Matty Matheson is a Canadian chef, restaurateur, television personality and author who has become one of the most recognisable faces in modern food media. Loud, warm and irreverent, he built his reputation in Toronto kitchens before reaching a huge audience through online video, his own restaurants, a string of best-selling cookbooks, and his role as an actor and producer on the hit series The Bear.
His cooking is generous and unpretentious – rooted in comfort food, big flavours and hospitality – and his public persona has helped bring professional kitchen culture to a mainstream audience.
TL;DR
- Canadian chef and TV personality, born 7 February 1982 in Saint John, New Brunswick
- Made his name as executive chef of Parts & Labour in Toronto
- Owner of Matty’s Patty’s Burger Club and Prime Seafood Palace in Toronto
- Author of three best-selling cookbooks (2018-2024)
- Actor (Neil Fak) and producer on the acclaimed series The Bear
Matty Matheson key facts
| Born | 7 February 1982, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Restaurants | Parts & Labour (former); Matty’s Patty’s; Prime Seafood Palace |
| Known for | Food TV and online video; The Bear |
| Books | Three cookbooks (2018, 2020, 2024) |
From New Brunswick to Toronto kitchens
Matthew James Matheson was born on 7 February 1982 in Saint John, New Brunswick, and grew up partly in Nova Scotia before his family moved to Fort Erie, Ontario, when he was eleven. He inherited a love of cooking from his grandfather and, at nineteen, enrolled in the culinary arts program at Humber College. He left the program to tour with a metal band, then worked his way up through Toronto restaurants, including the well-known Le Select Bistro, before opening his first venture, OddFellows, in 2007.
Parts & Labour and his own restaurants
Matheson became widely known as the executive chef of Parts & Labour, a Toronto restaurant celebrated for its bold, hearty cooking, which operated until it closed at the start of 2019. He has since built his own group of Toronto restaurants, opening the takeout-focused Matty’s Patty’s Burger Club in December 2020 and the ambitious Prime Seafood Palace in April 2022 – the latter a refined, wood-lined room that showed a very different, more elegant side of his cooking.
Television, video and The Bear
Matheson reached a mass audience through food video, first with Vice’s Munchies and shows such as It’s Suppertime and Dead Set on Life, and later through his own hugely popular online channels. In 2022 he joined FX’s The Bear, a drama set in a Chicago restaurant, where he plays the handyman Neil Fak and also serves as a producer and culinary consultant – a role that brought him mainstream recognition and shared in the show’s many awards.
Books and style
Matheson has published three best-selling cookbooks: Matty Matheson: A Cookbook (2018), Home Style Cookery (2020) and Soups, Salads, Sandwiches (2024). Across all of them his style is consistent – generous, comforting, technique-aware but never fussy, and deeply tied to family, hospitality and the pleasure of feeding people well.
Matty Matheson in context
Matheson is part of a generation of chefs who became media figures as much as cooks, alongside other television personalities featured on Pickup Table 4 such as Gino D’Acampo and Mark Wiens.
Follow Matty Matheson
Follow @mattymatheson on Instagram
Matty Matheson FAQ
Who is Matty Matheson?
A Canadian chef, restaurateur, author and TV personality, best known for Parts & Labour and for The Bear.
What restaurants does he own?
Matty’s Patty’s Burger Club and Prime Seafood Palace in Toronto; he was previously executive chef of Parts & Labour.
What is his role on The Bear?
He plays the handyman Neil Fak and is also a producer and culinary consultant on the show.
Has he written cookbooks?
Yes – three: A Cookbook (2018), Home Style Cookery (2020) and Soups, Salads, Sandwiches (2024).
Where is he from?
He was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, and built his career in Toronto.
