#040. Matt Colgan: Culinary Director of healthy fast casual chain Mixt- on innovation, umami, and the wonders of a backyard fire pit

Chef Matt Colgan found his way into a kitchen as a cook and dishwasher at age 14 and never left.  Matt is a native of the Bay Area and has cooked in several restaurants here and everywhere else he has lived and traveled.  Matt has a degree in philosophy having studied at UC Santa Cruz, CA and UC Galway in Ireland.  His travels brought him to cooking stages in Europe with an extended stay at L’Albergaccio Restaurant in the heart of Tuscany, Italy.  There, Matt learned much of what has shaped him today; cook with quality seasonal ingredients, respect those ingredients, and put copious amounts of love in your food.  

Matt was the Executive Chef of À Côté Restaurant in Oakland for 15 years where he was a SF Chronicle Rising Star Chef and longtime resident of their Top 100 Restaurant list.  With the same owners, Matt later opened Rumbo al Sur of Oakland and The Chapel food and music venue in San Francisco as well.  

Looking for a change to spend more time with his kids, Matt transitioned to corporate dining where he worked for Guckenheimer overseeing Google’s food and beverage program in San Francisco.  Matt was very involved in Google’s expansion which led to a role as the Director of Culinary overseeing Google cafe operations in San Francisco, Redwood City, Irvine, Venice Beach, Playa Vista (all CA), Austin TX and Boulder CO. This included 17 cafes feeding 13k+ Googlers per day.

Matt is now the Director of Culinary for Mixt and Split where he is very excited to bring together all his experience to create delicious and healthy food for everyone.  

Resources:
Mixt
BCorps
L’Albergaccio Restaurant
À Côté Restaurant (Oakland, CA)
Ooni pizza oven
St Vincent de Paul (Oakland)- The Kitchen of Champions program

Matt’s book recommendations:
Dirt (Buford)
Born to Run (McDougall)
Why We Sleep (Walker)