By Matthew Parkins
Born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia, I was the ripe age of 10 when I moved to Pennsylvania first and then Ohio with my family before returning to the Mountain State. At a young age, I had a beautiful daughter, Haley Marie, and dropped out of high school. I immediately pursued my GED and began work in the culinary field, a choice that has led me to where I am today.
My first job in the food industry was at the local country club as a line cook. I remember the first week I worked there, the chef, who was a down-home country cook, pulled me aside and said, “Son, you really have a future in this field. You should stick with it. Just try to move every couple of years to get as much experience and knowledge as you can.” So that is what I’ve done.
I moved to Pittsburgh in the early 90s where I began working in an upscale café while I attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. After realizing this school was not the path for me, I returned to West Virginia and the country club again, but this time I worked under a new chef. He taught me how to just make things work and how to handle the constant stresses of a high-volume restaurant.
I then decided to return to Pittsburgh and attend the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts while working in a variety of different food service establishments and doing just as my first chef had told me to do—gaining as much experience as possible.
I eventually settled down with a chef named Dan Crocker in a hospital management company. He showed me how to manage, multi-task and, above all, how to treat each customer as your only customer. Individual attention to detail, time management and culinary knowledge became my achievements. I was promoted to head chef of the culinary program for the hospital management company and handled all of the upscale dinners for executives, doctors and functions.
In 2002, I returned to Huntington to be near my daughter and began looking for work. I worked a couple of different jobs before finding Savannah’s, but since 2002, it’s been my home away from home. Savannah’s has given me the opportunity to showcase my skills as well as become a part of an independent restaurant family. My bosses and many co-workers are all people I consider my lifelong friends and family.
