John Matchuk

JOHN MATCHUK 
GRECIAN DELIGHT FOODS, ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL 
R&D MANAGER 
CHEF MEMBER 

When I started work for Peer Foods as their chef, I did not know the difference between an oleoresin and an elbow. The Research Chefs Association, and its members, helped me to make the transition between foodservice and becoming a research chef—all via Culinology®.

Culinology, as a state of mind, is a good place to be. Realizing that we must balance our desire as a chef to plate the best possible food with the reality that it must satisfy an end user six months hence makes for a very steep learning curve—unless we truly embrace food science as a necessary knowledge set.

Food science without cuisine is not for me. It is indeed the blending of the two which excites me and helps me to understand what I need to do to complete a project, as there are too many gray areas when you really try to understand what and why people eat certain things.

BIRTHPLACE: Middletown, OH;

SCHOOL DAZE: A.O.S., Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY (1977); B.S., Hotel Administration, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (1990);

CAREER MOVES: 15 years in foodservice, 17 years in food R&D;

TOUGHEST MEAL I’VE PREPARED: Grand opening for the Renaissance Hotel in Atlanta;

FAVORITE INGREDIENT: Lemons and their juice … flavor balance and flavor potentiation;

FAVORITE KITCHEN TOOL: Chef’s knife;

BEST PART OF MY JOB: Learning about food and hopefully making something better;

BIGGEST INSPIRATION: The food itself and all the chefs and cooks from before who made a difference;

CHEF I MOST ADMIRE: Jacques Pépin;

MOST-MEMORABLE MEAL: Private lunch at Lutèce with Chef André Soltner;

EARLIEST FOOD MEMORY: Steamed suet pudding at Christmas;

FAVORITE JUNK FOOD: Pizza is not junk;

FAVORITE RESTAURANT: Where they cook from scratch, or you cannot tell;

FAMOUS PERSON I’D MOST LIKE TO COOK FOR: I would like a four-top at Lutèce with Miles Davis, Wassily Kandinsky, Michele Grottola and myself, rather than cooking;

FAVORITE FOOD CITIES: NYC, London, Bay Area … you would think Chicago would be on the list, but the grass is always so much greener when you travel;

IF STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, I’D MISS: Steak-frites and moules-frites;

IF I WEREN’T A CHEF, I’D BE: Actually, I would like to join the leisure class;

FAVORITE MOVIE: “Blade Runner”;

FAVORITE MUSIC: Jazz, rock, funk … and then the rest;

PETS: Two Siamese littermates;

CURRENTLY READING: “The Book of the Dead” by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.