Chef Mat Reeves on Food, Recovery and Finding Yourself.

We love meeting people who are building something authentic, which is exactly what caught our attention when we came across Chef Mathew Reeves and his growing online community.

For twenty years, Mathew Reeves has worked in the food industry. Along the way, he’s been a line cook, a chef, a train-hopping traveler, and by his own description, a “crazy punk rock cook.” 

Today, nearly eight years sober, he’s built an online platform where conversations about food sit alongside discussions about mental health, recovery, and life inside the kitchen through honesty and humor.

Reeves originally started posting recipes, cooking tips, and educational content. The goal was simple: teach people how to cook. But as his audience grew, he realized the content people connected with most wasn’t always about the food. It was about the people making it. 

“I realized if I was true to myself, it reached more people,” Reeves says.

So he stopped trying to fit inside the box of what a food creator was supposed to be.The recipes were still there. The cooking advice was still there. But he also started talking about sobriety, mental health, life inside professional kitchens, and some of the habits he believes the industry needs to leave behind.

Reeves built a following by teaching cooking confidence, sharing insights from two decades in the industry, and creating space for conversations that many kitchen professionals have traditionally kept to themselves. 

Like many builders, he started with uncertainty. Long hours, trial and error, and no guarantee that the work would ever become something sustainable. Even today, he’s still balancing a full-time job as an executive chef and family life, while building the platform he’s created from the ground up. These are the building blocks of an entrepreneur.

When asked about the experience he is trying to create for his audience, Reeves tells us, “I want them to be better than when they came in, to grow to learn more about themselves and their passions and to have a deeper understanding for food, cooking and the history behind it.“

That perspective also shapes how he approaches his own journey. “If something doesn’t work, don’t trip on it just keep going and learn from it. Also, don’t look at or base your success on other peoples success. You have to focus on your own path and small wins. Everyone’s journey is different.“

What matters more is staying genuine. In a crowded industry filled with personalities, trends, and carefully curated brands, Reeves believes his biggest advantage is simple: “I am the only me and thats what I’m pushing.“

And he extends that philosophy in advice to others looking to enter his industry: “Do what you know, don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Be true to yourself and don’t try to be like everyone else.” 

That mindset has helped him navigate the reality of putting yourself online. “People either are going to totally love you or hate you theres no real in between and you have to be OK with that“, Reeves says.

As his audience continues to grow, so do the opportunities. Brand partnerships have started appearing. New projects are on the horizon. The long-term goal is to turn what began as a side project into a full-time career. “It more then doubled in a year, so my plans are to just keep growing it and take it as far as I can. Luckily its something I love, so I don’t mind the grind and hard work” says Reeves. But of course, this success wouldn’t be measured only by numbers. 

For Reeves, the value is often found in the unexpected moments: meeting people far from home who recognize him, hearing how something he shared helped them through a difficult time, or simply learning that he inspired someone to see food differently.

At the end of the day, that’s enough.

“If even a couple people learn to love themselves, or food a little more from what I get to do, then it’s all good to me.“