From hard-partying chef to internet sensation to TV comedy superstar, chef Matty Matheson's unlikely path to success is messy, hilarious, and heartwarming. Let's find out what this foul-mouthed, tattooed teddy bear's about.
A Loveable Lug
Canadian-born Matty Matheson curses like a sailor, is tattooed like a biker, and generally comes off as messily disheveled. We barely see this guy in a shirt that doesn't have a few gravy drips on it, and he seems allergic to male grooming of any kind. Yet America fell in love with this big, hairy lug when we first saw him as Neil Fak, the well-meaning bumbling handyman on the hit series The Bear. What many didn't know is that this fella started as a hard-partying chef who cleaned up his act, started a family, became an internet sensation, opened restaurants and now has his own cookbooks and lines of goods.
Sober Success Story
Matheson grew up poor, moved around constantly, and fell into hard-partying ways as a chef, spiraling into heavy drug use before hitting bottom at 29 by copping a heart attack. This must have scared him straight into success because after getting sober in 2013, his hilarious, no-BS cooking videos went viral, launching him into a career-making show called Dead Set on Life on Vice TV.
100% Matty
Unlike many of his celeb-chef contemporaries, Matty lets it all hang out. He isn't presenting some Hollywood facade. He's just an average dude who loves food with a passion and cares little about what others think about him. But despite his gruff exterior, he strikes you as a guy you would love to share some ribs with. He's warm, funny, honest, and endearingly sincere. He's a refreshing departure from the slick celebrity cooks we have gotten used to. He proudly displays his flaws on his grease-stained sleeves, finding humor and pathos in the chaos of being a back-of-house lifer. Matheson's realness and underdog spirit have taken him from fighting for his life to stardom without compromising himself.
Building an Empire by Keeping It Real
These days, Matheson juggles his restaurants, Prime Seafood Palace and Rizzo's House of Parm, his acting, a clothing label, a supermarket food line, and his eagerly awaited second cookbook. He does it all while staying profoundly and unapologetically Matty - cussing up a storm, making us laugh at his own expense, and reminding everyone that perfection is for the birds. His amazing story and his constant victories remind us all not to judge books by their covers...except for his...which, if it's anything like he is, will be a hysterical, what-you-see-is-what-you-get read. Matty's next book will be out this coming October. Keep an eye out for it online or at bookstores near you.
