WHEELING, WV (WVNS)– West Virginia State Parks appointed “Vagabond Chef” Matt Welsch as the new executive chef for the state park system.

Welsch is a Marshall County native and owns his own restaurant “The Vagabond Kitchen” in Wheeling. 

He travels from restaurants all across the country on his motorcycle and blogs about his experience along the way. 

Now, Welsch will also help provide tools to each restaurant in the state parks.

“I want to work with each restaurant individually and as a whole,” said Welsch. “Different restaurants serve different demographics and one of the things we will be working on is identifying what those demographics are and what our guests really want to see.”

He will serve as a resource in their food and beverage programs, help increase skill levels, introduce new ideas and more. Welsch said one of his main goals is to help bring their restaurants to the next level.

“We have this vision of our parks being a true best of West Virginia experience, so I’m going to help with my skill set and my unique experience of going around to so many different restaurants and participating in what they’ve got going on and bring that to the table,” said Welsch.

As far as the menu, Welsch wants to incorporate old family recipes, authentic Appalachian heritage foods and use more local products at the restaurants. 

He officially began his position in April and made his first debut in September.

Welsch also owns a Youtube channel called “The Vagabond Chef” where he shares all of his latest recipes, projects, experiences, events and much more.