Matty Matheson

Matthew James Matheson (born February 7, 1982) is a Canadian chef, restaurateur, actor and internet personality. He portrays the handyman Neil Fak on the FX series The Bear.

Matheson was the executive chef of Parts & Labour, a restaurant located in Toronto, Ontario, which permanently closed on January 1, 2019. Matheson has since started Matty's Patty's Burger Club, a takeout restaurant in Toronto, Ontario, which opened in December 2020. In April 2022, Matheson opened Prime Seafood Palace, which is also located in Toronto. Matheson regularly appeared on Vice'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, to engineer Stephen and waitress Joan Matheson. The family lived in Nova Scotia until Matheson turned 11, when they moved to Fort Erie, Ontario. Before moving to Ontario, Matheson had grown up as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; however, the family left the church when leaving Nova Scotia. Matheson's grandfather was a restaurateur and former RCMP officer from Prince Edward Island, 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 College's cooking program. To serve a short stint as a roadie for his friends' metal band, he dropped out of the program before graduating. However, Matheson found he had a talent for butchering meat, and he continued his culinary career by handing out resumes to random restaurants until he found employment.

Early culinary career
Matheson began working at Le Sélect Bistro in Toronto in 2003 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 until it closed in 2019. His recognition, along with his outgoing and wild personality, would lead to his appearance on the online show Munchies by Vice Media.

On-screen
He was hired to host Viceland's It's Suppertime and Dead Set on Life. Matheson also maintains his own Youtube channel.

Matheson has also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he showed Jimmy Kimmel how to make a "stuffed shell family recipe".

In April 2021, Matheson signed with WME Agency (a subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc.). In June 2022, Matheson joined the cast and crew of FX's The Bear. He portrays handyman Neil Fak, and he also serves as a producer and culinary consultant on the show.

Restaurants
Matheson partnered with Shlomo Buchler in 2015 to create a pizza restaurant called Maker Pizza, which has opened and expanded into numerous locations within the Greater Toronto Area.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in the summer of 2020, Matheson created a pop-up restaurant called Matty Matheson's Meat + Three, a take on an American meat and three, specializing in American barbecue, in Fort Erie; the Meat + Three pop-up closed in 2022.

In October 2020, Matheson opened another pop-up restaurant in Toronto, a continuation of Matty's Patty's, which was originally located in Hawaii with a short stint in Shibuya, Japan. Matty's Patty's opened a permanent location in the Trinity-Bellwoods neighbourhood in Toronto in December 2020.

In April 2021, Matheson partnered with Toronto chefs Kate Chomyshyn and Julio Guajardo to open a new pop-up restaurant in Toronto called Birria Balam, specializing in the Mexican dish birria. Matheson, Chomyshyn, and Guadjardo opened up a new permanent restaurant, Fonda Balam, in the Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy neighbourhoods of Toronto in October 2021, serving birria and other Mexican cuisine. They subsequently closed Birria Balam.

In January 2022, Matheson teamed up with his mentor and friend Rang Nguyen and opened Ca Phe Rang, a Vietnamese restaurant serving pho and bánh mì. The restaurant opened where Birria Balam had been previously, in Chinatown, Toronto.

In April 2022, Matheson opened Prime Seafood Palace, a steakhouse and seafood restaurant in Trinity-Bellwoods, Toronto. Matheson had been working on opening the restaurant since 2016.

In November 2022, Matheson opened Rizzo's House of Parm, a restaurant serving old-school Italian-American cuisine, at Crystal Beach in Fort Erie, Ontario. He named the restaurant after his first daughter and second child, Rizzo.

Matheson has incorporated all of his restaurants into his company, Our House Hospitality Company.

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. He recorded a series of YouTube videos to coincide with the release of this book.

His third book, Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches, will be released in October 2024.

Miscellaneous
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.

In 2020, Matheson teamed up with Toronto chef Keenan McVey and opened Blue Goose Farm, a small farm in Fort Erie, Ontario; the farm, named after a restaurant owned by Matheson's grandfather, helps to supply vegetables to some of his restaurants and other restaurants in Toronto.

In 2022, Matheson started the "hyper-local entrepreneur" workwear clothing line, Rosa Rugosa, with production based in the West Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale. Matheson has also started a kitchen utensil collection.

Personal life
Matheson has a history of substance abuse. He first tried cocaine in the 11th grade. His regular use of the drug would lead him to a heart attack at the age of 29. Matheson quit using drugs and alcohol at the end of 2013. Seven months after becoming sober, Matheson shot his first episode of Keep It Canada.

In 2014, Matheson married Trish Spencer. They have three children.