Matt started at Sweet Basil bussing tables in 1987. He had moved to Vail with a friend “just for the season,” because the ski bum lifestyle had been a youthful dream.
Growing up in Denver he camped and fished with his family in the summer and in the winter would ride the ski train to Winter Park, so the mountains were always calling. Since one season was not enough and Matt was still working for the Sweet Basil family, he helped open our then sister restaurant, Montauk, in Lionshead in 1988. Matt returned to Sweet Basil about three years later as a bartender.
He was soon promoted to Assistant Dining Room Manager and eventually Dining Room Manager. Continuing his upward movement in the company, Matt accepted the General Manager position of our newest restaurant, Zino, in 1998. In June of 1999 Matt hit a career landmark, Managing Partner of Sweet Basil. And then a professional highlight in November of 2012 when the Sweet Basil restaurant family grew again with the opening of Mountain Standard. In October of 2016, Matt bought out founding partner Kevin Clair to be the full owner of Sweet Basil and Mountain Standard.
Today Matt lives in Edwards with his wife, Jana, and his twin teenagers, Grace and Jack. As a family they love to travel, have family ski days, camp, hike, and enjoy all the Vail Valley has to offer. “Do it now, life is too short!”
