Our Chef

Specializing in contemporary American food, Matthew puts an emphasis on product respect, utilization, and seeing food in a playful, yet approachable way, while abiding by root to flower cooking. At a young age, Matthew desired to work in kitchens. His earliest culinary experiences were around cooking with his grandparents for his family. He started working in kitchens at the age of 14. At 16, he was in college studying baking/pastry and culinary arts. By the age of 18, he set out to attend the acclaimed Culinary Institute of America-Greystone in Napa Valley.

During this near 8 year stint, he worked with renowned chefs such as Perry Hoffman, Meir Adoni, Michael Powell, and Dave Cruz, as well as working in and out of Michelin starred kitchens. These chefs helped guide him to become the chef he is today. After Northern California and winning several honorable awards, such as Best Mediterranean Restaurant in the Bay Area two years in a row, Matthew moved to Southern California to consult for restaurants and start a private dining company.

In 2015 he was awarded Best New Chef for his private dining and consulting company. His fondest memories of cooking come from crafting intimate dinners for friends and family and cooking for the California Wine Masters Charity for children with cystic fibrosis. Chef Matthew brings a vegetable-centric menu to the well-established Hook and Plow while still keeping the integrity of the concept, in which they have retained best farm-to-table restaurant in the South Bay Area each year.