A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate, Ryan Pera got his start in the food and beverage industry washing dishes in his college town. Soon he was working at some of North Carolina’s finest restaurants, and then Pera moved to New York, working under Chef Sottha Khun at Le Cirque and Chef Jonathan Waxman at Washington Park. In 2003, Pera moved to Houston and worked as chef de cuisine at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston and later opened The Grove as executive chef. Then in 2011, he and new business partner Morgan Weber opened the craft butcher shop and cafe Revival Market. Next came the acclaimed cozy Italian restaurant Coltivare in 2014, bourbon and taco icehouse Eight Row Flint, and EZ’s Liquor Lounge. Pera was a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Southwest award in 2015.