Bryan Voltaggio

I am also a native of Frederick, Maryland, and enamored with our most recent famous native sons, Bryan and Michael Voltaggio, contestants on Top Chef, frequent competitors on Food Network, and owners of area restaurants including Bryan’s Thacher and Rye located in the old Victorian building where my dentist once practiced. So, to combine my love of food, aviation, and our hometown is something I was happy to discover with Bryan.

Like so many pilots, Bryan took his first introductory flight with his father when he was a teenager. Life and work got in the way, and it was years before he could afford and take the time to become a pilot. But the 47-year-old restaurateur said flying was something he always wanted to pursue; he is now working on his instrument rating at Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK).

“My schedule made it hard,” he says of the challenges to getting his certificate. “I was only available at 7 a.m. and it was the winter. Luckily, I had an amazing instructor who could work with my schedule. But I’d be here early deicing and study late into the night just to get it done.”

“I really want to excel at this, like I want to excel at everything.”All the while Voltaggio was running restaurants, opening new sites, and competing on food shows—oh, and he has three children with his wife, Jennifer. “I really wanted to excel at this, like I want to excel at everything.”

Fame has been interesting for the brothers. They first got a call from Bravo in 2008—“do you want to come kick your brother’s butt on TV?” Bryan was just seven months into opening his first restaurant, Volt, in downtown Frederick (it’s now called Thacher and Rye; his first son is named Thacher). A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Bryan has been cooking since he was 14 as has his younger brother Michael, who lives in Los Angeles.

“It was during the economic downturn, and I thought the show would help fill seats [at Volt],” Bryan says. “I was at a gas station and this guy comes up to me asking me to sign his receipt. I didn’t get it until the guy said, No, I want your autograph. I was amazed at the influx of customers [at the restaurant] because of the show. I’m still not completely comfortable with it.”

Bryan says flying and cooking are similar in that he is very precise. He uses an organized checklist in the kitchen. He is hoping that his instrument rating will help him realize a dream of flying to destinations for food.

“I’d like to connect food and aviation and fly to cool food sites,” he says. “I also jokingly say I’ll pack a picnic for those who will fly with me; my friends always say, ‘Where’s my in-flight meal?’” Sign me up, Chef Voltaggio.

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