Eagle’s Nest Restaurant Manager Matthew (Matt) Barton Mattox
Susan Knox Wilson
To say our new Eagle’s Nest Restaurant Manager Matthew (Matt) Barton Mattox is highly qualified for the job is probably an understatement. In addition to an MBA in Global Management, Matt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics along with a dazzling array of certifications including Chef de Cuisine; Certified Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers; Certified Culinary Instructor; Foodservice Management Professional; Post-Secondary Instructor; F&B Service, City and Guilds of London, England and let’s not forget Certified Master Gardener! When asked about all the many – and diverse – degrees and certifications, Matt said he learned early on that “the more I learn and know, the more places I can go.”
And love to go Matt does. From high school in Minnesota to New Mexico State University in Las Cruces for his undergraduate schooling, then eventually on to Hubbard’s Yellowstone Lodge in Montana, where he discovered his interest in one day owning and running his own resort led him to the Institut Hotelier Cesar Ritz, Le Bouveret, Switzerland for his Swiss Diploma in Hotel Management. After a year spent training the food and beverage staff at the Grand Hotel Excelsor in Amalfi, Italy (where he also served as lead Sommelier), Matt headed back to New Mexico.
As Chef Owner of Los Jardines Historicos in Mesilla, Matt set about restoring a 1.55 acre historic site that included not only the renovation of adobe buildings but designing and creating gardens for the production of fruit and vegetables. That, of course, led him to earn a degree in Professional Landscape Design from the Career Development Institute in Atlanta.
On to Scottsdale, where Matt went to work at the Phoenician Resort, working in food production and providing leadership in the implementation of new food and beverage initiatives. At the same time (of course!), he became a Certified Sommelier in the Court of Master Sommeliers under the teaching of Master Sommelier Greg Tressner.
For the past eight years, Matt was with the Arizona Culinary Institute in Scottsdale as Chef Instructor for restaurant operations of their 60-seat international fine dining student-run restaurant, “du Jour.” Matt says he was excited to share his diverse skills and knowledge with the students in a hands-on environment. “One of my student chefs was totally taken aback when I personally served him a meal,” Matt said. “But, for me, learning by example is incredibly powerful and I’m as happy to show students how to bus a table or sweep the floor as I am to show them how to grow an herb garden or filet a fish.”
Matt found his way to PebbleCreek via Chef Frank who served on the Arizona Culinary Institute Advisory Board, working with Matt in that capacity. And, maybe not so coincidentally, Mary Ahrens, our new sous chef at Eagle’s Nest was once a student of Matt’s.