philly chefs

**Content warning – this episode (briefly) discusses suicidal feelings.**

Eli Kulp inspires us. By age 36, he'd graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, moved from his native Seattle to New York City, and worked in top kitchens before becoming the opening chef de cuisine of the original, fabled Torrisi restaurant. After moving to Philadelphia to take over the kitchen at Fork, a catastrophic Amtrak accident rendered him a quadriplegic. He takes us through all of it, including his post-accident rehabilitation and a professional adjustment that includes continuing to teach cooks, the launch and success of his Chef Radio Podcast, and his role as cohost of local Philly food podcast Delicious City. This is a relatively long one, and also a special one--please be sure to listen to the whole thing. 

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Andrew’s NEW book The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food is now ON SALE! Read the book Publishers Weekly calls "masterful."

Since 2019, Andrew Talks to Chefs has been a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related news.

Please note: If experiencing suicidal feelings, for professional and/or medical advice/attention, please seek help from an appropriate mental health care specialist and/or medical provider.

If you are in the U.S., here are two resources where you can seek help any day, at any time:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Crisis Text Line (also available in the UK, Ireland, and Canada)

A great many national and regional resources are available, both in the US and around the world. If in the United States, you can seek a referral here. Wherever you are, a quick web search should point you to qualified help in your area and/or language.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. 

Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.

For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.

Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Omar Tate attained national prominence with his deeply personal Honeysuckle pop-up dinners. In addition to drawing enthusiastic diners wherever they were staged, he received accolades such as being named Esquire's "Chef of the Year" in 2020. After pandemic pivots which included a residency at Blue HIll Stone Barns, Omar and his wife Cybille St. Aude-Tate, have launched Honeysuckle Projects to, in their own words, "[expand] into a network of community spaces centered around the values of ancestry, nourishment and reclamation. This brand represents business structures that stem from a distinct philosophy where Black and Afrocentric ideology are at the center." The first space is Honeysuckle Provisions in West Philadelphia.

During the recent Philly Chef Conference, Omar made time to sit down with Andrew and discuss his life and career, as both chef and artist.

Andrew’s next book The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food is now available for preorder! Please consider purchasing your copy/copies in advance and help the book have a great lift-off.

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related news.

*  Photo of Omar & Andrew by Bailey King.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. 

Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.

For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.

Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!