Chicago

He started a modest business selling what he knew best. The business was too small to satisfy the great man’s ego. He found a space in a 19th-century building built as a showroom for a piano factory. Currently owned by a hard-to-talk-to Italian. It was neither cheap nor easy, but he got the keys.
Next step, Ryan is looking for an architect. He found an obscure office on the top floor of a 1920s modernist tower. He entered a shabby office where three architects sat around their tables. Those three call themselves Mjölk, the Swedish word for milk; the origin of the name is a mystery to Ryan. One of the three architects who takes care of Ryan is a Ginger.

Ryan: Uh, I want you to create a space where guys like you can do their business in comfort and feast after a good deal is done. Can you do it?

Ginger: When you’re good at something, never do it for free.

Ryan: The most important thing in business is honesty, integrity, hard work... family... never forgetting where we came from.

Ginger: What is it that you are selling, man?

Ryan: I am like any other man. All I do is supply a demand. I own my company. And my company sells a product that's better than the competition at a price that's lower than the competition.

Ginger: We can do that for ya.

The work started; it was a hard birth. Everything took a long time. Ginger was obsessed with lights and metals and insisted on every piece he designed. Ryan found a contractor to do the hard work and build everything. The contractor was a tough enough man, but on this project, it was a different story. He tended to cry and doubt his faith. There was a meeting on the construction site two weeks before opening.

Contractor: We got into all the trouble you could ever imagine.

Ginger: When you plan something well, there’s no need to rush.

Ryan: Uh, man, you’ll end up in hell. And what are you wearing?

Ginger: What? This?

Ryan: Yeah, that.

Ginger: This is a very, very, very nice suit.

Ryan: That's a very, very, very nice suit, huh?

Ginger: Yeah.

Ryan: That's a clown suit.

Ginger: Never let anyone know what you are thinking.

Ryan (to Ginger): See, ya are what ya are in this world. That's either one of two things: Either you're somebody, or you ain't nobody.

Ryan (to Contractor): Can we ever finish it in time?

Contractor: Don’t you believe in your own damn legend? Of course we can.

Ryan (to both): Uh, if not, I am doomed, and you two go down with me!

Ginger: Nobody panics when things go 'according to plan.' Even if the plan is horrifying.

Ryan: Hmm.

At the entrance door at the hour of opening:

Ryan’s wife: So you're Ryan and this is your place?

Ryan: That's right. I'm Ryan and this is my place.

Ryan’s wife: Why is it called Chicago? Why don't you call it Ryan’s?

Ryan: When you own something, you can call it what you want.

(Ginger’s voice from inside to the audience)

Ginger: Ladies and gentlemen! It is our honor to present to you the legendary Chicago Grill!

(Quotes used in dialogues: American Gangster, Peaky Blinders, The Godfather, Batman: The Dark Knight, Lawless)

Selected projects