Owens Culinary Consulting

For more than 15 years, Matt Owens has cooked in kitchens across the U.S., developing menus and opening nearly a dozen local award-winning restaurants. Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, Matt attended The Ohio State University, earning a B.A. in History before deciding to pursue his love for cooking at the New England Culinary Institute.

After earning his degree in Culinary Arts, Matt helped open Columbus’ renowned Harvest Pizzeria as Executive Chef, developing the concept’s menu and building a loyal fanbase. After four years at Harvest, racking up accolades and kicking off the concept’s eventual multi-market expansion with a second location, Matt joined the culinary team at the burgeoning, Cincinnati-based Thunderdome Restaurant Group. 

At Thunderdome, Matt opened nine new locations for eight unique concepts in six markets as the group quickly grew to the second largest restaurant group in the state of Ohio. As Director of Culinary Training and Development, Matt focused on corporate menu development projects and launched the group’s online learning management system to train and provide continuing education for more than 1500 employees. While leading the group’s culinary development team, Matt was also tapped to help develop the much-lauded, opening menu for the group’s newest concept, Pepp & Dolores.

As the pandemic wrought havoc on the hospitality industry, Matt joined the team at historic Findlay Market as manager of Findlay Kitchen, a non-profit food business incubator dedicated to uplifting and supporting women, immigrant and minority-owned food business startups. There Matt discovered his true passion for providing hands-on support and mentorship to food entrepreneurs. Drawing on his unique background and deep restaurant operations knowledge, he helped Kitchen members troubleshoot, grow and scale their businesses. After two years of supporting the members in a variety of ways, Matt founded Owens Culinary Consulting to use his skills, knowledge and expertise to help even more food-based entrepreneurs and restaurants create sustainable and profitable businesses.