop.

“I’m a fan of bright, loud, vibrant flavors,” says Ryan (left). “I like to use egregious amounts of bitters, bold whiskies, and try cool savory ingredients while utilizing my kitchen background to ‘raise the bar.’”

In December, InterContinental Hotels Group acquired Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants for $430 million. Besides Palomar in River North, Kimpton operates three hotels in the Loop.