Bradley Layfield became the Chef of Brave Horse Tavern after 5 years of working his way up the ranks as a cook at Tom Douglas Restaurants. Bradley moved to Seattle from Savannah, GA in 2012. He was drawn here by the mountains and by a plate of ‘Tom’s Big Breakfast’ that he happened to order at another Tom Douglas restaurant, Lola. That plate was all Bradley needed to know who he wanted to work for. Bradley started at Brave Horse Tavern as a line cook under Chef Brian Walcyzk just two weeks after moving here. When Tom opened Cantina Lena in 2015, Brian was tapped to be the opening chef, and invited Bradley to be part of his kitchen team. After a couple years at Cantina, Bradley has now returned to his original stomping grounds as Chef of the great team at the Brave Horse Tavern.

Bradley is from Ideal, Georgia, a tiny farming community in the middle of the state. His interest in food started as a young child by watching personalities like Justin Wilson and Julia Childs on PBS with his grandmother, Elizabeth. He also loved to sit with his grandmother, Lois, in the kitchen as she cooked a feast at least once a week. Bradley loved to bake cakes in the toaster oven and tried to make escargot out of garden snails from the back yard. Additionally, Bradley spent a large amount of time in the fields and gardens of the local Mennonites that cared for him after school and during the summers. All this helped spark Bradley’s passion for food- knowing where it comes from, seasonality, and its flavors. He loves the slow and low pace and traditions of good BBQ. He also loves to experiment.

Bradley served in the Army Reserves as a Mental Health Specialist just out of high school. After his military training, he received his culinary arts degree from South Georgia Technical College. He began his journey in restaurants in 2004 with time spent at The Windsor Hotel, Frogtown Cellars, and Alligator Soul.

When Bradley is not in the kitchen, you can find him hanging out with his lovely wife, Janelle, his two dogs and his seven chickens. He loves to travel, backpack, kayak, carve wooden spoons, and garden.