Chef Matt Gillespie began his culinary career at the age of sixteen operating the snack bar at Columbia Sailing Club on the shores of Lake Murray. From these humble origins blossomed a life immersed in the world of creative professional cooking. The first several years of his career were spent in the kitchens of Columbia, South Carolina's burgeoning gourmet cooking scene.
At the age of twenty-three he took a position at a resort in southern West Virginia where he worked beneath Chef Eric Stalnaker, a veteran of The Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, WV. Working for this four-star chef was a revelation and soon Chef Gillespie found himself a student at the world-renowned New England Culinary Institute in Essex Junction, Vermont. Chef Gillespie spent two years pursuing a degree in culinary arts under the guidance and tutelage of neci’s professional chef/instructors.
After graduation Chef Gillespie took a position as a sous chef at The Inn of the Anasazi, a four-star, four-diamond boutique hotel in Santa Fe, NM. At the Inn Chef Gillespie cooked for a host of celebrities including Charlton Heston, Madonna, Jerry Seinfeld, Madeleine Albright, Matt Damon, Winona Ryder and Troy Aikman.
After one and a half years Chef Gillespie took a position as the executive sous chef at The Bishop's Lodge Resort Hotel in Tesuque, NM working beneath one of his mentors from the New England Culinary Institute. During his stint at the Lodge his culinary team was awarded “Best Entree” in the annual Taste of Santa Fe culinary competition for two consecutive years and recognized by the readers of The Santa Fe New Mexican in 2002 as having the “Best Sunday Brunch.” In addition Chef Gillespie was honored to meet and personally prepare a vegetarian degustation for Sir Paul McCartney and his then fiancée, Heather Mills.
During this time Chef Gillespie also led cooking classes as a chef/Instructor at the Santa Fe School of Cooking and the Santa Fe Culinary Institute and worked at Chef Mark Kiffin’s James Beard award-winning restaurant, The Compound.
In the spring of 2003 Chef Gillespie took an Executive Chef position at The Hotel Santa Fe, leading a new restaurant venture called Amaya. At Amaya Chef Gillespie married traditional Native American ingredients with classical European technique to create a signature style. A review in the Albuquerque Journal raved “excellent...fabulous...bravo.” That summer Chef Gillespie was again honored to personally prepare a five-course dinner for former President Bill Clinton and 120 guests at a private home in the mountains above Santa Fe. In addition to the former President, Chef Gillespie served Cate Blanchette, Lionel Ritchie, and James Beard award-winning cookbook author James Peterson.
In the spring of 2004, feeling the pull of his southern homeland Chef Gillespie returned to his family and friends in South Carolina. |  
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