Rising Star Chef Matt Lambert of The Musket Room - Biography

The homegrown dreams of a culinary kid tend to get a little dreamier when that kid is Matt Lambert and home just happens to be in New Zealand. Lambert got his start apprenticing with New Zealand Restaurateur Garry Bates at 16, moving on to the Culinary Program at Auckland University of Technology. Opening Sun Seair café with his mother after graduation, Lambert realized that he had a lot to learn about the business—gaps he filled in working with chefs like Michael Meredith at The Grove. It was with Meredith’s encouragement that Lambert came to the United States.

As sous chef at John’s Café in Woodbury, Connecticut, Lambert worked with farmers to create seasonal menus while incorporating flavors of New Zealand. After two years at John’s, Lambert secured a position at New York’s Michelin-starred Public with StarChefs.com Rising Star Brad Farmerie. Lambert was quickly promoted to sous chef at sister restaurant Double Crown and eventually worked his way up to chef de cuisine of Public and Saxon + Parole.

In partnership with Restaurateur Jennifer Vitagliano and Manager Barbara Lambert, his wife, Lambert opened The Musket Room, bringing together his New Zealand heritage and modern techniques to crystallize those early adolescent dreams. As if those dreams couldn’t get any dreamier, in 2013, just four months after opening, The Musket Room received a Michelin star.