Matthew Taylor

Coming Up

Training at Vocational culinary program and The Art Institute gave Taylor a formal base before he moved into the role of Executive Chef at Gertrude's Restaurant in Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona (from 2014). The sequence matters: classroom instruction, then a professional kitchen, then a title earned through repetition and service. The result is a career built less on announcement than on accumulation, with discipline doing the heavy lifting. Today, he is Executive Chef of Mora Italian (since 2018) and Executive Chef of The Americano (since 2020), carrying the same measured approach into both kitchens. The work reads as controlled and deliberate, with attention paid to pace, line discipline, and what the plate needs to hold together. The chronology is straightforward, and that is part of the point: one position leading to the next, each one extending the same practiced hand.

Where They Are Now

At Mora Italian, Taylor has served as Executive Chef, with a kitchen philosophy that links production to source. He has also served as Executive Chef at The Americano in Scottsdale, Arizona, extending that sensibility into another room. “It’s from the garden to the table that’s kind of the philosophy.” The line places origin at the center of the work, where freshness and timing are not abstractions but operating principles. The route from Calgary to Phoenix and Scottsdale is visible in the structure of Taylor’s career: Vocational culinary program, The Art Institute, Gertrude's Restaurant in Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona (from 2014), Mora Italian (since 2018), The Americano (since 2020). For this trade, that is often where the standards start.

In Their Words “It’s from the garden to the table that’s kind of the philosophy.”

Career - Executive Chef, Mora Italian, Phoenix, Arizona (2018–present) - Executive Chef, The Americano, Scottsdale, Arizona (2020–present) - Executive Chef, Gertrude's Restaurant, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona (from 2014) Education: Vocational culinary program; The Art Institute

FAQ What is Matthew Taylor's current role? Matthew Taylor is Executive Chef. Where did Matthew Taylor train or study? Matthew Taylor trained at Vocational culinary program and The Art Institute.