Chef serving meals, donating to shelter
Matty Matheson has been wanting an opportunity to cook for people in Fort Erie, but his busy schedule travelling the world as a celebrity chef has been an obstacle.
Like many others, his plans are on hold for 2020.
This means he’s at home looking for ways to keep busy. Partnering with Kendale Products Ltd., a kitchen equipment supplier that’s under the same umbrella as Billy Bones BBQ, a popular name at ribfests across the province, Matheson and a team of about five others are getting ready to serve 900 meals on Saturday and Sunday.
Each order consists of pork ribs, beef ribs, fried chicken, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, potatoes and bread.
“I’m never home long enough to ever pull off something like this,” he said Tuesday.
“We might as well feed people.”
His weekly event is called Matty Matheson’s Meat + Three.
Both days are sold out this weekend, but the grills will be turned on every subsequent weekend until further notice. For each purchased, $1 will be directed to Women’s Place of South Niagara.
He said social distancing is on everyone’s mind — there will be a strict protocol in place. Customers are urged to wait in their cars until their designated pickup time and to line up when the clock strikes their turn, which is a one-hour window.
A separate line will be created for people who are late, said the event website.
“There’s no congregating. We’re making everything as safe as possible,” he said.
What if a fan asks him to pose for a photo?
“They can stay six feet away from me and take a selfie if they want,” said Matheson, who has a number of TV and internet shows on his resume. “Matty Matheson: A Cookbook” made the New York Times bestsellers list. He’s appeared on late night talk shows including “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
He also has dozens of YouTube videos that have been viewed more than a million times.
Matheson and Kendale Products co-owner Brad Brunton came up with the idea recently, a collaboration the chef is excited about.
“It’s quality people I know. These guys know how to make pork ribs,” said Matheson.
Bob D’Ambrosio, Brunton’s business partner, said he is thrilled to join forces with Matheson.
“Both sides of this bring really cool stuff to the table,” he said. “Working with Matty has been a roller-coaster in the best way,” he quipped.
Women’s Place executive director Jennifer Gauthier said “innovative” fundraisers such as the one organized by Matheson are vital during the pandemic for her organization, which operates shelters in Niagara Falls and Welland to keep women and children safe from abuse.
Gauthier estimated this year’s fundraising losses will surpass $100,000.
“The support of the community is very important right now,” she said.
Gauthier is delighted Matheson chose the organization she oversees on a personal level. She owns his cookbook and said she is one of his 834,000 followers on Instagram.
“To receive the email that they wanted to support our charity was super-exciting for me,” she said.
The first weekend for the event will bring in $900 for Women’s Place of South Niagara, something Matheson hopes continues for however many weekends the event lasts.
“If we can raise awareness about domestic violence and help out some people — I think it’s a great cause,” he said.
Matheson and his wife Trish, also his high school sweetheart, relocated to Fort Erie from Toronto to raise their two children about three years ago.