Chef Eddie Matney: Celebrating food, giving back one bite at a time

 

There are chefs. And then there is Chef Eddie Matney. Just like his food, he is bold, bright and appetizing. A food force to be reckoned with, Chef Eddie is a big personality nationally and in the Valley. Known as “the most colorful chef” in the Phoenix metropolitan area, he describes his cooking as “a mirror of America.”
While his cooking reflects a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic flair mixing classic American and Mediterranean traditions, Eddie is not afraid to take chances. “I push the envelope with flavors,” he says, adding that that it is the way he approaches food.
With a host of accolades to his name locally and nationally, Eddie has been featured in Food and Wine, USA Today, Bon Appétit, Food Arts, Nation’s Restaurant News and Money Magazine. He also co-hosted “Your Life A to Z” on Arizona’s Channel 3 twice a month. He represented the Arizona Cardinals at the “Taste of the NFL” event for 15 years and was featured on CBS’ “The Early Show” when in New York for his dinner presentation at The James Beard House. If all that were not enough, he is also the co-author of two cookbooks, Cooking with a Passion and Heartfelt Cuisine. Most recently he was featured on two nationally televised cooking shows, “Bite This with Nadia G” and “Guy’s Grocery Games” with Guy Fieri, where he competed with and beat three other chefs in a cooking showdown.
A convert to food and Judaism

As a child in Massachusetts, Eddie at first wanted to be a veterinarian. He then fell into the restaurant business when he started working at his uncle’s gourmet market. He eventually co-owned the Stockbridge Café in the Berkshires in Massachusetts and then came to Arizona in 1986 to open Steamers. After owning a variety of restaurants, he currently owns Eddie’s House in Old Town Scottsdale. The restaurant allows him to do what he most enjoys: cook and be an entrepreneur.

After moving to Arizona, Eddie, who was raised a Catholic and is of Lebanese descent, met a lot of Jewish people, who became good friends. Because of “a deep draw to the Jewish faith,” he decided to convert. “It was something in my heart.” It was then that the 36-year-old divorced chef, who said he would never marry again, started the conversion process. “I was already in conversion classes, then I met my wife, Jennifer, a few weeks after classes.” Converting, he says, is “one of the greatest things I ever did.” The once-proclaimed confirmed bachelor now shares his home with Jennifer Blank-Matney, his wife of 18 years, daughter Gabriella, 12, son Jacob, 14, and a variety of animals, including a dog, a guinea pig, a Blue-tongued skink and two African spurred tortoises.
Bringing people together through food

Eddie does not have a favorite holiday – from Thanksgiving to Passover to Hanukkah, he enjoys them all. “My mom taught me at an early age that food is an expression of love, and if you really love what you do, how could you go wrong?

“I love cooking for any holiday that brings family and friends together, even people that you don’t know,” he says. “It’s great to sit around the table whether you know someone for 10 years or from a month ago; the common denominator that brings people together is food. Whether you are the CEO of a big company or a $15 an hour cook, you are all at the same level when sitting and eating at the table.”

While he believes in an open table for all, Eddie also believes in giving back. For 27 years he has been feeding the homeless while helping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for a variety of Valley charities. “We’ve worked with a lot of organizations and also supported a lot of Jewish charities in Arizona,” he says.
Cook with Chef Eddie

He enjoys working with the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, especially since it is where his children attended school. After some discussions, he worked with the JCC to present the three-part “Cooking with Eddie” series, which is being offered by the JCC and Allstate Appliances. The series began with Fall Flavors on Oct. 12 and continues with a Thanksgiving session on Nov. 2 and Holiday Celebrations, which will take place Nov. 30. Eddie will feature ideas to help create holiday menus. “Everyone will have a good time,” he says. “You get me and my undivided attention. You get to eat and drink with friends and you’re helping the JCC.”

Supporting local businesses is also at the top of Eddie’s list. “I firmly believe that people should support independent chefs’ restaurants,” he says, as those are typically the ones that give to the local charities.

Eddie wants food to be more than just a statement. “I treat food in a way that life is a celebration,” he says. “I want to continue the celebration when you eat my food. I want it to be a celebration in your mouth, so that when you bite it, it bites you back.” In a good way, of course!

For more information on Eddie’s House, visit eddieshouseaz.com or call 480-946-1622. For information about “Cooking with Eddie,” call 480-483-7121.

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