Rising star Liverpool chef Livia Alarcon has launched her first solo project – La Bistroteca in the city’s Baltic Market.

Now 26, Livia came to prominence with her rapid promotion to head chef at Maray at the age of 21. She toured Europe with Jason Atherton on the BBC show Chefs’ Brigade and turned down the offer of a job at Pollen Street Social to stay in Liverpool, where last year she wowed The Guardian’s Jay Rayner at Queens Wine Bar and Bistro.

La Bistroteca opened yesterday (4 May) at the market in Cains Brewery on Stanhope Street – the name combines Liv’s initials and love of disco music with her cooking inspiration. The opening menu ranges from fried beef ragu bites to steak frites with Café de Paris butter and potato rosti with creamed spinach and chimichurri.

She said: “European bistro food speaks to me because of its connection, familiarity and very nonchalant attitude towards eating; it’s almost a ritual in most European families to dine out and have the whole family around the table. This is what we envision for our guests at La Bistroteca – great familiar and comforting food that brings people together.

“I’ve always cooked for someone else at the restaurants I’ve worked for, and now it’s my time to expand and share my dishes with a completely different crowd. The Baltic Market attracts a new wave of guests of all ages from the city as well as further afield, and I’m really excited to get in the kitchen.”

Oliver Press, co-founder of Baltic Market, said La Bistroteca would raise the bar at the venue, as it “grows up a little” from its street-food origins. “When we started Baltic Market almost six years ago, our intention was for it to be a space and incubator for start-ups, new concepts and up-and-coming chefs. La Bistroteca by Liv is all of those things. Not only that, but Liv is also one of the best chefs in the city and beyond, so it’s very exciting that she’ll be cooking and sharing her dishes at Baltic Market.”