Elka Gilmore (March 17, 1960 – July 6, 2019) was an American chef and restauranteur. Her San Francisco restaurant, ''Elka'', earned national acclaim. In 1994, she was nominated for the

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

for Best California Chef.

Early life

Elka Ruth Gilmore was born on March 17, 1960 in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, Texas. Her first restaurant job, as a dishwasher, was at Café Camille in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, when she was around 12 years old. She left home at age 16 to live with her grandmother in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, Wisconsin. As a teenager, she worked as a prep cook at L’Étoile in Madison; when the chef quit, Gilmore was promoted to chef. At 18, she travelled to Boston, New York, and Provence (where she apprenticed at a restaurant in

Cotignac Cotignac (; oc, Cotinhac) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Geography Climate Cotignac has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification ''Csa''). The av ...

), before settling in Los Angeles in 1982. There, she worked at restaurants Tumbleweed, Checkers, and Palette. She was the co-owner of Camelion's, which served French-inspired cuisine.

Career

In 1991, at the age of 31, she opened her restaurant Elka in the Miyako Hotel in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Japantown is a common name for Japanese communities in cities and towns outside Japan. Alternatively, a Japantown may be called J-town, Little Tokyo or , the first two being common names for Japantown, San Francisco, Japantown, San Jose and Little To ...

, serving a blend of Asian and French cuisine. The restaurant was met with national acclaim. The ''

New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'' described the restaurant's dishes as "light and memorable" with "deep and husky flavors"; it called Gilmore "the enfant terrible of the modern California kitchen" and "an iconoclastic cook." In 1994, she was nominated for the James Beard Foundation's Award for Best California Chef. In 1995, she opened Liberté, a French-American restaurant, in San Francisco. It closed after a few months. She was later hired by the Omni Berkshire Place Hotel in New York to open and run Kokachin, a seafood restaurant. In 1998, she returned to San Francisco and opened Oodles, an Asian

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

restaurant; it closed shortly thereafter. Reviewing Oodles,

Mark Bittman Mark Bittman (born February 17, 1950) is an American food journalist, author, and former columnist for ''The New York Times''. Currently, he is a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Bittman has promoted VB6 (Vegan Before 6:00), a flexit ...

of ''The New York Times'' wrote that " spite the angular, not-especially-attractive interior, the restaurant is comfortable and inviting, and the brazen nature of the food gives a meal here a true sense of excitement." Gilmore was recognized as a champion of women chefs. She was also credited for her mentorship of fellow lesbian cooks. In 1993, she co-founded the organization Women Chefs & Restaurateurs, along with fellow San Francisco chefs Barbara Tropp and

Joyce Goldstein Joyce Goldstein (born July 17, 1935) is an American chef, who is a two time James Beard Foundation Award winner. She ran the influential San Francisco-based restaurant Square One between 1984 and 1996. Career Joyce Goldstein worked as executive c ...

. She died on July 6, 2019, in San Francisco, of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

due to a series of ongoing medical issues.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmore, Elka 1960 births 2019 deaths People from San Antonio American chefs American women chefs American restaurateurs Women restaurateurs Cuisine of the San Francisco Bay Area LGBT chefs LGBT people from the San Francisco Bay Area 21st-century American women People from San Francisco