Chris Gould

Coming Up

Kitchens are where Gould’s trade was built, starting at Bethel Inn in Bethel, ME as a summer dishwasher and prep cook before moving onto the line as a cook and sauté cook. At The Balsams Hotel in Northern New Hampshire, he worked as apprentice chef, a role that would have demanded pace, repetition, and attention to timing. Boston broadened the field. Gould joined Clio Restaurant in Boston, MA as garde manager cook from 2006 and chef tournant from 2007, while also working as sashimi assistant at Uni Sashimi Bar in Boston, MA from 2007. Those overlapping posts point to a kitchen education across different disciplines, from garde manger work to sashimi service, each one adding another way to read product, knife work, and sequence. In 2009–2009, he served as opening sous chef at Coppa Enoteca in Boston, MA, then returned to Uni Sashimi Bar in Boston, MA as Head Chef from 2009–2012. Today, Chris is chef and owner of Central Provisions since 2014 and owner of Tipo Restaurant since 2018.

Where They Are Now

Central Provisions in Portland is where Gould’s cooking is most closely identified with international small plates. The format gives the kitchen room to shift between registers without locking into a single mode, and that kind of range is a craft choice as much as a style marker. Bluefin tuna crudo; bone marrow toast with red onion jam; Crab Salad; and Suckling Pig are among the dishes tied to his Portland kitchen. Taken together, they show a kitchen moving across raw, rich, bright, and substantial forms without flattening them into the same language.

Signature

Chris's signature dishes include bluefin tuna crudo, bone marrow toast with red onion jam, Crab Salad, and Suckling Pig.

In Their Words “I love that there are so many great restaurants, farms, fish mongers etc for such a small city.”

Honors

No specific award or credential is named for Gould.