Hrant was born in Lebanon (his father is Armenian and his mother a native of East Tennessee) and raised in Muscat, Oman. At a young age, Hrant was invited to share in the passion his parents held for cooking, and he considers those early childhood memories of being in the kitchen and at the table with his parents to be the primary driving force behind his culinary pursuit. His family departed the Middle East for Nashville around the time of his eighth birthday and have since made it their permanent home. As a young man, Hrant was inspired to do a fair amount of travel. His backpacking tour through Europe, as well as extended stays back in Oman accompanied by his father, only further spurred his interest in the world’s cuisines. This diverse exposure—both at home and abroad—set the course for his professional life in the kitchen.

Upon his entry into professional kitchens, Hrant found himself working with restaurateur Randy Rayburn at long-time Hillsboro Village staple Sunset Grill. He honed his skills at Flyte World Dining & Wine, and in 2008, Hrant was offered the Sous Chef position at Zola’s. His time spent working under local legend Deb Paquette led him to management and sous chef positions at the Amerigo Company and beyond. Hrant has held Sous and Executive Chef roles at Rumours East, Adele’s, Butchertown Hall, The Holland House Bar & Refuge, and most recently served as Chef de Cuisine at Deb Paquette’s flagship kitchen, Etch.

After almost two decades of honing his skill, Hrant and his wife Liz (an industry veteran and long-standing former Beverage Director of East Nashville’s Lockeland Table) finally set out on their own project. Hrant’s passion for the family traditions and food of his childhood, matched by Liz’s curious spirit for wine and libations, and their shared dream of bringing modern Middle Eastern food to their neighbors, led to the opening of Lyra in East Nashville. Several years after launching Lyra, Liz and Hrant debuted their fast-casual concept Vega Shawarma, with the goal of bringing fresh, handmade shawarmas and vegan fare to Nashville.

Upon graduation, he made his way to Seattle, WA where, after climbing the ladder, he served as Executive Sous Chef at the James Beard award winning Canlis Restaurant from 2010 through 2013. After having his first child, Ayres decided to move back to Colorado. The first steppingstone back to Steamboat was a position as Executive Chef at the beautiful High Lonesome Ranch for two years. That experience set Chef Ayres up to move back home and open Cloverdale Farm and Restaurant where they achieved numerous accolades and national press but unfortunately, they had to close at the end of 2018.

Today, Ayres is the Executive Chef of the Steamboat Ski and Resort Company overseeing all 14 of the restaurants located on the ski mountain and base area. Now, with two daughters and a guinea pig named Pig, he is looking to remain and Steamboat and continue to put his fingerprint on the Steamboat Springs culinary scene