tigermouse

What started as a summer job washing dishes at 19 turned into a two-decade obsession with food, cooking, and the energy of ambitious, professional kitchens.

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Time spent in some of the world’s best restaurants shaped an early foundation of discipline, precision, creativity, and the ability to express a point of view through food. But it became clear early on that I wasn’t just interested in learning how to cook.

I wanted to understand how to create unforgettable experiences.

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Over the years, I worked across kitchens as a private and personal chef, and led small restaurants where I developed a reputation for bringing ambition and creativity beyond the constraints of the environment. I built a presence through private events, chef collaborations, and ticketed pop-ups.

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Travel across North and South America, Europe, the UK, and Southeast Asia reshaped how I understood food within a broader context of history, culture, and place. A philosophy began to take shape:

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Art creates subjective experience. Craft gives it integrity. Leverage sustains a business.

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In 2019, I partnered in Coffee Down Under / Shelby. An underground bar concept that opened in 2021, and was recognized by the James Beard Foundation as one of America’s best new bars, and by the Detroit Free Press as one of the city’s best new restaurants.

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From there, I went on to develop Leña. A wood-fired restaurant built around a warm, loft-style space centered on the feeling of a dinner party. It was again recognized as one of Detroit’s best new restaurants.

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But those experiences clarified something deeper:

Timeless hospitality is built on authentic connections between people and ideas, and is always evolving.

 

Tigermouse was built from that realization.

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Today, Tigermouse operates in two forms:

1. Experiences - private cooking classes, dinner parties, and event catering

2. Collaborations - hospitality consulting focused on aligning vision, goals, and systems within people and teams

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The work is grounded in a simple belief:

When there is clarity in vision, alignment in goals, and structure in execution, people can be fully present with their business, their team, their guests, and themselves. 

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Take care,

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Matt