Meet Our Team
Macks Collins
Macks Collins is the Chef & Owner of restaurant Piccalilli in Culver City, California. A South Carolina native, Collins’ childhood dream of becoming a chef began after watching his idols, Martin Yan, Justin Wilson, and Julia Child cook on PBS. His professional career began when he stepped into a restaurant kitchen at age 16.
After gaining a healthy perspective of the industry during his studies of Culinary Arts and Hotel Management at the Culinary Institute of America, Collins embarked on his culinary career as a line cook at Chambers Walk Café in Lawrenceville, N.J. Eventually Collins became Co-Head Chef at Rouge Et Blanc in New York City, N.Y. before leaving the east coast to open Mad Pambazos food truck in Los Angeles, Calif. with best friend Bryan Kidwell, whom he met . Known primarily for its unique pambazo sandwiches, Mad Pambazos received many accolades during its two years of service.
In Fall 2019, Collins and Kidwell opened Piccalilli, which puts a whimsical spin on the traditional fine dining template with influences ranging from the southeastern seaboard to the far Asian seas. During his downtime Collins enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter and staying physically active with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, kickboxing and hiking. Additionally, he strives to keep his mind mentally active by continuously learning about science, history and making the time to meditate.
Adolfo Lares
Adolfo Lares is the General Manager of Piccalilli restaurant in Culver City, California. Born in Caracas, Venezuela. He immigrated to the Washington DC suburb, Vienna, Virginia when he was 6 years old.
From his mom's traditional Venezuelan cooking, and his closest friends being from all over the world (Nepal, Korea, Italy, Lebanon, Vietnam, Thailand) Adolfo was exposed to different types of cuisines at an early age. His elementary school was extremely diverse and had kids from different countries. They would have international nights and all the families would cook something from their part of the world!
He started his culinary journey working at Tenpenh, a pan Asian/Asian Pacific eatery, which is a restaurant with Passion Food Hospitality. Working every position in front of the house, he learned every step of service in a fine dining environment.
After his brother-in-law, Piccalilli Chef-Owner Bryan Kidwell had a spinal cord injury, he decided to leave DC and move to Los Angeles to help him and his sister during a difficult time. Once in LA, Adolfo also started working at Rocksugar Southeast Asian Kitchen as the Lead Host. Adolfo has been with Macks and Bryan since the beginning of piccalilli in 2019.
In his downtime, he loves spending time with his girlfriend and exploring all the food in the city. Each neighborhood, street, and corner has something different to offer. He loves going to each neighborhood to embrace the culture and food it brings. Adolfo is always inspired by what he experiences. He also enjoys nature whether it be hiking, the beach, or the desert.
Some of his culinary heroes are Anthony Bourdain, David Chang, Andrew Zimmern, and his mentor at Tenpenh Boo Kim.
Liyam Ezer
Liyam Ezer is the Chef de Cuisine at Piccalilli in Culver City, California. Liyam’s life has always involved food, his passion surrounding food started at a young age cooking with his mother at their home in Israel. Reading many cookbooks and cooking for his family inspired his dream of becoming a chef.
His training began at The New School of Cooking and continued when he was offered a job at the acclaimed Birch restaurant in Hollywood created by Chef Brendan Collins. Liyam then decided to move to Tel Aviv to lead the kitchen at Cicchetti as Chef de Cuisine. After that, he followed a new opportunity and moved to Barcelona to cook with the wacky minds behind Bar Brutal, Xemei, and Frankie Gallo cha cha cha.
Upon returning to LA in 2019, Liyam went on to open Fia restaurant as the sous chef. Fia was another one of Brendan Collins’s restaurants and would become highly acclaimed. The cuisine focused on using fresh seasonal ingredients inspired by the Amalfi coast in Italy.
Liyam is a true Culver City “Townie” and when he spotted Piccalilli opening, he was immediately drawn to it. After meeting Macks and Bryan the Owner-Chefs of Piccalilli through a mutual colleague, they started swapping ideas and food thoughts until eventually they became friends and started cooking together. He would feed them lots of homemade Israeli food—Liyam found his way into the Piccalilli kitchen. And the rest is history.
When he’s not at the restaurant, Liyam enjoys spending time outdoors, rock climbing, biking, road-tripping, and trying new foods from all over the world!
