Bio

James Matty’s career stretches more than twenty years, back to the time he was cooking side by side with his Italian immigrant grandparents, making everything from fresh ricotta stuffed ravioli to their favorite crispy donuts. Even then he was using ripe, local and organic ingredients grown in his grandmother’s garden.

Upon graduating from the Culinary Institute of America’s Baking and Pastry program, he immediately set to work with esteemed chefs Georges Perrier in Philadelphia and at Jean Georges Vongerichten’s flagship restaurant in New York City under the wing of Pastry Chef Johnny Iuzzini.

James next step would be back to his home town of Philadelphia, collaborating with Food and Wine Magazine’s Best Chef Nominee Karen Nicholas. The move back also facilitated his quest for moreculinary knowledge by allowing him to travel and learn. He focused on Italy and almost immediatelybecame obsessed with the simplicity of Italian cuisine and pizza. Interestingly, his background in Pastry Arts oddly lined up with the rigors of pizza dough techniques which were then further polished by the mentoring of Gabriele Bonci in Rome.

While touring the peninsula, James also became inspired by the intricacies of the culture and studied farm-to-table cookery at agroturismo’s in central Italy to crystallize the significance of utilizing great ingredients.

Returning stateside, Matty got busy working on various culinary endeavors and has since been enlisted on consulting projects, steering restaurants to success in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.