ABOUT THE CHEF, MATTHEW WEINGARTEN
A longtime advocate of sustainability, Matt Weingarten brings a strong sense of what he champions to his position as executive chef at Inside Park at St. Bart’s, located at one of New York’s treasured landmarks on Park Avenue at 50th Street. Since the restaurant opened in 2008, the locavore chef has garnered acclaim for “some of the city’s finest Greenmarket cooking” from Time Out New York and food that is “thoughtful, well executed” from New York Magazine.
Growing up in a home where food was the focus of family gatherings, Weingarten cares a great deal about the old world sense of ‘place and season’ at the table. He made it a priority to work with chef mentors who are like-minded, and now he is the lead craftsperson in the kitchen where it’s his turn to be the mentor and share with others his thoughts concerning culinary authenticity.
Previously, he was the chef de cuisine at Peter Hoffman’s celebrated Savoy restaurant in New York. Working under the tutelage of one of the country’s forerunners of “locavorism”, seasonal integrity and provenance of the ingredient, Weingarten was greatly influenced by how our choices not only affect our lives in the kitchen, but how they are all knitted together into all areas of sustainability for the planet as well. Prior to Savoy, he was chef at Porcupine in New York’s SoHo district.
His first job after graduating with a Blue Ribbon from the Institute of Culinary Education was at An American Place, working under the careful eye of legendary Chef Larry Forgione. Weingarten credits this culinary hero as truly starting him on the road to becoming familiar with how place of origin influences food. The fresh produce, dairy and meats that arrived at the restaurant daily – all from local farmers – were an inspiration to the young chef-in-training, both personally and professionally. Says Weingarten, “We had calls from small farms all over the country. I was blown away by the possibilities, deciding at that point to set a goal of learning everything I could about the craft of food production and the art of cooking.”
After An American Place, Weingarten joined up with another of his kitchen mentors as chef de cuisine, cooking alongside Executive Chef Katy Sparks at Quilty’s in SoHo. He also was executive chef at Tuscan in New York City.
Now Inside Park at St. Bart’s is ‘his place’ to showcase his years of learning about fresh, local and responsibly sourced products. Weingarten continues to talk with and know the farmers and purveyors that have become part of his food family. In addition, his new state-of-the-art kitchen affords this dedicated chef a spot to further perfect the arts of classic preparation and cooking techniques. Especially interested in “lost” culinary arts, it’s here that he cures meats, pickles vegetables and preserves fruits. It’s here that Weingarten is giving back to the community that has helped shape who he is by peer-mentoring in the workplace and introducing others to a world of ‘place and season’ at the dining table.