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Catching up with Christopher Kearse
With collaboration dinners and a burgeoning BYOB on Passyunk, chef Christopher Kearse has been busy since City Paper last spoke to him.
Catching up with Christopher Kearse
Chef Christopher Kearse has been busy since City Paper last spoke to him.
Along with moving his base of operations from Pumpkin to his own first space, Will BYOB, he’s currently in the midst of planning a tech-savvy dinner with Shola Olunloyo, Jason Cichonski and pastry chef Monica Glass. The five course prix fixe dinner to be held at Ela on July 31. Seats are going for $75 with the option of a drinks pairing.
“We’re four chefs who like each other,” says Kearse from his South Philly home. “These are chefs who’ve come to my restaurant and me to theirs and whose styles I embrace and endorse. And we really want to showcase this whole modern thing that’s going on quietly in Philly.” Kearse states that at present, the fab four is working as one unit on the menu, something that will showcase both their individual personalities as well as the quartet’s group essence. “It’s not going to be a thing where the first course is mine, the second is Shola’s and such,” says Kearse. “We’re in this together and we want to do this together.” The four chef outfit is still toying with its options but will start to reveal their thoughts on the night’s menu on their individual Twitter accounts: Shola Olunloyo (@Studiokitchen), Jason Cichonski (@JasonCichonski), Monica Glass (@ChefMoni).and Chris Kearse (@WillBYOB).
Meanwhile, closer to home at 1911 East Passyunk Avenue, Kearse is in the homestretch of opening his first restaurant Will BYOB. The final stages include everything from nailing down the flooring and locating the walk-ins to filling the staff with old friends from Lacroix as well as Pumpkin (like Will’s front of house guy Chris Terotti). “I’m looking at August 24 for my opening date, at least a soft one,” says Kearse.
Will BYOB is up on Open Table and its website is live with a menu to-be-posted near the first Monday in August and reservations taken soon after.
That menu? Kearse is looking to do a French with modernist techniques, sans any sort of regionalism. “I don’t really think like that,” laughs Kearse. “I say French because people like to label things. But if you know my style, my ideas and my philosophy and consider the entirety of French flavors, that’s where I’m at.” While he promises that his BYOB (“the only one on my immediate block now is Fond that is moving,” says Kearse) dinner menu won’t be an all-Burgundy or all-Alsace affair. He’s considering a brunch menu that's more American than anything else. “Ultimately I’m here to challenge myself and give diners a great experience.”
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