About Matt McCallister
Matt McCallister is a self-taught Dallas chef who grew up in restaurants, attended art school instead of culinary school, and built one of the most critically acclaimed careers in Texas without a formal culinary degree. He started at Stephan Pyles in 2006, rose quickly through the ranks, and was named executive chef of Stephan Pyles the restaurant in 2009 at 28 years old. He then staged at McCrady’s in Charleston, Daniel in New York City, Alinea in Chicago, and The French Laundry in Napa Valley before opening Campo Modern Country Bistro in Dallas in 2011. In October 2012 he opened FT33, his own restaurant in the Dallas Design District. Within two years FT33 had received a five-star review from the Dallas Morning News, a Food & Wine Best New Chef designation, three consecutive James Beard Award nominations for Best Chef: Southwest, a Bon Appétit Top 50 Restaurant nod, and a reputation as the most creatively ambitious restaurant in Texas.
In 2019 McCallister opened Homewood on Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas, a more approachable and ingredient-forward concept that earned widespread critical praise including a Texas Monthly feature and strong local following. He has been publicly open about his history with addiction, which began in childhood and ran through heroin and cocaine use, multiple relapses, and an overdose that nearly killed him. He has been sober for eight years. The closure of Homewood and his decision to return to the restaurant world form the central arc of this episode. He is currently involved with Quarter Acre Dallas.
Episode Overview
In this episode, André Natera sits down with Matt McCallister for one of the most candid conversations in Chef’s PSA history. McCallister is one of the most talented chefs Texas has ever produced, and also one of the most honest about what the industry cost him and what he cost himself. The conversation covers his unlikely path into professional cooking without culinary school, what staging at Alinea and The French Laundry did to his understanding of the craft, and what it actually felt like to build FT33 into the most talked-about restaurant in Texas in the early 2010s.
They go deep on sobriety: what his addiction looked like at its worst, what recovery required, and what eight years of sobriety has changed about how he sees his career, his creative output, and his relationship to the kitchen. McCallister also talks candidly about losing Homewood, what that closure meant to him beyond the business, and why he has decided to go back into restaurants despite everything. It is a rare episode where the professional story and the personal story are genuinely inseparable, and McCallister tells both with the same unflinching clarity he brings to everything else.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Growing up in restaurants without going to culinary school and why art school shaped how he thinks about cooking
- Rising to executive chef at Stephan Pyles at 28 and what that spotlight felt like without formal training
- Staging at McCrady’s, Daniel, Alinea, and The French Laundry and what each environment built in him
- Opening FT33 in 2012 and what it took to earn five stars, Food & Wine Best New Chef, and three James Beard nominations
- The addiction that ran alongside his culinary career from childhood through multiple relapses and an overdose
- What getting sober actually required and what eight years of sobriety has changed
- Opening Homewood, the critical reception, and what the restaurant meant to him beyond the accolades
- The closure of Homewood and what losing it felt like personally and professionally
- Why he decided to go back into restaurants and what he wants that next chapter to look like
- What he knows now about cooking, leadership, and the industry that he could not have known before
Guest
Subscribe to Chef’s PSA on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@ChefsPSA?sub_confirmation=1
Shop Chef’s PSA Merch
https://shop.chefspsa.com/
Chef’s PSA Website
https://chefspsa.com/
Listen on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6wC5UCwv9VFIR37E5XkeVO
Sponsor: Rational USA
https://rationalusa.com
Listen on Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chefs-psa/id1637261680
Watch on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@ChefsPSA
Listen on Audible
https://www.audible.com/podcast/Chefs-PSA/B0B84C3BW1