Chef Hari Pulapaka
Now that Cress Restaurant is a solid success, someone should probably tell Chef Hari Pulapaka and his wife, co-owner Jenneffer Pulapaka, that they can quit their day jobs.
Yet both Hari and Jenneffer continue to maintain full-time professional positions in addition to carving out culinary careers. Hari is an associate professor of mathematics and computer science at Stetson University, while Jenneffer is a surgeon with a thriving podiatry practice, DeLand Foot and Leg Center. The couple leaves their day jobs each afternoon with a quick break to change clothes and tend to their pets -- a Great Dane and four cats -- before heading to Cress to prepare for the evening dinner service.
Hari and Jenneffer, an Orlando native, met in 2005 at The Elusive Grape in DeLand and were married in July of 2006 in Denali, Alaska, where Hari had worked at Princess Lodge. We catch up with the culinary couple and ask them to dish on their favorite dish.
Favorite dish served at Cress?
Jenneffer: Roasted Vegetable Bisteya in Puff Pastry, Heirloom Grains, Cinnamon Cardamom Cream
Hari: Pan Roasted Local Fresh Fish of the Day, Local Citrus Beurre Blanc, Roasted Seasonal Vegetables, Beluga Lentils with Applewood Pancetta, Cress Garden Pea Tendrils, Cress Chips
Favorite area restaurant other than your own?
El Taco Amigo in DeLand
Three ingredients that are always in your fridge?
1.Raw food for our Great Dane, Olga
2.A litany of hot sauces
3.Wine
Most memorable meal ever?
Jenneffer: Per Se, New York, NY, for our anniversary
Hari: The chef’s table at The Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, Toronto, Canada
Most unusual food you’ve ever eaten?
Jenneffer: Durian fruit
Hari: A Burger King Whopper for the first time (I was 21 years old) when I didn’t know I was eating meat and I had never eaten meat before in my life.
If you could have any chef, anywhere, prepare a meal for you and Jenneffer, who and what would that be?
Hari: I would like Chef Eric Ripert to prepare the “perfect fish dish” and then I would like him to impress Jenneffer. She has been a vegetarian for almost 20 years, so Chef Ripert would really have to put his thinking hat on.
When you aren't working, what's your favorite meal to cook at home?
Jenneffer: We will cook together, or at times I want Hari to relax and be the guest at my “Cook’s Table.” Spicy pasta or a ragout dish that you eat decadently “Indian style” and a wonderful big Californian Cab are our escape foods.
