Eli Kulp poses for a portrait in his restaurant, Fork.
In the past year, Philadelphia area chef and Mossyrock native Eli Kulp was named to Food & Wine Magazine's Best New Chefs for 2014 list; Fork, one of four ventures for which he is chef, was recognized as Philly Magazine's best restaurant of the year; and High Street on Market, another one of his ventures, was named the second-best restaurant in the nation by Bon Appétit magazine.
“It's been a good year so far,” Kulp said.
Kulp has climbed the culinary ladder, and finds himself today chef for four different award-winning restaurants in the Philadelphia area: Fork, a fine dining experience; High Street on Market, Fork's more informal sister restaurant; a.kitchen, a more modern dining establishment where he is a managing partner; and a.kitchen's sister establishment a.bar, a raw bar.
But it's been a long journey for Kulp. Growing up in Mossyrock, Kulp admits, there was little chance for him to experience fine dining until he was a young teenager. He said he remembers there being one hamburger restaurant in the town the last time he visited.
But it was in Mossyrock where Kulp's passion for cuisine was sparked. When he was a young teenager, the Irish Rose Cafe briefly brought fine dining to the East Lewis County town. Kulp's father, Russell, encouraged him to get a summer job there washing dishes. He said the restaurant became where he spent much of his time that summer.
“There was a pizza place sort of attached to the back where my buddies and I would hang out all the time,” Kulp said. “Pretty typical teenager stuff.”
As soon as he graduated from Mossyrock High School, Kulp headed to the culinary program at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington. Out of culinary school, he first cooked for a pub company in Seattle and Portland where he said he got experience but also eventually realized he was off track. He wanted to be in fine dining and one day decided the only way to do that was to head to the East Coast, so he packed his car and headed to New York.
“It's just following the food,” Kulp said of his decision to head to the East Coast. “Some of the best food in the world is here.”
Kulp met and married his wife in New York. Though she hails from New York, they decided to move to Philadelphia to further Kulp's culinary aspirations.
“This market is in a real culinary boom right now,” Kulp said of Philadelphia.
Though the four restaurants for which he is chef differ in menus, Kulp said the ideas behind them are very similar. He said his cuisine is influenced by a lot of chefs he has worked for and with. One of them is Mario Batali, whose Del Posto in New York Kulp worked in. Kulp said his dishes are not Italian but definitely take a page from Batali's farm-to-table spirit.
“We go for simplicity, integrity of products and highest quality,” Kulp said. “It's very fresh, very light and very importantly flavorful.”
In 2013 the Philadelphia Inquirer named Kulp chef of the year, while one of his dishes was named Food & Wine's best dishes for that year. But nothing could surpass this year when Kulp was named one of Food & Wine Magazine's Best New Chefs for 2014; Fork was recognized as Philly Magazine's best restaurant of the year; and High Street on Market named by Bon Appétit as the second-best restaurant in the nation. Kulp said the Food & Wine distinction was especially exciting for him because he had known chefs who had been named to that listing in years past, and it was something to which he had aspired.
“It was one of those moments I'll never forget, getting that phone call,” Kulp said.
But no matter how far he goes in his career, Kulp said, his roots in Lewis County can be given credit for some of the momentum. He said his father worked in the timber industry for many years and both parents imparted in him an eagerness to work hard for what you want. He said being a chef means stressful, long hours but you still have to be willing to put your best dish on a plate each and every day and continue to push forward.
“The payoff is when you get to see the people have that experience when they come in,” he said. “Personally it's a creative outlet for me, too. It's really challenging but quite rewarding.”
Carrina Stanton is a local freelance writer specializing in pieces for the Life section of The Chronicle. She and her husband are raising their two daughters in Chehalis.
