Chef Ryan Von Smith didn’t leave Scranton because everything was lined up. He left because he knew he needed more. More opportunity. More pressure. More of a shot than he felt he could get staying put. So he headed to Los Angeles with a big dream and one mindset: figure it out. It wasn’t glamorous. He scraped by at first, doing whatever he had to do to stay afloat. His first real break came at Tao Asian Bistro… not in the kitchen, but at the door. Working security. Watching e