About Fork’d Up

Created by Chef Denise Portillo,
I’ve spent more than 25 years in kitchens — running restaurants, building catering teams, and feeding everyone from families to Fortune 500s. I’ve seen the real heartbeat of this industry: the late nights, the no-shows, the last-minute scrambles, and the people who somehow always make it work.

There were so many times when we were short-staffed and desperate for help — making call after call, hoping someone nearby could step in. Before apps and group texts, we relied on memory and luck. Even my best workers — students, line cooks, servers — would move away for a season, and I’d think: if only I could find them again when they were back.

So I built Fork’d Up — not as a staffing agency, but as a real-time connection tool for hospitality. Businesses and workers match instantly by ZIP code and job type. No middlemen. No resumes disappearing into a void. Just quick, reliable connections between people who actually get the hustle.

Think of it as a cross between a love connection and a work app — built by someone who’s lived both the chaos and camaraderie of hospitality.

What’s with the name?

My last restaurant was called Forkin’ Good Café, and when this idea came to life, the name Fork’d Up just fit. It’s bold, a little cheeky, and it captures our industry’s energy when everything goes sideways — and somehow, we still pull it off.

Fork’d Up is for the chefs, bartenders, dishwashers, hosts, servers, line cooks, and bussers who keep this world moving.
It’s for anyone who’s ever covered a shift at the last minute — or wished they could jump into one.

This platform was built from the inside out — by someone who’s been there.

With heart, hustle, and good food always,
Chef Denise Portillo
Founder, Fork’d Up LLC
A subsidiary of Summa Holdings Inc.