chef matt welsch
Vagabond Kitchen, Wheeling, West Virginia
Chef Matt Welsch is the prodigal son of the Upper Ohio Valley. After years exploring the world, her people, and their food, Chef Welsch has returned home with a passion to bring his perspective and experiences to the table. Chef Welsch and his team at Vagabond Kitchen, in the heart of beautiful Downtown Wheeling, execute plates of high-end comfort food using heritage techniques and local, quality ingredients. Welsch is also known for throwing a leg over his motorcycle and bringing his culinary conversation to points all across the map.
Chef anne hart
Hart Kitchen Eatery & Hart Cookery, Clarksburg, West Virginia
Hart Kitchen was established October 2020 in Clarksburg, WV one year to the day after the debilitating demise of Provence Market Café, located in Bridgeport, WV, in October of 2019. Provence Market successfully served its loyal patrons for almost 18 years. In her re-creation as Hart Kitchen, Anne is offering her interpretation of classic dishes, both old and new, in a rotating regional and seasonal menu. Hart Kitchen cookery is the culmination of her vision to share culinary insights she gleaned along the way, from Atlanta, to Upstate NY, to Boston, to DC and home again, of cooking with your eyes, nose, and ears to beginners and experts of all ages.
Chef Marion Ohlinger
Hill & Hollow, Morgantown, West Virginia
As a 12th-generation West Virginian, Chef Marion doesn’t incorporate “Appalachian” into his style—he incorporates “global” into his innate Appalachian sensibility. His 30-year career has carried him to more than 50 countries on five continents and to helm kitchens in places as diverse as the American southwest, Seattle, and backcountry Alaska. Over the past 15 years in Morgantown, he and his wife and business partner, Alegria, developed Solera Cafe in 2003, Richwood Grill in 2009, and now
Hill & Hollow, expressing a modern Appalachian vernacular that ranges from centuries-old regional dishes to the flavors of immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Chef Marion was selected for the inaugural edition of The Best Chefs in America 2013; named Best Chef by WV Living Magazine for their Best of West Virginia 2015 Awards, and most recently was featured in Alice Water's new project, "Truth, Love, and Clean Cutlery", a book about the word's most ethical and
sustainably-sourced restaurants.
