Matthew James Matheson (born February 7, 1982)
is a Canadian chef, restaurateur, and internet personality. He was the executive chef of Parts & Labour,
a restaurant located in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, which permanently closed on January 1, 2019. Matheson has since started Matty's Patty's Burger Club, a takeout restaurant in
Toronto, Canada
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, which opened in December, 2020. In April 2022, Matheson opened Prime Seafood Palace, which is also located in Toronto. Matheson regularly appeared on
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...
's show ''Munchies''. He previously hosted Viceland's ''
It's Suppertime!'' and ''
Dead Set on Life''.
Early life
Matheson was born in
Saint John,
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
to engineer Stephen and waitress Joan Matheson.
The family lived in
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
until Matheson turned 11, when they moved to
Fort Erie
Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is directly across the river from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812.
Fort Erie is one of Ni ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
.
Before moving to Ontario, Matheson had grown up as a member of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
; however, the family left the church when leaving Nova Scotia. Matheson's grandfather was a restaurateur and former
RCMP
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
officer from
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
, the family having roots in PEI dating back to the 1700s. His grandfather owned and operated The Blue Goose restaurant in
DeSable, where Matty would spend his summers.
Matheson moved to Toronto in 2000 and attended
Humber's cooking program. He found he had a talent for butchering meat, and after a short stint on tour as a roadie for his friends' metal band, Matheson continued his culinary career.
Career
Early culinary career
Matheson began working at Le Sélect Bistro under chef Rang Nguyen who taught him French culinary techniques. In 2006, Matheson was hired at the restaurant, La Palette.
In 2010, Matheson became executive chef at the new Parts & Labour restaurant. His recognition, along with his outgoing and wild personality, would lead to his appearance on the online show ''Munchies'' by
Vice Media
Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); ...
.
On-screen
He was hired to host Viceland's ''
It's Suppertime
This is a list of programming for Vice channels in the US, and in the UK. Also included are series which aired on the international Viceland channels.
Current programming Original series
Acquired programming
*'' Intervention'' (2017–present)
...
'' and ''
Dead Set on Life''.
Matheson has also appeared on ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' where he showed
Jimmy Kimmel
James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the host and executive producer of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-night talk show that premiered on ABC on January 26, 2003, ...
how to make a "stuffed shell family recipe".
In April 2021, Matheson was signed with
Endeavor (formerly William Morris/Endeavor). He also partnered to open a new pop-up restaurant in Toronto called Birria Balam, specializing in the Mexican dish
Birria
Birria () \ ˈbir-ē-ˌä \is a Mexican dish from the state of Jalisco. The dish is a meat stew or soup traditionally made from goat meat, but occasionally made from beef, lamb, mutton or chicken. The meat is marinated in an adobo made of vi ...
.
In June 2022, Matheson joined the cast and crew of
The Bear on Hulu as a producer and guest star, becoming recurring character handyman Niel Fak. He also shares the role of culinary consultant with the sister of show creator Christopher Storer, Courtney. In the same month he opened the Prime Seafood Palace, a venture that he had been working on for the previous six years.
Restaurants
Matheson partnered with Shlomo Buchler to create a pizza restaurant call Maker Pizza with three locations in Toronto, one location in North York and one location in Thornhill..
In March 2020, Matheson and artist Alex 2Tone, co-founder of streetwear brand Born X Raised, started a podcast, titled ''Powerful Truth Angels'', with producer Jason Nelken.
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, Matheson created a
pop-up restaurant
A pop-up restaurant is a temporary restaurant. These restaurants often operate from a private home, former factory, existing restaurants or similar space, and during festivals. Various other names have been used to describe the concept of settin ...
called Matty Matheson's Meat + Three, a take on an American
meat and three
In the cuisine of the Southern United States, a meat and three restaurant is one where the customer picks one meat from a daily selection of three to six choices (such as fried chicken, country ham, beef, country-fried steak, meatloaf, or pork ch ...
, specializing in
American barbecue, in
Fort Erie
Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is directly across the river from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812.
Fort Erie is one of Ni ...
.
In October 2020, Matheson opened another pop-up restaurant in Toronto, a continuation of Matty's Patty's,
originally located in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
with a short stint in
Shibuya
Shibuya (wikt:渋谷, 渋谷wikt:区, 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern ...
,
Japan.
He opened his fifth restaurant,
Rizzo's House of Parm, in November 2022 in
Fort Erie, Ontario, serving old-school Italian food.
Cookbooks
In October 2018, Matheson released his first cookbook, ''
Matty Matheson: A Cookbook''.
On September 29, 2020, Matheson released his second cookbook, ''
Matty Matheson: Home Style Cookery''.
Matty recorded a series of YouTube videos to coincide with the release of this book.
Miscellaneous
In 2022, while running five restaurants, the "hyper-local entrepreneur" started a
workwear
Workwear is clothing worn for work, especially work that involves manual labour. Often those employed within trade industries elect to be outfitted in workwear because it is built to provide durability and safety.
The workwear clothing industry ...
clothing line, Rosa Rugosa, in the West Toronto neighbourhood of
Parkdale. The cookbook author also has a kitchen utensil collection.
Personal life
Matheson married his long-time girlfriend Trish Spencer in 2014.
Together, they have three children: MacArthur (born in 2016), Rizzo (born in 2018), and Ozzy (born in 2020).
Matheson has had a history of past
substance abuse. Matheson first tried
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...
in 11th grade. His regular use of the drug would lead him to a heart attack at the age of 29.
After his heart attack, he
quit using drugs and alcohol at the end of 2013. Seven months after becoming sober, Matheson shot his first episode of ''Keep It Canada''.
Television
As Producer
As Writer
Guest Appearances
Bibliography
Non-Fiction
*
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheson, Matty
1982 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Saint John, New Brunswick
Businesspeople from Toronto
Canadian restaurateurs
Canadian television chefs
Canadian male chefs
Chefs from Toronto