352Eats: Live Fire Chefs Brings Upscale Flavor and Local Passion to Downtown Ocala

Saga CommunicationsPatrick, Owner Chef of Live Fire Chefs, stands in front of the bar in his restaurant. Amber Battillo/352today

OCALA, FL (352today.com) – When Chef Patrick Cahill opened Live Fire Chefs about a year and a half ago, he and his wife wanted to bring something fresh to Ocala’s restaurant scene–a place where quality ingredients and genuine passion for food would take center stage.

The couple first launched a catering business three years ago before finding a spot just behind the downtown square. The location, housed in an older plaza, became the perfect canvas for Cahill’s vision of a casual but upscale dining experience.

In the foreground is a logo for a restaurant reading, "Live Fire Chefs." The logo contains blue cutlery sticking out of the words and a chef's hat on fire with red accents around it.
A white plaza building with brick supports has a sign on an overhang reading, "Live Fire Chefs Cafe." The store underneath has tinted windows blocking the view of the restaurant inside with their logo on the window and door.
A black menu with white pages stands open on a wooden table with a restaurant in the background. In the background is a door that leads outside, more wooden tables, chairs and booths.

“We started out doing breakfast and lunch,” Cahill said. “Now we do breakfast, lunch and dinner on the weekends, and lunch and dinner during the week. It’s casual, but with an upscale flair.”

That balance of comfort and sophistication defines Live Fire Chefs. The menu features a wide variety of dishes–from hearty cheesesteaks and burgers to fine-dining favorites like prime steaks, lamb chops and fresh seafood delivered several times a week.

“We get our grouper in four times a week and our Scottish salmon fresh,” Cahill said. “We do the salmon two different ways, and our maple pecan salmon is definitely a customer favorite.”

At lunchtime, the restaurant leans more casual with sandwiches, salads and quiche. But when dinner comes around, Cahill says guests tend to gravitate toward his more refined creations like filet plates, lamb chops and a new Gulf grouper entree topped with crab and lemon beurre blanc.

A black menu with white pages stands on a table with a view of a restaurant in the background. The background is blurred with tables and a bar.
Blurred in the background of a bar area has a shelf in the background full of drinking glasses, a refrigerator to the right storing cold drinks and a machine to the right of that with more glasses on top. In the foreground is a wooden counter with bar stools lining. On top of the counter is a vase of red, orange and yellow flowers, a planter with a green plant flowing out of it, a blank chalk board and a menu standing flipped open.
An open bar has a blurred background of a shelf with multiple drinking glasses and beverages, machines to pour drinks and a check-out machine. In the foreground is a wooden countertop with a place mat and a menu flipped open.
An open restaurant with tables lining the center of the room and booths lining both walls is host to multiple guests dining in, servers and the owner chef.

Cahill credits the restaurant’s success to an emphasis on freshness and craftmanship. “We start out with good ingredients, we really don’t use cans much around here,” he said. “We have a team that truly cares. They take the art and skill of cooking seriously.”

Even the small details get attention. The restaurant’s burger buns, for example, are delivered four times a week from a bakery in Orlando. “Fresh bread makes a difference,” Cahill said.

Cahill said what keeps him motivated after decades in the restaurant industry is simple: seeing customers leave happy. “It just makes us proud of what we do.” he said.

Live Fire Chefs offers dine-in service, takeout and catering, with plans to add DoorDash and Uber Eats in the future. Reservations are encouraged on weekends, when the restaurant is typically at capacity.

After celebrating its one-year anniversary with a lively event, Cahill said the focus remains on what his guests value most: good food, good service and a relaxed but refined atmosphere.

“We tried having live music,” he said with a laugh. “But I think our customers just prefer great food and good conversation.

Reservations or catering inquiries can be made by calling 352-421-5265. For more information, visit their website.