Matty Matheson on Restaurant Bathrooms, Branding, and The Bear

The chef and entrepreneur Matty Matheson was minding his own business empire when the director and producer Chris Storer called him up and asked him to be part of a small show he was making about a chef who returns to Chicago to run his dead brother’s sandwich joint. That show was The Bear, which became one of the biggest hits on TV and made Matty an unlikely red carpet regular. To mark the show’s second season, he called us from Toronto to share his thoughts on tasting menus, restaurant merch, and set life.

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RESTAURANT BATHROOMS

“A nice toilet paper is where we need to be, at least. You go into some places and it’s like wax paper. And if you’ve got the cash, throw a Toto in there for a nice warm embrace.”

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COOKING VIDEOS

“My demeanor has changed. I think most people can see that I’m a little bitter now and that I make fun of myself a lot. I’m 41, man. I don’t know what the kids are doing anymore. I’m out of touch. I’m lost. I’m soft. I’m done.”

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PRODUCE

“Growing your own vegetables is a spiritual takeover. I think everything’s kind of dumb to begin with, but it’s one of those things where I didn’t think I’d feel the way I do. Everyone’s walking around acting like they’re fucking hippies or like they know what’s up. Maybe you drive a Tesla and think you’re a part of it, but you ain’t digging in the ground, you ain’t planting those seeds, you ain’t watering that shit.”

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PRODUCING

“Oh, like, how I’m an executive producer on the biggest show in the world? I’m just lucky that Chris Storer [the creator of The Bear] called me one day. Being a part of that crew and that team and that cast—it’s crazytown.”

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THE BEAR

“We honestly thought nobody would fuck with it, that it would be one of those things that when we were done, we’d be like, ‘See you never.’ It’s the opposite. It’s a slap-the-whole-world-upside-the-head kind of thing.”

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RESTAURANT MERCH

“We just launched all our restaurant merch on my website, so I’m a big fan. Go buy some.”

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ALGORITHM

“Butts, guns, Japanese architecture.”

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TASTING MENUS

“That’s my Lord of the Rings. I don’t drink, I don’t party, so if I’m traveling, I always try to find one good tasting menu spot. I’m looking into who’s got the heaters. I went to The Catbird Seat a while ago in Nashville, and I think it was close to 24, 25 courses. There wasn’t one that was bad. When you’re having that many little things, they need to be hitters.”

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VICES

“Vintage Harleys are definitely a thing. Yesterday I bought a 1947 Knucklehead motor. I’m just void-filling with 80-year-old motorcycle parts.”

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VICE

“They put me on. The glory years were something, and then turned into what it turned into. But that first cheeseburger video changed my life. Without it, I’d still just be a chef, or maybe not. Maybe I’d be dead.”

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SETS

“I never understood what a set was. Now I’m on a set inside of an airplane hangar for three months, and this whole world’s created within it. You’re telling me that on Friends, all these people were just going to a concrete cave? And all these actors just live in these fucking caves? That’s the craziest thing to me.”

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MICHELIN STARS

“I’ve had a whole career without them. Now I’m in a position where I don’t care. I care that my business is successful, that we can pay our employees, that we can pay our suppliers, that we can take care of people and pay our bills in a way that makes people feel good. Accolades and
awards, they’re cherries on top.”

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UNI

“It either tastes like creamy egg yolks or like a pile of horseshit, there’s no middle ground.
I was at Nobu in Chicago, and motherfuckers out there selling shitass uni, acting like
they’re somebody.”

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JEREMY ALLEN WHITE

“The big homie. He’s so sweet and chill that if I can get a laugh out of him, nothing else can make my day, brother. I’ll rock with that dude forever.”

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PORTION CONTROL

“As fat as I am, I don’t eat a lot. I would never sit down and just slam a tray of nachos or anything like that. That’s sicko shit.”

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BRANDING

“I have 16 Instagrams. I have a merch store that crushes. I have ten restaurants, Matheson cookware, I got fucking books. What do you think I think about branding?”

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SUSHI COUNTERS

“Anyone that’s a real sushi-head knows it comes down to the rice. When I’m in New York, I’m always eating at Yasuda. That’s where everybody eats if they know what’s up.”

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FOOD HALLS

“If I’m eating at a food hall, it’s kind of like, what the fuck am I doing?”

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APPETIZER TOWERS

“I’ve never seen one, but they sound real fucking mid.”