Meet the Chefs: Elliott & Kelly Townsend

Posted on October 16, 2023 by The Local Fish Team

Elliott and Kelly Townsend are the husband and wife team behind the hyper-local Long Story Short in North Park. Their commitment to working with local growers, ranchers, fishers, and makers has positioned them as leaders in the movement. Their philosophy as cooks is simple: start with the best ingredients and try not to screw it up along the way. This mindset has made Long Story Short an epicenter for delicious food and community. We’re delighted to be working alongside them to bring more local fish to San Diego. 

NAME: Elliott Townsend

CURRENT RESTAURANT: Long Story Short 

HOW DID YOU GET INTO COOKING?
Kelly had a passion for it growing up. It was something that she was always drawn to. Neither one of us had a lot of cooking in our immediate family. For her it was a passion to feed people and experience life through food and bring family together. She is really big on personal relationships and bringing people together through food. For me it was more of a necessity. I needed a trade that was artistic that could just help me get along. We met in culinary school when we were much younger. Kelly was definitely driven more by passion and I was driven more by necessity. 

HOW WAS LONG STORY SHORT BORN?
The name Long Story Short lends itself to that. It’s exactly what the moniker represents. It’s a really big story written by Kelly and I that we have minimized into a personification of the restaurant. It represents our lineage together as chefs, as a couple, as best friends, and as a single entity. At first we thought we should make food that represents San Diego, but then we realized how pretentious that might be. We thought let’s just do us and hope the message translates through the food that we cook. 

We had both been chefs in San Diego for quite some time and at one point, we decided that we were ready to create things that were different from what the city has to offer. It was like two artists venturing out for the first time. Because we had eachother, and we had the same medium it was fun for us to build something together. We’re just a couple of cooks that decided to do their own thing. 

HOW DID YOU ZERO IN ON A HYPER-LOCAL CONCEPT? 
It had always been that way. I don’t think there was ever a conscious decision to do that; it was just what was available to us and what we think tastes the best. It goes without saying that what’s close to us is going to taste better than something that comes from across the country or a different state. 

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE LOCAL SPECIES TO WORK WITH AND WHY?
If I had to throw it out there I would say Spot Prawns. They just taste so damn good. That has to be the answer for both of us. We are madly in love with Spot Prawns. Our philosophy as cooks is to start with something great and not screw it up along the way. 

IN YOUR EXPERIENCE HOW DOES LOCAL CATCH HIT DIFFERENT? 
Local Catch is gonna be something that tastes of the area. It tastes like where you’re from in the same way that wine expresses terroir. The fish will express the water they live in and the diet they eat, the temperatures and where they are. Tuna and Spiny Lobster are really good examples of that. When you have tuna that’s feeding on Anchovies or Mackerel and creating a really big circle that produces flavor. It represents time and place like nothing ever could.  

ANY ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO A YOUNG CHEF IN REGARDS TO SOURCING LOCAL SEAFOOD?
There are so many resources for a young chef to be able to source something local. The only advice I would say is get something that you believe in from people that believe in it. Take education from the fishermen rather than trying to impart what you know. You might be surprised by a new product that you’ve never had. The amount of work and the amount of risk that fishermen put into their job to get stuff to people like us is incredible and for that reason alone you should listen to what they have to say. 

FAVORITE SPOT TO EAT IN SAN DIEGO WHEN YOU’RE OFF DUTY? 
We really like Yakitori Taisho. We’re close with the chiefs there and hang out with them out of work. That’s where we like to eat whenever we have the opportunity.