Liam Byres
ELDR and Raccolto | Seattle, WA
December 2025
Growing up, Liam Byres often worked at his father’s restaurant to spend time with his dad and stay out of trouble. So, while he may have grown up in and around the industry, he never considered pursuing a career in it until college. Byres attended The University of Oklahoma, but found himself uninspired and restless in the classroom. He left school and went to work as a line cook for his father, Chef Tim Byres, at Smoke in Dallas, where he fell in love with the chaos and camaraderie of the kitchen.
Byres then took his talents to Nonesuch in Oklahoma City, where he grasped the importance of local sourcing and staying organized in the kitchen before moving on to work for Chef Stephan Pyles at Flora Street Cafe and Fauna. He left to cook at Chef Matt McCallister’s Homewood, experimenting further with the flavors of smoke and char, and spent a year at Cry Wolf, where he landed his first head chef gig. Byres returned to working with his dad at Firebrand, a live-fire, tasting menu concept, in Nashville before heading to the Spanish tapas-style restaurant Lola, where he sharpened his culinary and management skills as head chef.
In 2024, Byres moved to Seattle and landed at ELDR under Rising Stars alumni Brian Clevenger and Ricardo Valdes. After a fire in early 2025 temporarily closed the restaurant, Byres moved over to the group’s sister restaurant, Raccolto, a seasonal Italian-inspired restaurant in West Seattle. Byres took the reins and revamped the menu with dishes like his grilled halibut with green garlic-coconut butter sauce, turnips, swiss chard, turnip greens, grilled pea tendrils, and chile oil. When ELDR reopens at the end of the year, Byres is eager to bring his culinary skill and perspective to the wood-fired restaurant. He is also dedicated to mentoring every cook that
