Matt Basile
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Matt Basile

Celebrity Chef | Co-Founder, Alchemy Grills

Chef Matt Basile spent over a decade disrupting the food industry as the founder of Toronto’s most recognizable food truck brand, Fidel Gastro’s, and popular gastropub, Lisa Marie. Today, as the co-founder of Alchemy Grills, he’s taking on a new frontier — disrupting the barbecue and live-fire cooking landscape. In an industry steeped in tradition, Basile is always striving to do things differently.

In just under four years, Basile transformed the Fidel Gastro’s brand from an underground sandwich pop-up to an internationally recognized food brand. He also ran the Queen West gastropub and brunch hotspot, Lisa Marie, for six phenomenal years. It was featured on various TV series, including You Gotta Eat Here! and Chef in the City, and was also ranked as the ninth best brunch spot in Canada by OpenTable magazine.

Today, Basile has partnered with two seasoned entrepreneurs to launch Alchemy Grills. The Alchemy is the first barbecue to allow home cooks the option to smoke and grill food at the exact same time with one appliance. In addition to developing prototypes, Basile is developing recipes for an accompanying line of rubs and sauces and designing stylish merchandise.

In addition, Basile hosted the reality television show Rebel Without a Kitchen, which aired on Netflix, Travel and Escape Channel, the Cooking Channel, and the Asian Food Channel. As a content creator, he also creates original content, including delicious recipes and grilling tips, on his YouTube channel.

Basile and his partner, Kyla Zanardi, are the bestselling authors of two cookbooks: Street Food Diaries and Brunch Life. He has also contributed to both HuffPost and Vice as a food writer and is a regular guest on programs such as Global Morning and Breakfast Television. In 2015, Basile was nominated for a coveted Canadian Screen Award for Best Host of a Canadian Reality Series.

Disrupting The Food Industry

In just eight years, Chef Matt Basile went from a copywriter filled with big ideas and no motivation, to owning one of Canada’s most recognizable food truck brands; publishing two bestselling cookbooks; owning and running the successful restaurant, Lisa Marie; being a leading authority on brunch; and being the first independent food company to have a stall inside the Air Canada Centre. And he’s only just begun.

Basile’s pursuit towards always being different, plus his advertising mindset and passion for food, has allowed him to approach an industry stanched in tradition with a fresh perspective and create food experiences that people actually want.

Hear his story from the beginning — the moment he came up with the idea, the family that inspired it all, and the endless sacrifices he made to make sure his business made an impact.

The Energy Pivot: Understanding Your Big, Audacious Hairy Goal and the Most Effective Way Forward

Sometimes entrepreneurs find themselves moving forward blindly, not because they don’t care but because it’s comfortable and they just don’t have the time or energy to stop and regroup.

Despite having the company mantra of “always be different”, this is exactly where Chef Matt Basile found himself — he was a victim of monotony. He needed to stop, but this didn’t require a complete overhaul of his business strategy and execution, instead a pivot — a slight refocus on how he used his energy and where it was directed — opened up an entirely new process and business venture for him.

Basile explains how to use and apply this same process to your business strategy to end monotony, strengthen creativity and innovation, and set your organization up for success in today’s disruptive marketplace.

The Fun Food Movement

As a chef, food-trucker, two-time bestselling cookbook author, television host, and food YouTube creator, nobody loves having fun with food more than Chef Matt Basile. His approach to food is simple — it has to be different and it has to be fun.

Basile loves to engage with people about food. Booking him for a private corporate brunch event; gourmet cheeseburger battle; or food and beer, wine, or beverage pairing not only comes with an innovative menu, but also a great story.

Cooking (Virtually) with Matt Basile

As people are cooking more at home now than ever, it’s a great time to find some new excitement in the kitchen. The always-enthusiastic Matt Basile, bestselling author of Brunch Life and founder of Fidel Gastro’s, loves nothing more than to share his passion for food with others. His engaging cooking demonstrations are a fun, unique way to add some additional flavour to your virtual event.

Providing a recipe outline to his audience ahead of time, Basile leads participants through the prep and cooking process, while taking questions and sharing stories from his adventures as an acclaimed chef. The experience is like having him cook right across the table, inspiring his audience to try new things, and reminding them why good food is always important, no matter what’s going on in the world.

Celebrity Services

Matt Basile is represented by The Spotlight Agency for sponsorship, endorsements, public relations and media spokesperson campaigns, product launches, voiceovers, celebrity appearances, and more.  Please visit The Spotlight Agency for more details.