Chef Kayla Pfeiffer

Chef Kayla Pfeiffer is the chef and owner of Heyday Cookshop in Naples, Florida, an immersive dining concept that blends chef residencies, music, and collaborative cooking. A 2025 James Beard Award semifinalist for Emerging Chef, Pfeiffer has earned national recognition for her work, including Bicyclette Cookshop being named one of USA Today’s Best Restaurants of 2025.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Pfeiffer has developed a style that balances precision and personality merging classical technique with bold, unexpected combinations rooted in Florida’s agricultural landscape. Her cooking is driven by seasonality and deep relationships with local farmers and fishermen, reflecting both place and process.

With Heyday, Pfeiffer expands her vision beyond the traditional restaurant model, creating a platform for exchange between visiting chefs, local producers, and the surrounding community. The concept centers on collaboration, allowing chefs to interpret regional ingredients through their own perspective while engaging directly with guests.

Through her work, Pfeiffer is committed to mentorship, community engagement, and building spaces that foster connection using food, music, and shared experience to create something immediate, expressive, and evolving.