Having worked at high-class restaurants such as the Capital One Eleven in Little Rock and Warren Stephens’ award-winning and exclusive Alotian Club in western Pulaski County, Matías de Matthaeis is definitely in his element as executive chef at Saracen Casino Resort’s Red Oak Steakhouse in Pine Bluff.
De Matthaeis has cooked professionally for more than 20 years, but his culinary journey began during his childhood in Argentina.
“My grandmother was always a great cook, and I was fat and hungry as a kid, so when food wasn’t ready at noon, I got upset,” he said. “She said it would go a little faster if you help me, so I started helping her.”
When de Matthaeis was a teenager, he began cooking for himself using his grandmother’s recipes. Some of those recipes have made it onto the menu at Red Oak. Those who order the beef empanadas or the chimichurri can taste de Matthaeis’ take on his grandmother’s dishes.
Photos by Ryan Parker
Although de Matthaeis enjoyed cooking from a young age, he went to college for political science in hopes of becoming a diplomat. After sampling both occupations for a while, he decided he would rather study the culinary arts.
“This was hard on my dad, who said I needed a college degree no matter what, and at that time, there were no culinary college degrees,” de Matthaeis said. “He accepted it over the years. When he accepted it, actually, he gave me a knife, and it was due to a TV show called Top Chef. He started watching it and said, ‘Oh, there’s a lot more to your profession than I thought.’”
Midway through his political science degree, de Matthaeis left the University of Buenos Aires to pursue his culinary dreams. He earned a culinary degree at the Argentine Institute of Gastronomy in Buenos Aires, then narrowed his focus to pastries and chocolate at Mausi Sebess in Buenos Aires. He then went on to be an instructor and earn an additional degree at the pastry school of the syndicate of pastry chefs in Buenos Aires.
“I loved everything, like savory, pastry, baking,” he said, “but they told me that because I was meticulous and I was obsessive, I was very good for pastry, so I got more opportunities in pastry.”
In 2014, a friend who was interning at the Capital Hotel put de Matthaeis in touch with Joel Antunes, who was the executive chef at that time. De Matthaeis worked at the Capital Hotel until 2015, then spent two years as a banquet chef and pastry chef at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock.
He returned to the Capital Hotel as an executive pastry chef, where he cooked for big names such as Gordon Ramsay and former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. In 2020, de Matthaeis was promoted to work on savory dishes under Chef Robert Newton.
“He saw something in me,” de Matthaeis said. “I guess management also liked me for savory, and I got the chef-de-cuisine position for One Eleven.”
However, de Matthaeis never assumed the position because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, he began helping at the Alotian Club, where he worked as executive sous chef before joining the team at Red Oak.
“I feel like Red Oak has an identity of its own,” he said. “It is both elegant and outrageous.”
Some of the best products he has ever worked with back up the refined dishes and bold flavors of Red Oak, he said, adding that he has put his signature style on the menu. In addition to the chimichurri and beef empanadas of de Matthaeis’ homeland, guests can enjoy a Puerto Rican dish called the pork kan kan chop.
Photos by Ryan Parker
De Matthaeis said the dish is “outrageous” and “a showstopper.” The massive cut is marinated and cooked sous vide style (rather than the traditional boiling — a de Matthaeis tweak) before it is deep fried.
“So we marinate it for seven hours, cook it to eat for seven hours, and then deep fry it for seven minutes,” de Matthaeis said. “That’s why on the menu we call it the 777, which just so happens to be a very important number for our players at the casino.”
Guests with a sweet tooth have plenty to choose from, including cheese cake, French-style apple tart, Red Oak’s take on strawberry shortcake and blueberry tart with lemon sorbet. The Black Forest chocolate cake is shaped like a mushroom and dusted with pistachio powder that resembles moss. Then there is the Dome — a fudgy concoction with raspberry sorbet that is as beautiful as it is delicious.
Photos by Ryan Parker
“It’s very eye-catching because it’s covered with a chocolate dome, and you put hot chocolate sauce, and you can see the dome melt and become the sauce of the dish,” he said. “It is 100 percent gluten free and dairy free, and it’s delicious. You would never know.”
He said one of his duties as a leader is to motivate the kitchen staff.
“I just try to set goals for the team, and I always mention how much I appreciate them and the work that they’re doing well,” he said. “I love to bring up whatever they’re doing right. If I promote somebody, I do that in front of everyone, and if I have something to correct or something is not right or an attitude to fix, I do it in private.”
He said three things he savors about his job are teaching, creating and learning. He makes it a point to sharpen his skills by reading or taking online classes every day. He also enjoys teaching his recipes to his team.
“It’s incredibly satisfying to watch them grow and see my creations in their hands,” he said. “Every so often, they start making it their own, not in a bad way, but in a good way, and that is just beautiful to watch.”
De Matthaeis said he earned one of his greatest accolades this year, when he became Chef of the Year for the American Culinary Federation Central Arkansas Chefs Association and Pastry Chef of the Year for the ACF Arkansas Delta Chefs Association.
In his quest to continue learning and growing as a professional chef, de Matthaeis spends his spare time fine-tuning various dishes.
“Last year, I was obsessed with viennoiserie, so all the layer doughs, croissants, and I used to cook that all the time. Then for a while, it was sourdough until I perfected it. I still make sourdough once a week,” he said. “Right now, I am obsessed with pizza.”
De Matthaeis said he currently is on a quest to master every style of pizza — another dish he first cooked with his grandmother — and is currently on New York style, having conquered Neapolitan and artisan-style pies.
“I realized that I read about food all the time. My Instagram has pictures and recipes and trends all the time. I go to work, and I work with food all the time, and I talk about food all the time, but I don’t get hungry,” he said. “Now, when it comes to pizza, just saying the name or looking at it or smelling it — just the thought of it makes me hungry, always.”
Some of de Matthaeis’ role models include two-time world champion pastry chef Antonio Bachour, pastry chef and baker Francisco Migoya, and author and restaurateur Thomas Keller, who de Matthaeis sees as having a similar mindset to himself when it comes to the repetition involved in creating a stunning dish.
“There are some chefs that are more out there, and they cook by heart, and there’s nothing wrong with that — that’s just not me,” he said. “I’m more of a science person. Of course, there’s love when you cook. You have to love it when you make something that takes three days to make and takes 20 minutes to eat. You have to love it.”
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