Luke Reyes has eschewed the traditional cooking structures and styles on his way to becoming one of LA’s most celebrated chefs. Known for his down-to-earth fine-dining experiences, he often pairs everyday dishes with elevated ingredients.

His path might not have been traditional, but Luke Reyes always knew he wanted to be a chef. While other kids grew up with wishful ideas about becoming doctors or astronauts, Reyes was unapologetic in his insistence he wanted to cook. He lived for cooking, so much so that on his days off from culinary school he volunteered at Ramen shops to learn about the process and spices.

After his east coast culinary education, Reyes got a job at a Four Seasons restaurant that practiced the notorious French Brigade system of operation. Reyes is quick to both credit the system for the discipline it instilled in him and criticize it for the vitriol and burnout it causes among cooks. “I’ve made a conscious effort to not structure my restaurants off that — mental abuse, advantage of labor, that shit doesn’t fly anymore, I’m trying to empower and inspire my chefs, not burn them out.”

With years of working in NYC restaurants with similar systems under his belt, Reyes decided to go off on his own, moving to California and opening a food truck. The truck was so well received that Reyes was able to leverage that into opening the Corner Door in Culver City. He then went on to partner with the Houston brothers on the restaurant Butchers and Barbers, which got a ton of good press and made Reyes a recognized name in the culinary scene. Reyes then parlayed that experience into an appearance on the cooking show Chopped, and won.

Reyes doesn’t seem to fit into a singular box or style with his cooking, from Ramen shops to burgers, he is constantly challenging the norms and blurring the lines between fine and casual dining.

“A true sign of confidence as a chef is restraint — it’s the same with style or art. I often make a dish and remove things that aren’t essential, and when I can no longer remove I know it’s done.”

This revamped attitude to cuisine seems to be striking a chord. Reyes now has multiple restaurants in the United States and Canada (with another restaurant opening in Hollywood later this year), as well as a cannabis food catering company that GQ named the best Cannabis dining experience in the US.

Yet despite all this success, Reyes hasn’t stopped bringing his well-rounded perspective to dining. “Sure, I’m a fine dining guy but there will always be a special place in my heart for fast food and places like Cheesecake Factory. Sometimes the last thing I want is a tasting menu. There’s a reason people love those places, they are comforting.”

Reyes brings a degree of humbleness to fine dining that few others in the space have been able to replicate. His ability to respect both the ‘high and low’ forms of cuisine and integrate them into a singular experience is what has driven his unconventional yet inevitable rise to culinary fame. Reyes is creating a new framework from which to appreciate the dining experience.