Matt Timms (born c. 1974, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American promoter of food events, in particular a series of casual "takedown" competitions in which local amateur chefs compete to cook a particular ingredient. Timms is credited as one of the first of a wave of promoters to launch public amateur food contests in New York City and throughout the United States in the early 2000s.

Food contests

Timms' first "Takedown" was a "Chili Takedown" in New York City in 2004. Tofu, Fondue, Cookie and

Grits Grits (stylized as GRITS) is an American Christian hip hop group from Nashville, Tennessee. Their name is an acronym, which stands for "Grammatical Revolution In the Spirit". GRITS is made up of Stacey "Coffee" Jones and Teron "Bonafide" Carter ...

Takedowns followed, as well as a "Lamb Takedown", the "Brooklyn Beer Experiment", and the "Park Slope Pork Off".

Hormel Hormel Foods Corporation, doing business as Hormel Foods or simply Hormel, is an American multinational corporation, multinational food processing company founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota, Austin, Minnesota, by George A. Hormel as George A ...

meats later sponsored a "Bacon Takedown". Timms says his events are a reaction to the more

midwestern The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

sensibilities of nationwide contests such as the

Pillsbury Bake-Off The Pillsbury Bake-Off is an American cooking contest, first run by the Pillsbury Company in 1949. It has been called "one of the most successful promotions in the history of the modern food business". History The first contest was held in 1949 ...

, and the more structured, rules-oriented approach of the American Chili Society's sanctioned chili cookoffs. The Takedowns have become popular among what the New York Times describes as "obsessive home cooks" and "sustainability enthusiasts", due in part to Internet social connections. In addition to New York, takedowns have also been held in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

, and

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In the lamb event, sponsored by the American Lamb Board, contestants are each given fifteen pounds of lamb to cook how they see fit, with awards from expert judges, as well as a people's choice award by vote of those who have paid to attend the event. Matt Timms has been featured in ''Food & Wine Magazine's'' 40 Big Food Thinkers 40 and Under, and Chowhound.com's annual awards- The Chow 13

Other details

Timms is also an actor and filmmaker. He shot the film, ''Up With Me'', which was distributed by the

Independent Film Channel IFC is an American basic cable channel owned by AMC Networks. Launched in 1994 as the Independent Film Channel, a spin-off of former sister channel Bravo, IFC originally operated as a commercial-free service, devoted to showing independent fi ...

References

External links

- official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Timms, Matt Filmmakers from New York (state) Living people Male actors from Boston Year of birth uncertain Year of birth missing (living people)