Matt Christianson

Coming Up

The foundation was laid at Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park campus (1997), where technique and discipline were the first requirements. From there, the line-level work at Fanny Hill Victoria Inn in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Trio in Evanston, Illinois put those basics into service. Those roles are where a cook learns timing, pace, and the habit of moving cleanly through a busy station. As the kitchens grew, so did the scope of the work. At Lark Creek Restaurant Group's Lark Creek Inn and later as Head Chef at One Market in San Francisco, California, the job shifted from execution to command, with more responsibility attached to every decision. He later served as Executive Chef at Q’s Restaurant, Hotel Boulderado in Boulder, Colorado, before arriving at his current role. Today, Matt is Executive Chef and director of Culinary Operations of Urban Farmer.

Where They Are Now

At Urban Farmer in Denver, Christianson works as Executive Chef, with a modern steakhouse program built around sustainable ingredients and close sourcing. The kitchen is organized around the relationships he has built and the farmer-centric values he describes: local farmers, ranchers, distillers and winemakers are treated as the starting point, not the add-on. That supply chain shapes both purchasing and production, which in turn determines what the kitchen can make in-house. Christianson talks about the work in practical terms, and the example does the explaining: “Just last week we worked with a local picker to get Liberty blueberries, a variety with high acid that we can add a lot of sugar to.” The point is self-reliance through local product. “So instead of having to buy preserves, we are able to make it ourselves from local ingredients.”

Signature

Dilly Green Bean Pickles are his signature dish. In that preparation, the method fits the broader kitchen logic: preservation, seasonality, and utility all carry equal weight.

In Their Words “My success as a chef is in teaching people what my vision is. I love being able to instruct, inspire, and see other people execute my vision in the kitchen.” “Year by year, we improve our ability to sustain the flavor of summer through the different seasons.”

Honors

Matt Christianson has received Oregon WineA-List Awards, 2015 Portland Metro Regional Star: Urban Farmer | Southwest (2015). Portland Metro Regional Star (2015) is the listed honor. It sits within a career defined less by self-mythology than by systems, team execution, and a steady attention to what the kitchen can produce from its own network of sources.