Matt Jennings

Matthew Jennings (born May 25, 1976, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American celebrity chef and restaurateur, consultant and executive.

Jennings was first introduced to the culinary arts during a summer job in 1990 when he was 14 years old, as a dishwasher in Nantucket, MA.

During the busy resort summers, he quickly moved through positions in the kitchen, becoming a prep cook at The 'Sconset Market and Cafe, a line cook at The Summer House Restaurant, and eventually the executive sous chef at 21 Federal (now Ventuno) and then executive chef at The Ropewalk (now Cru).

He attended The Rivers School, Weston, MA. and the New England Culinary Institute, Montpelier, Vermont, (Associate's Degree in Culinary Arts and Bachelor's Degree in Food & Beverage Management, with honors).

In 1998, after traveling in Europe and working with culinary masters in Italy and France, Jennings moved home to Boston and took a position as a commis at Boston’s Truc restaurant in the South End with chef, Amanda Lydon.

He then moved onto work with Chef Stan Frankenthaler at Salamander Restaurant, studying Asian cuisine in 1999.

Jennings took a break from the kitchen in 2000 when he became the Cheese Buyer for Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, MA. Here, he met his wife-to-be, Kate.

The couple moved to Napa Valley in 2002 and Jennings ‘staged’ at various Bay Area restaurants in between his full-time shifts at Cowgirl Creamery, as the company’s wholesale manager.

In 2003, Jennings and his fiancé opened their first gourmet specialty shop and adjacent restaurant, Farmstead, in Providence, Rhode Island.

In 2013, they sold Farmstead and moved back to their native home of Boston, Massachusetts, where they opened Townsman restaurant a New England Brasserie.

In 2017, Jennings released his cookbook co-authored with Jessica Battilana, Homegrown, Cooking from My New England Roots which was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award for Best American Cookbook and a finalist for the IACP award for Best Cookbook of the Year, as well as lauded by The Los Angeles Times.

In 2018, Jennings went through some personal health challenges that found him embracing sobriety and ultimately making a series of life changes.

He used this opportunity to rearrange his priorities and started a consulting business, Full Heart Hospitality, with Co-Founder, chef Jason Rose in 2019.

Rose and Jennings continue to run Full Heart Hospitality, one of the country's premier food, beverage and hospitality consulting firms.

In 2019, Jennings moved to his wife's native Vermont, purchasing a small farm, and building a commercial kitchen in his barn for consulting projects, research and development and client work, as well as private events and catering for the public.

During this time, Jennings also worked as the vice president of food and beverage for Andrew Zimmern's Passport Hospitality, based in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

He is currently the Founder and CEO of Campfire Hospitality, a Burlington, Vermont based restaurant group, founded in 2024.

He has written articles for Food & Wine Magazine, Saveur Magazine, and others for the hospitality industry, mentoring many other chefs, restaurateurs and operators.

Jennings lives in Vermont with his wife, two sons, three dogs and smattering of farm animals and amongst his vegetable gardens.