Dame Kyle D. Fulwiler
Five Washington State governors, Republican and Democrats, cannot be wrong about the superb creativity and culinary talents of Seattle Charter Dame Kyle D. Fulwiler, retired Washington State Governor’s Mansion Chef and former chapter president.
A native Washingtonian, raised in Bellevue, she was always interested in cooking. As the story goes, by the time she was 14, her mind was set on going to cooking school in New York City.
In reality, it was the Cordon Bleu School of Cookery in London where Kyle received her professional training. Armed with her certificate, she returned to Washington State to live on Hood Canal where she started her own catering business, Cuisine Unlimited, and also served as luncheon chef at La Petite Maison in Olympia.
Hearing about the job at the Governor’s Mansion, she interviewed for it, and the rest is history, serving 24 years and nine months as its Chef, with her tenure starting during Governor John Spellman’s administration and continuing into Governor Christine Gregoire’s administration.
Kyle’s fine-tuned palate, love of local ingredients and wines, coupled with her skillful use of them, speaks volumes. But it is her flexibility, quiet leadership, and organizational ability that stand out. How else could she and her two long-time assistants, Michi Delaney and Hai Vo, have managed the dozens of official events, sometimes two a day, year in, year out, without these qualities. Former Washington State first lady, Mary Lowry was quoted in a Seattle Times article as saying, “She is absolutely terrific.”
Although Kyle knew each of the governors and their families well, she cooked for official functions rather than serving as the first family chef. Those functions included elegant dinners for 80 as well as receptions, breakfasts, and more for legislators, dignitaries, and international figures including the King and Queen of Norway, the French Ambassador, and the Vice Premier of China.
During the early 1990s, Kyle received a culinary scholarship for a week of classes at the famed Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland that further honed her culinary artistry and enhanced her love of traveling.
She has written four cookbooks, represented Washington State apples on the Food Network, developed recipes for Washington Wine Month, served as President of the Governor’s Mansion Foundation and currently serves as the Chapter Administrator. She is an avid gardener, and her greenhouse is filled with her favorite, orchids.
In a letter from former Washington State Governor Booth Gardner included in Kyle’s Celebration, a Washington Cookbook, the Governor expressed it well, “Kyle’s performance at the Mansion is a tribute to the fine chefs of the Northwest.”
Photos via Kyle: A gathering of former Washington State governors and Kyle. Kyle served as Governor’s Mansion Chef for five of these former Washington State governors; Kyle’s Celebration, a Washington Cookbook; A photo of Kyle on the Seabourn Sojourn in 2010; and beautiful orchids in Kyle’s greenhouse.
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