Chef Matt McClure is one of our favorite chefs. Since Cooking2Thrive® recorded him for our interview series, Chef Matt has been receiving rave reviews as the executive chef of The Hive at 21C Museum Hotel near Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Congratulations are again in order. Chef Matt has been chosen as a semifinalist for the 2014 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards in the “Best Chef: South” category. It is quite an honor to be chosen by the James Beard Foundation for recognition in what is sometimes thought of as the Academy Awards for food.
Chef Matt is known for featuring fresh, local ingredients in the dishes he prepares. He often takes the country cooking I grew up eating at home or at dinner on the grounds after church and changes it from humble to refined.
Having a preference for using local fruits and vegetables as ingredients makes Chef Matt a gluten friendly chef by preference, but he cooks gluten-free at home by necessity to accommodate his wife who is gluten intolerant. He sums up what many of us wish more people knew when he says, “Gluten is not the secret ingredient in fine cooking!”
The final nominations for the James Beard Foundation Awards will be announced Wednesday, March 19. We wish chef Matt the best!
Haven’t seen our interview with Chef Matt? You can view it at the link below:
http://www.cooking2thrive.com/video/Chef_Matt_Interview_v2.mov
For more information about the James Beard Foundation awards, visit http://www.jamesbeard.org/awards
Disclosure of Material Connection: I am the president of 3 Squares Productions, Inc., the company that contracted with Chef Matt McClure for this interview. I have no material connection with the James Beard Foundation. Regardless, I only recommend products I have personally used and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
