Laine Myers
Chef/Owner | Oro | Richmond, VA
March 2022
Growing up in Connecticut, Laine Myers had dreams of saving the world. But first, she had to pay the bills. So while studying environmental science and urban planning at Virginia Commonwealth University, Myers picked up cooking jobs at local restaurants and country clubs. She was ready to leave cooking behind after college, but Richmond’s latest restaurant, Graffiato, reeled her back in. Myers opened as garde manger while jumping at any opportunity to assist other stations. Working through the wood-fired oven, sautée, and sous, it was the pasta station that called out to her—any free moments she had on the line were spent tinkering with pasta shapes. She then joined Rising Star Restaurateur Brittanny Anderson at Metzger Bar & Butchery. Inspired by Anderson’s constantly evolving seasonal menus, Myers worked her way up from line cook to sous chef.
In 2019, Myers became executive chef at the Italian Nota Bene. Feeling a bit restrained by the pizza-centric menu, she’d occasionally take over the restaurant to host Oro, a pop-up focused on vegetables and fresh, hand made pasta. But as soon as her concept gained traction, the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered Nota Bene and Myers was left to find a new home for her budding business. Since then, Myers has turned to the Richmond community, hosting pop-ups around the city and delivering packaged pasta and meals for two. Dishes like her Kyoto carrot cacio e pepe and black garlic bucatini carbonara are subtle, seasonally-driven spins on Italian classics.
