James Beard Award winner
Matthew Chavez
- Discipline
- James Beard Award winner
i. Biography
Matthew Chavez holds the Executive Chef role at Castleview hospital in Price, Utah, where the work reads less as performance than as management of pace, sequence, and consistency. In a hospital kitchen, that means the same things good set work demands: timing, attention to detail, and the ability to keep the whole operation moving cleanly. Before the kitchen, Chavez worked in image-making, and that background shows in the way his credits are arranged across documentary and food projects. The discipline of cinematography—watching for composition, movement, and what a scene reveals in passing—maps closely to the kind of attention a chef brings to service.
Coming Up
Documentary camera work shaped the early part of Matthew Chavez’s career, starting with cinematographer at Street Food: Asia (2019). That credit establishes the terms of his practice: observation, timing, and the patience required to capture energy without flattening it. He continued as cinematographer at Unsolved Mysteries (2020) and Street Food (2020), building a run of work grounded in attention to detail and the steady construction of atmosphere. By 2022, Chavez had added cinematographer at Sidney (2022), 2nd Unit Photography at The Big Brunch (2022), and cinematographer at Chef's Table: Pizza (2022). The range across those credits points to a working method built on consistency rather than spectacle: moving between productions while keeping the same control over framing, pacing, and visual clarity. In documentary settings, that kind of work depends on reading what matters quickly and holding the line when conditions shift. He carried that same approach into cinematographer at Twin Flames (2023), extending a career defined by documentary precision and reliable visual judgment. The sequence of credits suggests someone comfortable in systems that reward focus, flexibility, and a disciplined eye for the whole.
Where They Are Now
Today, Chavez serves as Executive Chef at Castleview hospital in Price, Utah. The work sits at the intersection of technique and timing, with the added pressure of a hospital environment where steadiness matters as much as output. Executive Chef in that setting is less about display than about coordination: keeping service organized, measured, and dependable. Across Matthew Chavez’s credits, the throughline is adaptability without drift. Whether working as cinematographer at Street Food: Asia (2019), Unsolved Mysteries (2020), Street Food (2020), Sidney (2022), Chef's Table: Pizza (2022), or Twin Flames (2023), or serving as 2nd Unit Photography at The Big Brunch (2022), the pattern is one of sustained craft and compositional control. In the kitchen, that same discipline now applies to meal service rather than image capture.
Career - Cinematographer — Street Food: Asia (2019) - Cinematographer — Unsolved Mysteries (2020) - Cinematographer — Street Food (2020) - Cinematographer — Sidney (2022) - 2nd Unit Photography — The Big Brunch (2022) - Cinematographer — Chef's Table: Pizza (2022) - Cinematographer — Twin Flames (2023)
FAQ What is Matthew Chavez's current role? As of 2026, Matthew Chavez is Executive Chef. Where did Matthew Chavez work before? Matthew Chavez's earlier career included Street Food: Asia, Unsolved Mysteries, and Street Food.
