Matt Jennings
Providence, RI
AOS Culinary Arts 1998
BA Hospitality and Restaurant Management 2000
I am the Executive Chef, Master Cheesemonger and Co-Owner of Farmstead & La Laiterie in Providence, Rhode Island. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, I have always been a fan of cheese. In fact, my first favorite meal as a toddler was frozen peas, little Vienna sausages and slices of Kraft American cheese. While the love for sausage and cheese has remained, I now search and scour the globe for a different caliber of these products, by way of my award-winning and internationally recognized artisan cheese retail showcase -- Farmstead, opened in 2002, with my wife Kate.
Prior to opening Farmstead, I attended NECI, receiving both my Associate's Degree in Culinary Arts as well as my Bachelor's Degree in Food & Beverage Management. I then worked as a Chef in a number of restaurants from Cambridge, Massachusetts to the California coast and back again -- including 21 Federal in Nantucket, Massachusetts; The Hyatt Regency, Scottsdale, Arizona; Amanda Lydon's Truc in Boston and Stan Frankenthaler's Salamander. During a break from life in the professional kitchen in the late 90's, I took a job at Formaggio Kitchen -- a hallowed gourmet institution and retailer of fine foods from around the world, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Here I met and fell in love with my bride to be-over a cup of coffee, cured meats and stinky cheese.
At Formaggio, owner Ihsan Gurdal took me under his wing, and as he became my mentor and taught me the intense passions, intimacy and love that can be found in great cheese, I moved quickly up the ladder -- becoming the Cheesebuyer for all Formaggio locations as well as a Store Manager. Ihsan sent me on excursions to the UK, Italy and France to source and discover the finest of small batch cheeses, in order to bring them back to the shop in Cambridge. I was hooked -- bitten by the cheese mites. I was, in essence, what the Italians call Pazzo di Formaggio or, Crazy for the Cheese. During my time with Formaggio Kitchen, I was able to study with Master Cheesemongers and Cheesemakers in Italy, France and London -- I had seen my future.
Kate and I eventually made a move to California in 2001, so that Kate could attend The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone for her continued pastry training. I took a job with Cowgirl Creamery, as their Wholesale Manager -- selling their fine assortment of locally produced and procured artisan cheeses to the likes of Thomas Keller, Gary Danko, Emily Lucchetti, Judy Rogers, Jonathan Waxman and more. Here, I fell in love with a new breed of cheese -- American artisan cheese. During this time, American cheeses were just starting to come into their own renaissance and I embraced it. It was pure joy for me to see that there was a movement of artisan Cheesemakers in this country, tirelessly hand-crafting extremely high-caliber cheeses -- comparable to those I had seen in my travels, overseas. This, I decided, was the future.
Fast forward to present-day, where my own shop, Farmstead, has become an industry institution and I, a champion of American artisan products. Farmstead has been featured in Yankee Magazine, The New York Times, and in 2006 was included at #14 in Saveur Magazine's, coveted Top 100 list. Then, in 2006 with myself running the kitchen & Kate rolling the pastry, we opened our adjacent, wildly successful, seasonally driven and European inspired New England Bistro, La Laiterie at Farmstead, to rave reviews from publications like Travel & Leisure Magazine, who said the little restaurant offered the best in Haute Farmhouse Cuisine, Food & Wine Magazine, who thought it had "changed Providence overnight", and Bon Appetit Magazine, which named La Laiterie to its list of "Favorite Small Restaurants" in 2007. Kate and I both have cooked from PBS to The Food Network, and back again to our 40 seat bistro in Providence, as this is where we always feel most at home and in touch with food -- buying locally from small, Rhode Island farms for everything from produce to proteins.
A cornerstone of our food ethos, purchasing locally and sustainably is the only option. The kitchen at La Laiterie creates what we describe as Honest, Seasonal, Handmade Food. Take great ingredients from as locally as possible, do relatively little to them, and let the food speak for itself.
In my off time, although it is quite limited, I enjoy spending time with Kate and our one-year old son, Sawyer, as well as our stubborn but lovable Rhodesian Ridgeback, Montgomery, yes- named after the famed English Cheddar. My first love is food, wine and the gustatory pleasures of the table, followed closely by any opportunity to mountain bike, snowboard or take a road trip to Vermont. But more than likely, you will find me turning the cheeses in Farmstead's new, custom aging room, hand-crafting charcuterie for the restaurant and stores, or driving an hour away for a gallon of farm fresh cream for La Laiterie.
Remembering NECI: NECI provides a learning environment like no other. The ability to work in small groups, with passionate and knowledgeable instructors, and to be able to create products that can be sold to the public, in a learning environment, is a unique opportunity that one cannot put a price on.
Once I left NECI, I found my Internships and immediate career path to be challenging, of course -- but I was prepared! NECI had provided an opportunity to develop my own sense of what 'customer satisfaction' meant, something I had constant interaction with, in the numerous labs and classes that rotated through NECI's professional kitchens, bakeries and restaurants that were open to the public. In a sense, I already knew how to listen to the customer, and how to adapt and be flexible enough to work in an industry that demands so much from you on a daily basis -- NECI gave me this skill set -- one that I still use today.
And of course, who doesn't want to move to Vermont? To be immersed in such a solid educational program, with hands on learning, the ability to see the fruits of your labor, all while being nestled in the arms of the Green Mountains, surrounded by craft brewers, artisan cheesemakers, charcutiers, farmers, beekeepers, heritage animal ranchers -- it doesn't get any better than that. Truly.
NECI is a school where you get back what you put in. Living in Vermont, working with the caliber of instructor that NECI offers, surrounded daily by the opportunity for growth, knowledge, and hands on training -- it is hard to not WANT to arrive an hour early for class, out of pure stimulation and excitement! This is a magical place, with creative and skilled instructors, an undying dedication to a first rate hospitality education and the tools and resources to bring a great number of talented cooks into the 21st century.