After arriving in Arizona in 1986, Eddie Matney established himself as one of the Valley’s first celebrity chefs, hosting a weekly cooking segment on TV and writing a monthly magazine column while opening a string of restaurants, including Steamers, Kous Kooz, Eddie’s Grill, Eddie’s Art Museum Café and Eddie Matney’s.
The 47-year-old Massachusetts native with a larger-than-life personality spent the past year cooking at the private Golf Club Scottsdale. Now, he’s returning to the public arena. On Wednesday, the Paradise Valley resident launches Eddie’s House in Old Town Scottsdale.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a veterinarian. I always wanted to help animals. I love animals. I’m still in therapy for the fact at one point I wanted to help them and now I grill their ass.
What was your first job in food?
I was a dishwasher at the 1896 House in Williamstown, Mass. It was a summer job. I knew the chef really well, so he would have me make things in the back. They had a big salad bar so I would make chickpea relish and chop tomatoes. I really loved it.
In those days, the chef’s clothes were in the back because the people who owned the restaurant laundered their own. So I would go back there and put this chef’s jacket on that was way too big for me — because I was 15 years old — and these chef pants that were really baggy. They used to call me “Head Chef.” The purveyors would all come back and laugh at me. It was just a calling for me. The following summer they asked me to be their broiler cook.
What was your inspiration for Eddie’s House?
I always wanted to do a restaurant that was small. I went to a restaurant in Santa Monica. It was probably the chef I emulated the most — I just liked his whole approach to food and the way he was approachable to people — and it was Wolfgang Puck. I always admired what he did. I went to Chinois and he had a counter around the kitchen and he was taking sauces with this big tablespoon and putting them on. I said, “That’s what I want to do.” I want a restaurant that doesn’t have big vats of sauces. I want small, little sauces.
I got caught up doing Kous Kooz and then Eddie’s Grill and then Eddie Matney’s and Eddie’s Art Museum Café. Everything was so big and I never got to do what I wanted. I always wanted to do Eddie’s House. Twenty years ago, I pictured this place. You’re gonna think, “Oh, you’re (expletive) up” — please don’t write “(expletive) up” — but, I’m telling you, when I walked into this place it took me back 20 years.
Did you always picture it in Scottsdale? This is your first restaurant in the city.
Twenty-one years ago when I first came to Phoenix, they took me to Old Town Scottsdale. I fell in love with it. I grew up in North Adams, Mass., which is a very small town, and moved to an even smaller town called Stockbridge, where Norman Rockwell did lots of his paintings. I liked it. It had all these little alleyways. That’s what this (Old Town Scottsdale) is about. It reminds me of Stockbridge.
You spent the past few years cooking at a north Scottsdale country club. How different was that?
A country club is totally different. It’s sandwiches and stuff like that. It wasn’t real creative, funky stuff, although we had our moments when we could do those things. The country club was a good steppingstone. It made me realize what I really wanted to do. I don’t ever want to do a country club again. I don’t want to do anything else except Eddie’s House.
You’re a self-taught chef. What’s the toughest lesson you’ve had to teach yourself that you maybe would have learned more easily from traditional schooling?
If I had more of a traditonal upbringing, I’d have been more of a businessman. I think school teaches you discipline. That’s the hardest thing for me to learn. I think very few creative people have discipline.
Some people have said Eddie Matney is a great chef, but his restaurants don’t seem to last. Is that a fair perception?
That’s a terrible misconception. The first restaurant was around for 11 years, and the second restaurant was around for almost nine years. A 20-year run is pretty good as far as I’m concerned. There are very few restaurants that have a lifespan of more than two years. People can have their perceptions. If they really want to know, tell them they should come in to have dinner and I’ll tell them my life story.
If not the first, you were among the Valley’s first celebrity chefs. Has the celebrity chef phenomenon changed the restaurant scene?
Of course. Wolfgang Puck and Jeremiah Tower are the two that started it. It wasn’t Bocuse or any of those French chefs. That’s a crock of (expletive). It was Wolfgang Puck and Jeremiah Tower and Larry Forgione in New York and Lydia Shire in Boston. Those are the people who really paved the way for all of us other chefs.
Chris Bianco is one of the greatest guys — the most passionate kid in the world — and does a phenomenal job. He’s great for our community and has really elevated pizza. But if it wasn’t for Puck, do you think pizza would have been easy for him to do? No, it was Puck who started it.
What’s your culinary philosophy? Your food is somewhat difficult to categorize.
How would I categorize my food? Big, bold flavors. It’s like a party in your mouth. I’d say it’s American food with Mediterranean overtones. A lot of this is going to be American food with Lebanese overtones. I’m going to draw a lot from when I grew up: grilled vegetable tabouli, lamb chops with hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, lima beans, things like that.
I want you to look at it and say, “Wow, this looks so freakin’ cool.” And when you taste it, you’re gonna say, “Oh my God, that’s awesome.” And then when it gets to the middle of your tongue, you’re gonna say, “Holy (expletive)!” And then when you swallow, you’re gonna say, “I can’t wait to take another bite!”
What’s your favorite dish on Eddie’s House’s menu?
I think it’s the meatloaf because it’s the one that makes me think of my mom and my dad. My dad passed away almost nine years ago. My mom was the inspiration behind the meatloaf. She would make a 10-pound meatloaf and put four strips of bacon on it, and you’d barely taste the bacon. I’d pick the bacon off and my father would get mad at me because I’d eat the bacon off. So I said when I was going to come up with a meatloaf, I’d put a lot of bacon in it. So in the five pounds of ground beef we have, we have two pounds of bacon.
What’s your least favorite dish on the menu, if you had to pick one?
The vegetarian plate. I love vegetables, but I’m not freaky about them. I’m a carnivore.
What’s your favorite Valley restaurant, other than your own?
It depends on the mood I’m in. If I wanted some Southwestern flavors, some Arizona-style food, I’d eat wherever Robert McGrath was. If I wanted great American food, I’d eat at Tarbell’s. If I wanted pizza, I’d eat at Bianco. If I wanted sushi, I’d eat at Zen 32 or Seasaw. If it was great Italian food, I can’t wait for Trattoria M to open in Tempe with Michael DeMaria. If I wanted sort of a California cuisine, I would eat at Café ZuZu with Chuck Wiley.
What’s your junk food of choice?
Any cheeseburger that’s greasy and good. I love double cheeseburgers, whether it’s a bowling alley burger or from Delux. I’m also a freak — and I don’t eat them anymore — but I’d get the Filet-O-Fish from McDonald’s. I’d get two of them and put them together. I always asked Mac Magruder, who has a lot of McDonald’s here, “Why don’t you do a double Filet-O-Fish and call it the McEddie?”
Which culinary trend do you most embrace?
I think what I most embrace is supporting your local growers, using local products. Keeping it fresh, keeping it clean.
Which culinary trend do you wish would die already?
Fondue. I hate fondue. I just think it’s (expletive).
What’s next for Eddie Matney?
To get Eddie’s House up and going. I just want it to be a success. Then I want to be a success at being a great dad and a great husband. I don’t want to open multiple stores. I don’t have any intention of opening multiple stores. How much more could I ever ask for?
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Really great personal article.