Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew King.
Matthew, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in the restaurant business, it was in my blood. My father worked in restaurants since he was in high school and is still in the business today. when I was younger I did what most kids in New York did and bounced around and worked at local Pizzerias. Through College I spent time Cooking, Bartending, and serving. At the time it felt like a means to an end I wanted to teach elementary school. I spent some time teaching after college but in the rough job market in 2008 I was not able to keep my job after budget cuts. I moved to Pennsylvania and started working for a great family owned resort called Woodloch Pines. During these three years is when I fell back in love with hospitality. Later on, I moved back to New York and teamed up with my dad and brother to work at our family restaurant. It was fun experience working side by side with my dad and brother. When I hooked up with John Resnick and Campfire it was a dream come true. All my hard work had paid off and I was about to embark on something new and exciting. Every day presents a new challenge and I am eager to take them all on. I love where I am I love the team we have here at Campfire the folks that work here are the heart and soul of this place. I am honored and humble that I get to call this place home.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road is always a little rocky nothing has ever really come easy to me. I have dealt with many personal demons along the road, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. If I didn’t incur all those bumps and bruises then I wouldn’t be where I am today. I just try to remain thankful and take everything one day at a time.
Campfire – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a new American live fire restaurant, so we specialize in cooking over a wood grill and incorporating that into each dish. We are a market driven restaurant so we like to change up items based on what is going on in the daily market. It is a lot of fun watching the team try to harness that element of live fire. It’s this wild uncontrollable element that they are trying to rein in and execute high quality dishes. It’s really cool to see the food world come full circle right in front of my eyes, in an age where there is so much amazing technology out there we are cooking food in its most primitive form. We also have a really focused classic cocktail program and it is a lot of fun being a part of that. Our bar director Leigh Lacap has taught me more than I could ever imagine is possible. I don’t drink at all and spending the last two years with him I have become a wealth of knowledge without ever tasting any of his cocktails. It is a real testament to him that I can educate our staff on our program without actually indulging in a drink. The thing that sets us apart the most is our team, we have a dedicated hard-working staff that comes in and grinds day in and day out to make this place better. One of the things we practice is how can we get better every day and all the folks at Campfire are committed to that. It’s what makes Campfire so special is that the people here want our guests to love it they want people have the experience of a life time. When you got folks like Chef Andrew Bachelier and Leigh Lacap leading the charge and committed group to follow them then the sky is the limit. I am just honored they bring me along for the ride.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I would say the day we opened the doors at Campfire, I have never opened a restaurant before and moving to North County San Diego from New York City to open Campfire was just a dream come true. I actually took a minute and went outside and just looked at the place because I couldn’t believe it was real.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2725 State Street
Carlsbad CA 92008 - Website: www.thisiscampfire.com
- Phone: 760-637-5121
- Email: hello@thisiscampfire.com
- Instagram: Campfirerestaurant
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