New location brings bigger dreams to Bushel.

The very best part of my job is when a story leads somewhere completely different than the destination I imagined it would.

When I first called Kelley Terlip about photographing the new location for their restaurant, Bushel & a Peck, I had a very different story than the one you're reading in mind. A piece about the hardships of opening a restaurant. Then a glorious unveiling of their new location and menu. While, I hope that in some way I've captured those struggles, this is not that story.

It became clear to me as Kelley began to open up that a much deeper one was there, one that said so much more than plate designs or menu choices ever would.

You see, Kelley Terlip and her husband Mike Gingras had no business moving back to Frontenac, KS. None. At least not if you're considering wealth and the career ladder.

These are not fly by night cooks with no experience. These two take food seriously. In college Kelley wrote papers that included lines like “Human civilization didn’t begin to flourish until the first seeds were planted for cultivation, this is a great indicator of the significance of food and agriculture to the human experience.”

Mike has worked in kitchens all over the country with esteemed chefs. Kelley learned every aspect of restaurant operations working both overseas as well as on the coast. Combined these two are a powerhouse restaurant couple with the chops to back it up.

And yet…. Instead of taking all that wealth of knowledge, experience and passion to a place like LA, Kansas City, or Chicago they instead came home. Moving into Kelley’s grandfather's former home and starting a restaurant in nearby Girard.

Why they made that choice is what makes this couple incredibly special.

If you ask the two of them why they moved back to the town that is the size of some of their old city neighborhoods, at first you get the typical answers. “It's safer.” “Better for a family some day.” and “Closer to loved ones.” The kinds of answers they’ve probably used dozens of times to explain a move that has undoubtedly slowed down their rising careers.

However, as you spend more time with the two of them you realize that the easy answers tell very little of their real hearts.

Kelley and Mike are not here to just make “cool food”. They came home to change how we experience food, and the local industry behind it. They aren't content with taking people's money and handing them a plate. They want to help make the restaurant industry, the local food scene and the locals who depend on it, live fuller lives. No pun intended.

When the couple opened the first location of Bushel the public, and this author, were beyond impressed. The food was imaginative, with local ingredients, good quality, and the decor was fun. Behind the scenes though, the two were just trying to survive. The statistics on restaurants who survive their first year are grim at BEST. Although the dining room stayed busy and the praise stayed steady, Bushel was not immune.

“There were days when I'd look at the bank account and think we were in trouble.” Kelley told me, but with a firmness of someone who despite her words, wasn't even considering giving up. The two faced all the growing pains that come with learning a new area, along with everything else you can imagine that comes with a new restaurant.

They pushed harder, and made it through, but their location was a struggle they couldn't easily overcome. It was hard to find and small. Add in the fact that the rented building was woefully unprepared to be the kind of restaurant Bushel had grown to be, and it left Mike and Kelley with tough choices.

That changed when a beloved patron suggested a building he planned to renovate, and the chance to really roll out their long term plans became within reach.

Bushel & a Peck’s brand new, larger, much easier to find, location opened in Girard in June of 2025.

It is of course amazing. The dining room feels welcoming. Like you're visiting a favorite aunt and uncle's lake house who just happen to be outstanding chefs. Giant fish with family stories to match share space with vintage artwork, cartoons, and photos of famous chefs. It feels like someone's favorite weekend getaway.

The food is unique—often tasting nothing like you imagine, but everything you hope for. Kelley and Mike reinvent the flavors we think we know. Elevating them with skill and precision that can only come from years of experience in their craft.

Yet, that is what we expect of Bushel by now. A year watching them work is enough to know we've got the real deal here. No wannabes working off of cheap quick recipes are wandering that kitchen line. These are two big dogs in the local industry and we've seen them bark. It's impressive for sure, but it's far from their best trick. That's to come.

You see Kelley and Mike don't want to be the leaders in the local food scene. They want to be the teachers of the next generation of it. They understand that our rural area has historically been deprived of unique ingredients that are often widely available to the rest of the world. Things like black truffles or complex cooking techniques rarely make it onto southeast Kansas tables. That knowledge could have been a barrier for some chefs. Kelley and Mike see it as an opportunity.

Mike explained to me that this area has a long history of a love of food, the chicken places, the Italian heritage, all makes it an area open to rediscovering its passion for dining.

And that friends is why they really came home. To help rekindle a flame that our area has held for years and make it bigger, brighter, more complex. The team at Bushel doesn't want you to just love their food. They want you to fall in love with food and dining out again as a whole.

Starting with their own staff. Kelley and Mike take training seriously. Not only teaching the usual standards but introducing new things. Staff are taught skills like hand rolling pasta, or what black truffle smells and tastes like. How the delicate process of sous vide creates a tenderness in the food, or why Kelley uses this or that sauce. Often high school kids, the staff learns the difference between the flavor palate of one whipped goat cheese to the next, and why it changes so much with just small additions. Why local produce is better, and how to guide a guest who has allergies.

During training Mike is obviously passionate when he talks about how carefully they prepare the dishes. The staff knows he wants that excitement to carry onto the guests, that he cares.

The care doesn't stop at their food though. To Kelley and Mike the industry as a whole matters. They deeply feel that given our area's history we could be a sought after food hub for travelers and foodies. Providing good jobs for locals in the restaurant industry. Jobs that they say should be ones rooted in respect.

Having worked for difficult people Kelley and Mike refuse to be those kinds of bosses. There's no Hell's kitchen drama in their restaurant. The young staff smiles and jokes. One tells me enthusiastically about all he's learned and how much he likes helping Mike prep. You get the impression quickly that much more than food is being made here. Perhaps a few new dreams in young hearts are as well.

That passion for the industry goes far beyond Bushel’s doors. Kelley and Mike hope to unite the local food industry similar to the way they are in many big cities.

These are two people on a mission and it's not to be wealthy or famous. Unlike many restaurants, Bushel and a Peck is not a monument to the ego of its chefs.

It is a welcome letter to the Crawford County Community. “Come” it whispers with an excited voice, “Sit down at our table. Let us help you remember all the magic food can do.”

Kelley and Mike didn't move home for just the usual reasons. They moved home to help make home a better place. To honor an area where food has always been so much more than just a dish, and take their turn to elevate it. They are stepping into the shoes of many Frontenac cooks from generations past. These two undoubtedly have the fire to reignite this area's reputation of being one of the top food spots in Kansas, and we are so proud to call them Frontenac Friends.

(*Bushel & a Peck is located at 820 S. Summit, Girard, KS. Reservations are encouraged but not required.