Categorized | Food

Rays on the Bay welcomes Chef Byard

MEDIA RELEASE

Pyramid Hotel Group has named Bryan Byard chef de cuisine at Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay’s signature restaurant, Rays on the Bay.

“Bryan’s skill and creativity in the kitchen, his work ethic and his desire to mentor others makes him an ideal fit for Rays on the Bay,” general manager and area managing director Steve Lindburg said. “We are thrilled with the success of Rays and we know that Bryan is the man to build on that success going forward.”

Chef Bryan Byard (Photo courtesy of Sheraton Kona Resort)

Chef Bryan Byard (Photo courtesy of Sheraton Kona Resort)

Byard was born and raised in Albuquerque, N.M. Two things led him to cooking.

As a teenager, he watched his mom in the kitchen. Curiosity, along with a creative spirit, led him try his own recipes. Byard also has a love of and talent for art and drawing.

“What better way to express art than through food?” Byard asks.

He subsequently learned the art of cooking and worked his way up at many of the best restaurants in Albuquerque including Artichoke Cafe and Bien Shur and at Santa Fe’s Coyote Cafe.

He has been mentored by powerhouses in the culinary world today including Jeremy Sutphin, Ryan Mann, Mark Miller and Ryan Blanchard.

During work at Plate World Cuisine in Colorado Springs, Colo., Byard traveled with four other Colorado chefs including Blanchard to the James Beard House in New York City where they prepared a special Lobster Degustation dinner at the acclaimed culinary institute.

Byard calls it a pinnacle of his young career.

“What I’ve learned and try to pass on to others is that cooking is all about technique,” Byard said. “It is not so much what you cook, but how you do it. It doesn’t matter if it is a simple or highly complex dish; it always comes down to technique.”

Under the tutelage of Blanchard, who Byard credits with teaching him the skills to become a business chef, he also learned three key requirements for any restaurant to succeed; scenery, service and food.

“Rays on the Bay has them all,” Byard said.”I am so proud of the hardworking team in the kitchen at Rays. They work well together and put out great food. I look forward to teaching them what I can while learning from them about this special place at Keauhou.”

He is already connecting with as many local growers and providers as possible while learning about the many similarities of Hawaii’s culture and that of the Native Americans in the southwest with which he is more familiar.

When away from Rays on the Bay, Byard is an avid vinyl record collector and music producer providing rhythmic “breaks” to hip hop and rap artists around the world.

Rays on the Bay is the only oceanfront restaurant in the world with manta ray viewing. Open nightly, it serves up fresh local seafood, farm-to-table cuisine and handmade artisan pizzas flavorfully finished on a kiawe wood fire grill.

Together with live music nightly, romantic sunsets, a rum bar and fire pit lounges, Rays on the Bay is a truly sumptuous and memorable experience.

— Find out more:
www.SheratonKona.com
www.RaysOnTheBay.com

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