Meet the Chef: Richard Mattis of Gryphon Cafe

Richard Mattis of in Wayne does it all. He he roasts his own coffee beans, he cooks, he bakes, he gardens, he makes wine, he used to own a bookstore, he knows homeopathic allergy cures, and the list goes on. He greeted almost everyone that walked by us and I got to meet his lovely family. What I was most impressed with though was that his two young daughters had such sophisticated palates. For lunch they were not just eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but smoked salmon, goat cheese and other delicious things. After years of picking out onions and making “kid-friendly” food for youngsters in my life, it was refreshing to meet kids that just enjoy eating. Read below to find out more.

Name: Richard Mattis

Age: 46

Hometown: Wayne

Home now: Still Wayne

Favorite Thing about the Community: Springtime in Wayne is great--the glorious flowers, the beauty, the hills. I like that the roads here don’t go straight.

Do you do any community work? Yes, we’re a drop off site for a local CSA (community supported agriculture). We work with Greener Partners. Every Thursday beginning next week they will bring local organic produce to our shop and the people enrolled in the CSA (there are about 75 people signed up so far) will come here and pick up their box of produce. We also work with the Wayne Arts Center. Basically, anyone who asks for our help gets it.

We’ve done stuff with Eastern College and we just did the post prom party for Radnor High School. We set up an entire café in the black box theatre. This year the theme of the prom was Casino Night. We had an espresso bar, a smoothie bar, etc. It was great.

Years in the Industry: 30

Earliest Cooking Memory: When I was in third grade I bought the Witchiepoo cookbook from Scholastic and I made a peanut butter and pickle sandwich and it was good.

First Kitchen Job: Texas toast maker and dishwasher at Bonanza which is where the Chili’s in Wayne now is.

What brought you to the industry? I was 15 or 16 and needed a job within walking distance of my house. They were also willing to hire me at Bonanza.

Advice for Home Cooks: Buy interesting things and just cook with them. Just play—just make sure your spouse is ok with it… Don’t be so concerned with recipes. Be more forgiving of yourself. Have fun!

Favorite Thing to Cook: It changes all the time but right now I am really into beans and greens (whatever greens come in our CSA).  We also have a garden and we grow turnips, radishes, garlic, scapes, lettuce, herbs, tea herbs.

Favorite Menu Item: A day isn’t complete if I don’t have a latte and our hummus. I have had one of each of these things every day for the past 12 years. We roast our own beans in small batches in this 12 kilo (~25 pound) roaster in our warehouse in Norristown. We have been roasting our own for about a year. We want the freshest beans possible so we roast 4 days a week. Our beans come from all over the world but enter mostly through the port of New York. All our beans are organic and mostly Fair Trade. We buy whatever is seasonal and in a few months we're going to be getting a big shipment from Central America. We're also going to start having open houses at the warehouse so people can see how beans are roasted and learn more about coffee.

Healthiest Menu Item: The hummus

Favorite Local Restaurant: Birchrunville Store Café, it’s newer American, but I think the chef is French trained. They grow their own vegetables in a garden in the back. It’s a BYOB and there are two seatings a night. It’s fantastic.

Favorite Restaurant in the World: Gramercy Tavern in NYC. I’ve had the best meal of my life there. They know exactly what they are doing. The hospitality and service there is also outstanding and they have Blue Bottle coffee (A San Francisco Coffee company with an almost cult-like following. Restaurants may only carry Blue Bottle Coffee if their staff undergoes special training).

Guilty Pleasure (food or drink):  I never feel guilty about food or drink.

Last Meal on Earth: I’m obsessed with beans and greens right now so they would be my last meal and then I’d drink a Chinon (Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley in France), it’s great with vegetables and fairly inexpensive.

Favorite Food Shows? I don’t watch TV.

Biggest Kitchen Disaster: I was dating this girl and invited her over to my place so I could cook for her for the first time. I wanted to make her a nice steak dinner. I burned the heck out of them and they were ruined. I served her peanut butter and jelly instead.