After more than two decades in the industry, restaurateur Ellen Yin can still be found at Fork, her first eatery in Philadelphia, nearly every day, stopping to welcome a new face, then pivoting to chat up a regular while discreetly bussing an empty glass. Often she appears to be in two places at the same time—uptown in her Rittenhouse outpost a.kitchen+bar, or further north, keeping an eye on High Street on Hudson in New York.
“I’ve been fortunate to earn some attention as a leader,” says the James Beard-nominated veteran, “but it doesn’t change my essential function as the protector of our business. Spending time in each restaurant keeps me engaged and energized.”
From day one, Yin adds, running her four restaurants has been a team effort. “The longer I am in this business, the more strongly I feel that it is the people involved who make it work,” she says. “We’ve always strived to hire and retain inspired, talented professionals.” Along with kitchen and wait staff and “an extraordinary group of executive chefs,” she credits local design firm Marguerite Rodgers Interior Design as a “primary collaborator who helped transform our vision.” In addition to Fork, the firm crafted both the Philly and New York outposts of High Street.
Yin opened Fork in 1997, following a Wharton degree and a brief career in healthcare management. In realizing a long-delayed dream, she also filled a culinary gap in Philadelphia. “There were extraordinary places for fine dining,” she says, “as well as terrific places to grab a hoagie or a plate of pasta. But there wasn’t a whole lot in between. Today, restaurants that live in that space, offering top-notch service but approachable food and drink, are one of the things that Philadelphia does better than anywhere else in the country. I would be proud to think we were a part of that progression.”
The rustic High Street on Hudson in New York
