Celebrity Chef Owned Restaurants - Matty's Patty's - 2/9/25

My thoughts on Matty Matheson & Pat Tenore's Restaurant

Coming to you live, with another hangover, at yet another coffee shop (not revealing the name, but I eventually will in the Infatuation-esque guide I’m working on). Lots of On sneakers & Essentials hoodies out to play….no comment.

I’m aware my commentary on some of these coffee shops are starting to drift awfully close to Jaden Smith-level of irritating pretentiousness (“can we just talk about the political and economic state of the world!!” ), but I truly can’t help but #noticing.

Unrelated (or maybe related?), I found this essay, “Lack of Authenticity Doesn't Make Things Uninteresting”, to be intriguing and worth a read. The Nolita Dirtbag call out was funny.

Back to my hangover. Its the byproduct of a quick trip up to LA for CAA’s finest, Jordyn, & her housewarming party.

Jordyn & I first became friends over our love for Matty Matheson (foreshadowing today’s review), we both left NYC around the same time, and hilariously, both have a performative copy of Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights, Big City in our bedrooms now. Stay tuned for our next adventure - it will likely (& annoyingly) include mademoiselle ~Chateau Marmont~ .

Thx Capri. Because today’s review is only one spot (not three), the Meme Omakase will be extra long. Sushi Noz energy. “We ask that guests limit the amount of perfume they wear, so as not to interfere with the experience of other guests.”

Side note, there’s a hilarious discourse brewing (if you’ve checked Resy on a Friday night, south of 23rd street (Manhattan) you’ll understand) of way too many ~mid tier~ omakase spots popping up.

Meme Omakase

More intertextual NYT banter. This joke will become tired soon, but right now its too funny.

A quick call back to

Snaxshot

’s performative snacks.

Last week I briefly alluded to caviar’s slow transition to being played out - if you see more instances of it being used in a tacky way, please send to me.

Didn’t watch the Grammys, but the content on Twitter has been too funny. Starting with Benson Boone(?).

Sabrina Carpenter….

Tattoo - Taylor’s Version.

Speaking of celebrity worship (this is a dig @ TSwift fans), I hope you all witnessed that terrible journalism from the AP on the red carpet with Chappell Roan… please watch this and cringe with me.

On the note of cringe, I’m sure you all have been aware of the “Old Money” trend online.

It’s always been cringe, but it’s seemingly reaching its apex in the form of the “Tuxedo Society”.

One last banger before the review. Also, not this Sahil Bloom guy watermarking his little “high agency”/ “founder-mode” graphic…. give it a break brother, we ain’t buying your course.

Okay - time for the review.

Matty’s Patty’s - Review (by popular demand)

Background: Matty Matheson is a Canadian Chef who initially got popular from his shows with Munchies called “Dead Set on Life” and “It’s Supper Time”. It was a pretty great era for Munchies - they also had Action Bronson’s “Fuck That’s Delicious”.

After Matty’s stint with Munchies, he started his own Youtube channel, which has done extremely well. I used to love his “Just a Dash” series, specifically the Chorizo Lasagna episode (frankly, I still do).

He’s since continued to find plenty of success, releasing a few cookbooks (definitely had seen some of these on my bookshelf in NYC, shout out Adam & Ryan), selling a bunch of merch, & opening a few restaurants. I remember I was wearing one of my Matty Matheson shirts when I went to the amazing Fish Cheeks on Bond Street and some girl came up to me and started talking to me about Matty Matheson (more specifically his episode with Benny Blanco)- it was an extremely validating moment. As a fan, its been amazing seeing his persistent success culminate in his role on the popular show, The Bear (season 3 was so bad).

Clearly, Matty and his team are trying to capitalize on this success with the opening of the Costa Mesa-based Matty’s Patty’s (there was already one in Toronto, click here for a primer). It actually makes sense that they would open up in Costa Mesa, as I believe the co-founder, Pat Tenore, who is also the founder of RVCA, is from Costa Mesa. My understanding is that the family I work for knows Pat, as they also made their fortune via swimwear manufacturing.

Regardless, let’s not talk about who pays my salary. Let’s talk about where I spend my salary.

The Food: The first time I went, I asked the girl at the register (~Kathleen~) what to get and just went with what she told me. Kathleen cracked me up; she was so expressive with her eyebrows (according to her, she needed to take lessons from me on how to be deadpan) and also said she didn’t even know who Matty was prior to working there.

My order was a Double Cheeseburger combo (i.e. comes w/ fries & a soda) with Matty’s Sauce (more on that in a second) & some pineapple ice cream dessert. The pineapple ice cream was so good.

I lowkey played myself with the burger. As a real fan, and as someone who definitely knew what was in the Matty’s Sauce (thanks to his Matty’s Patty’s Just a Dash episode - if you haven’t watched, please just go to minute 10, I’m crying tears of laughter re-watching, the editing is too good), I should have known how mustard-y this thing was going to be, but oh my god, it was so painfully mustard-y (MUUSSSTTTAARRRDDD - shout out Kendrick, shout out DJ Mustard). Actually, the sweet, old man sitting next to me warned me about the mustard prior to getting my order.

On top of that, if you’ve ever dined with me, then you know how much I hate my hands getting dirty, and this thing was so messy. Internally, I was freaking out. I think I went through at least 10 napkins. But at the end of the day, if you know me, you also know I’m fair, and to be honest, the burger, technically, was very good. Damn near, the ideal/ perfect (?) smash burger. Just the right amount of maillard reaction (if you don’t know what this is, please educate yourself), but still some meat left in the middle to chew through. And to prove this, I went back three weeks later and ordered the same burger with the sauce on the side, and it was just as good technically. Speaking of the second time I went, that time I got onion rings because I heard How Long Gone’s Chris Black say they were good, and honestly they were much better than the fries. FYI - they have impossible burgers, which I actually really enjoy, so if you don’t eat meat/beef, which I imagine a lot of OC-folk don’t, they have something for you too.

The People: Dude…. I don’t know. I saw:

• A couple who were of the ~enviably fashionable, Miu Miu-wearing, asian couple~ ilk.

• A group of kids who were lamenting how unhelpful Yelp is - honestly I get that.

• Biker Gang-looking folk - kind of scary.

• Some people who work at Greystar (I was eavesdropping), the largest apartment owner in the country.

• The old man I referenced earlier, who was eating alone. He was actually the homie and on top of warning me of the mustard quantity, when I asked if he could watch my stuff, he referenced the Seinfeld episode where someone asks some other person to watch their bag, and simply just doesn’t return. I’ve never seen Seinfeld, but I appreciated the reference.

• Another couple who were meeting in the middle from San Diego and LA and chatted with me about the dining scene in San Diego (my favorite topic).

Long story short - kind of a mixed bag. I think people are still coming for the first time and the shock value hasn’t worn off yet. Time will tell. It’s pretty well located real estate wise, so I think if Matty can sustain his status, many Newport Beach tourists will continue to consider checking it out. For more on real estate analysis - feel free to ask me, I may know a few people who can help with that.

Special shout out to the staff, by the way. Everyone there is so sweet and kind. I didn’t even mind the wait for the food because frankly, the service and staff was, as the Europeans would say, ~TOP~.

My honest verdict (ain’t this what you’re here for??): I think that everyone should try this spot out! The food is delicious and the staff is wonderful. It is also conveniently located (damn near on main & main).

But, if I’m being honest - I don’t know if this is a place I’m coming back to every other weekend. Smash burgers are mildly passé and the people watching isn’t as satiating. I’ll always root for Matty, but part of me finds these celebrity chef restaurants, especially with their name attached to it, to be massively tacky and just a quick cash grab. My mind wanders to Bobby’s Burger Palace and Wahlburgers. At the end of the day, if you visit me and you want to check out Matty’s Patty’s, I will 100% go with you, but not for a Snake River Farm, 4 Charles quality burger, but purely just to support Matty. Frankly, I feel like I make a better burger (see below, shout out Weber grill, shout out all the Upper East Side patio soirees, shout out this song).

Sheesh, that picture is making me nostalgic for NYC. I think I’m going to go watch Hitchock’s Rear Window, using Jordyn’s Criterion Collection login.

Depending on when you read this, I hope you enjoy/enjoyed the Super Bowl!! I’ve already heard a group of girls behind me say the obligatory “I’m just going to watch for the ads.” BYE!