MATT HORN on Finding His Purpose in Flames and Family — Restaurant Influencers (RI019)

Before he was a James Beard nominated chef, Matt Horn (@MattHornX) started out humbly cooking over a fire in his grandmother's backyard. Watch this interview with the Horn Hospitality Group CEO and multi-concept restaurant owner about growing a brand with social media and why he decided to “burn the boats.”

WHAT DID YOU LEARN on this episode of the Restaurant Influencers podcast, sponsored by the Toast point of sale and restaurant management company? Let us know by leaving a YouTube comment below!

• Improve Your Restaurant with Toast: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc

CHAPTERS:
[03:02] - Matt Horn 2-Minute Drill
[07:14] - Finding Fulfillment in Barbecue
[11:08] - Getting Support at Home
[23:34] - Being a Father
[27:35] - Restaurant Technology

Matt Horn is a Restaurant Influencer —

Matt Horn did not take the traditional route one would think a James Beard Award finalist and Food & Wine Best New Chef would have taken to the mountaintop of culinary arts. He didn’t begin cooking seriously until he reached his 20s. In fact, barbecue, and purpose, found Horn as much as he found it.

“I started off very humble in my grandmother’s backyard,” the restaurant owner and entrepreneur tells Restaurant Influencers podcast host Shawn P. Walchef of https://calibbq.media. “I didn’t have a smoker or anything like that. So that backyard became my school. That was my area. That was my culinary school.”

Matt Horn’s obsession with barbecue began, ironically, with a bad batch of ribs. The disapproval of his then girlfriend, now wife, sparked the tenacity that lit his passion to pursue the perfect BBQ, and for that matter, his ever growing burn for improvement.

It worked.

Matt shunned opportunities to hang with friends, vacations, or any other alleged distraction many lean into and dedicated his focus to becoming the best barbecue chef he could possibly be. He took his food public in 2016 and had his first pop-up that same year.

Now the founder and owner of Horn Hospitality Group and its numerous concepts, he remains dedicated to his craft, business, and life.

NOMINATE A RESTAURANT INFLUENCER — Do you know someone or a restaurant who is great on social media? Let us know by emailing [email protected] or sending the @calibbqmedia team a DM on social media.

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EPISODE LINKS:
• Matt Horn on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/matthornx/
• Horn Hospitality Group - https://www.instagram.com/hornhospitality/
• Horn Barbecue Cookbook - https://www.amazon.com/Horn-Barbecue-Recipes-Techniques-Master/dp/0760374260
• Horn Barbecue Online - https://www.hornbarbecue.com/

WHAT DID YOU LEARN from this interview? Let us know in the comments.

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ABOUT MATT HORN (@MATTHORNX):
Matt Horn is one of Food & Wine Magazine’s Top 10 “Best New Chefs” for 2021 and a James Beard Award finalist. He is the founder and CEO of Horn Hospitality Group, which operates numerous restaurant concepts, including Horn Barbecue in Oakland, CA. Horn Barbecue was awarded a rare “Michelin Guide Restaurant” designation, has lines outside that run for blocks, and has garnered hundreds of rave reviews in local and national media.
• Matt Horn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-horn-3b18ab4a/

ABOUT RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS:
Welcome to the Restaurant Influencers podcast series. Every week host and restaurant owner Shawn P. Walchef (@shawnpwalchef) talks with leaders in restaurant and hospitality about their secrets to Smartphone Storytelling and how to show up and engage where customers are spending time online.
The entire team at Restaurant Influencers is thankful for Toast (@toasttab) for being the primary sponsor of this show and allowing us to share the stories of successful digital first restaurateurs all over the world. Schedule a Toast Demo: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc

• Entrepreneur Media - https://entreprenuer.com
• Yelp for Business - https://biz.yelp.com
• Cali BBQ Media - https://calibbq.media

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RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS IS PRESENTED BY TOAST:

Restaurant Influencers is brought to you by Toast, the powerful restaurant point of sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience.

Toast — Powering Successful Restaurants

• Learn more about Toast at https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc