Matt Chappell

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Matt Chappell owns and operates Gather Restaurant,

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

a neighborhood eatery in the heart of Yarmouth's Village.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As a proud native Mainer, Chapel has intentionally pursued ways to make Maine the focus of his restaurant. Thanks for coming in today.

Matt Chappell:

You're welcome. Glad to be here.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And thank you also for all the food that you have served me and my family over. How long have you been in business now?

Matt Chappell:

We're in our sixth year.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's kind of crazy to think about.

Matt Chappell:

Yeah, yeah. And I do see your face regularly. It's nice to see every week.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's right. I think that during this winter's snowstorms we've even been maybe sometimes only ones there. There are not that many other people around us, which kind of goes to the point that you guys have really made this a gathering place in all sorts of weather.

Matt Chappell:

Yes, well, that was sort of the idea five, six years ago. I had been in Yarmouth for probably 15 years at that point and had been to a number of establishments, all good ones. But I felt like Yarmouth was ready for something a little bit different, a little more neighborhoody food that was main based food. We didn't have that in town at the time. Portland certainly had their share of it, but Yarmouth did not at the time. And the space was just calling for being a gathering place, a gathering spot. It had a history of this old Masonic hall, had a history of being a community space. And I've heard all the stories. Every. Every month someone comes in and says, I remember when. And it's all the way from dance recitals to the candy shop that used to be there. The voting that happened back in probably, I think, the 50s or 60s, it was a place to vote. So I haven't heard much history of the Masons that. That. That's perhaps a little more secretive, but all the other things that have happened. It's a really cherished community space. So now it's a restaurant and it gets activity all day long.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also have a son who works there with you? Yes, senior in high school.

Matt Chappell:

Yeah, his name is Silas, and he's been there probably about two of the five years as a. A busser. And now he serves once in a while, but also still buses. Helps out in the kitchen. He seems to be drawn to the. The kitchen more and more these days, but I think he likes the environment, the energy. A lot of. A lot of young kids do. It's, I think, oftentimes their first job, and they're surprised that work can be fun.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So do you think that that's something that we. We put out there in this world, that work is work? Work is something that shouldn't be enjoyable. That this is. You're allowed to, like, go to school up to a certain point, but then you need to get a job and you need to work, and it's supposed to be difficult for the rest of your life.

Matt Chappell:

I'm not sure about that. But I do know that creating a work environment that people enjoy being at, it was not a mistake. And I have heard people comment about other places they've been that have not been enjoyable. And either they arrive at gather or they've been there long enough to realize that what we're trying to create is an upbeat and positive environment, especially in the kitchen. You know, I've worked in a number of kitchens over my lifetime that often are run by grumpy chefs that like to bark at everybody. And I avoided those people as best I could and didn't enjoy working for them myself. So I assume other people didn't either. So I think what we're doing, and I'll paraphrase what my chef has used as a term, we're creating a work family. That's how he refers to it. He used that term the other day And I thought it was a really interesting term. I hadn't thought about it that way. But that's what we have, you know, extended work, family, which is, it's good.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And it's also important, especially in your space because it's an open kitchen. So if the people are sitting down below in the restaurant and they're looking up above, they're going to see whether it's happy or sad or angry people who are preparing the food that they're

Matt Chappell:

going to be eating that. And if your server is going to get barked at in the kitchen, they're going to carry that all the way to your table and that's going to influence the experience that you have as a customer. So there are all kinds of reasons to create a more positive work environment.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I haven't noticed a lot of turnover at your restaurant. There are many of the same people who are working there and seem happy to be working there for, I don't know, almost since the beginning.

Matt Chappell:

I do have some originals. I have four that still work for me out of, you know, I think I have 20, 22 employees at any given time. So yes, there are some people that have been there since the beginning and some have left and come back. So that's encouraging. Some have met and, or met their spouses and gotten married and had babies and so that's kind of exciting. And although I don't, I make it a rule not to employ husbands and wives or spouses and girlfriends or boyfriends. It's not a, not a good, good choice. The relationship falls apart. I still need both of them.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, I think that's probably, that's probably fair. I would also think that especially as people's families mature, it could be that it would be hard to have people working in an evening shift if you end up with small children, for example.

Matt Chappell:

Yeah, well, restaurant businesses, except for the kitchen, it's often a part time gig. You know, a lot of the people I employ on the floor servers are, they have other pursuits in life and that's what makes it interesting. I've got woodworkers, I've got people that make leather bags. As for a living, I've got photographers. Let's see, there is always an interesting story that's coming through the door from an employee, but that's just how you have to make it work. It's, it's a supplemental income. It's, it's not a career there. They have other pursuits.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Do you think that more people are getting into the food service industry and staying in it longer?

Matt Chappell:

Actually in the kitchen, we're finding the opposite, that there are fewer people getting into the culinary arts, and it's harder and harder to find the staff that you need. And a lot of that is driven by the fact that there are so many restaurants and hotels competing for a small pool of staff that it's just harder and harder. So back to my point about creating a positive environment, that that is one way that we retain people. It's not just through salary and benefits and pay and all that. It's, do I want to work here? Do I want to get up and come to work every day? Is this something I'm looking forward to, or am I dreading it? And we've all been there, right?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes. I think anybody who's been anytime in the. In the workforce probably has been there.

Matt Chappell:

Right, right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've also made a conscious effort to create a space that is welcoming for families with small children.

Matt Chappell:

Yes, right. Which was really just like the restaurant, driven out of my own personal interest and need. I have two boys and remember going out to restaurants with them and wanted to. And the places that were welcoming, I wanted to go back to. And the ones that sort of gave you the sneer you typically didn't go back to. And it's challenging. You don't want to create too much of a romper room scene for the other people that don't have kids. So we've created a little corner that has a table with books and coloring and quiet toys. Nothing loud that makes noises. And young parents like to come and sit at the tables nearby and they can have a conversation amongst themselves while the little ones play. Sometimes it can be too much and you never know what that's going to look like. You don't often know who's walking through the door, but typically it's manageable, very manageable. And I probably get more comments about that, that we've created a space for them to feel welcome. Not just tolerated, but welcome and comfortable as much as the food and the service.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

When I am there, I often notice the parent, grandparent, child dynamic. And I think that's nice that you are bringing in small, extended families and they can all kind of find their. Their spot.

Matt Chappell:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And enjoy an experience at a restaurant.

Matt Chappell:

Right. And you'll notice that there are no TVs on the wall either. And obviously people are going to bring in their own devices and use them if they want. But I find if you put TVs on the wall, it's just an instant draw to your eyes and all of a sudden you're not paying attention to the people you've come out to eat with.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I'm actually a fan of that. I know that people who maybe are following sports very closely would have some

Matt Chappell:

want the game on the wall.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, but I think that's true. And it's not, not just paying attention to the people that you're with, but also the food that you're eating.

Matt Chappell:

Yeah, right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Which we're not always as good at perhaps as we might be.

Matt Chappell:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It tends to become, for some people, just a means to an end.

Matt Chappell:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm hungry. Put food in.

Matt Chappell:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm not hungry anymore.

Matt Chappell:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

But you're very careful, from what I can see, to provide some food that's appealing, it's comforting, but it's also creative, it's local. There are a lot of different things people get out of your menu. I think.

Matt Chappell:

Yeah. It is a mix to appeal to a broad audience. I mean, you made the point earlier. It could be the five year old grandmother and mother, mom at the table. And they all have different palates and interests and what's on the menu for them. And we do our best to have enough, but not too much. You know, I don't want a big 5 page menu. I don't think customers do either. Overwhelmed with choice, but you have to have enough there to satisfy people. And we've been, I think, successful at balancing the things that you mentioned. Comforting food, but also creative and tasty. And one thing I'm seeing lately a lot more of is an interest in non meat dishes. And I say non meat instead of vegetarian or vegan because it's typically people that aren't either one of those. They're not vegetarians or vegans. They're just people who've said, I don't want to have meat three meals a day or even seven days a week. I want to take a break from that on any given day. So we've been working on coming up with dishes that are non meat, dishes that are creative and different and fun. You know, I would say, and it would admit when we first open, we just did the typical pasta. We're going to satisfy the vegetarians with that dish and that'll be fine. And we'll move on to all these other fun dishes. But now we're really thinking through what are some non meat. Whether it's the lentil falafel that we do or the tofu golden bowl is flavored with nutritional yeast or brewer's yeast. So I'm fortunate to have a great chef, Colin Kelly, who's a meat eater himself, but has come around and realized that you can do some really fun, interesting things with a vegetarian dish. And we're working on more of that right now because the demand is just. It's growing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I appreciate that as somebody who eats fish, a pescatarian, there are often more options available for me, but still not as many as if I eat lamb and duck and beef and all the other options that people who do eat meat have. So when I go to your restaurant and you have, like a warm kale salad with falafel, which is something that I will sometimes get, or you'll have really nicely done Brussels sprouts, it's good because it doesn't feel as if it's kind of the poor cousin to. To the meat dishes. I mean, I just. As much as somebody who likes a hamburger, I like to have things that are flavorful and filling and nutritious. And I think it's nice that we have gotten to this place in our food culture where this is happening.

Matt Chappell:

Right? Yeah. It's not just about omission. You're not just removing the meat and saying, well, that's a dish now. That's vegetarian. You're going into it saying, all right, what are things we can use to make a really flavorful vegetarian dish? So it's. It's fun, it's new, exciting challenge that, of course, we've been at it for a little while now, but you have to keep it fresh.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Tell me about trying to stay with local purveyors of foods during the winter.

Matt Chappell:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How does that. How does that work?

Matt Chappell:

Well, you'd be surprised, actually. So our commitment is to do is to spend at least two thirds of our dollars on food based in the area. Not just when we can or when the season lends itself to it, but two thirds. We really, right from the very beginning, stake in the ground. All right, this is what we're going to go after, and we're going to measure every month and maintain it. And so obviously, some of the biggest things are your protein. So, you know, pork, beef, fish, all those things are available year round. And we work with local farms and harbor fish to source those things. So that's. That's a big part of that nut, if you will, and available year round. But on the produce side, you'd be surprised at how effective farmers are at storing vegetables. I'm still getting really good carrots from or. We just got our last delivery from Merry Meaning Farm in Bowdoin Ham. And David is very, very Good at storing those kinds of vegetables so that they are perfectly good in November and then the same in February. So there are those examples. There are also a lot of people that are growing things, as you've probably heard in hoop houses or, you know, there are greens that are available. Trying to think, lots of root vegetables coming down. We have a farmer from the county who makes deliveries weekly. So, you know, potatoes and turnips come from down there. So, you know, of course you're, you're more limited in the winter and what you can do, but there's a lot more than you. You would think in the wintertime.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes. I think I've been eating a lot of really delicious beets.

Matt Chappell:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Lately in restaurants like yours and yours that are interested in doing local foods.

Matt Chappell:

Yeah. Yeah. People love beets. Yeah. Which is funny because they store well.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yep. And it's. They're very nutritious. And it's funny because probably 7 years ago beets weren't as popular and Brussels sprouts weren't as popular. So we're seeing foods that our grandmothers used to grow.

Matt Chappell:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Maybe our mothers.

Matt Chappell:

I don't think parsnips, things that parsnips celery root. There's, there's quite a bit and sometimes those are intimidating vegetables. When you're in the supermarket. What am I going to do with it? That. So in the commercial kitchen, we just are able to do more with it with the devices that we have, the equipment. Whether that's, you know, high, high powered blenders or there's just more that you can do with it. And of course, more time put into it than I'm going to the grocery store to make dinner.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How about your community table? It seems like that was a very intentional choice because it's a long table.

Matt Chappell:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

There are a lot of people. I've seen things, I've seen it in different sort of kind of delineations where sometimes there will be a big group of people that are meeting, sometimes it'll be a little party, sometimes it'll be one group at one end, one group at the other. Why did you decide to do that?

Matt Chappell:

Well, similar to the intentional choice to not have tv, I was looking to encourage face to face interaction. And sometimes that was between people that hadn't met before they even arrived at the restaurant. Now, we don't sit people shoulder to shoulder, force you to, you know, have a conversation with your. The people next to you. So we give you plenty of room. But if you decide to have a conversation, it's available to you. And it's also a very versatile table because I can have a big group of 20 or I can have, you know, three groups of four. But I'm not moving tables around. I'm just moving chairs around. So it's also a nice feature as you walk into the restaurant, and it says something about who we are. And I can't move it, though. It's so big that I can't really move it, which makes it challenging sometimes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is. You've been doing this particular thing in your life, you said six years.

Matt Chappell:

Yes. The. The restaurant.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

But you've been in this industry since you were 14?

Matt Chappell:

Well, I was. I was. I started in as a dishwasher in. In Kennebunk at age 14 and stayed with the restaurant gig for, let's see, probably 15 years. So until in my late 20s, I think 29. And at that time, I was interested in starting a family. And I didn't think it was the best job to be trying to do that, because you're working nights, you're working, and I was in the kitchen. That was where I wasn't in the front of the house. I was in the kitchen. So I chose to get out at that point. But my interest and passion for food and all that never left. So coming back to it felt very natural. And I was at a different place in my family makeup, where I felt like doing it was, you know, something I could pull off, and it's proved to work pretty well.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What are some of the things that you've noticed in your evolution from dishwasher to kitchen to front of the house and owner?

Matt Chappell:

Well, you know, obviously in those early years, I was an employee working for somebody else in only one side of the business. I think back then, I really enjoyed working for people that were teachers, chefs that were. Wanted to pass on their knowledge, and I really liked that. I learned a lot things that I still use today. I still work in the kitchen at Gather, prepping during the day, and it keeps me close to the food and the people that are in the kitchen. And I just. I like being around food, so. But as an owner, you really had to see more than just what was happening in the kitchen. And that that was challenging. I think that that part of the evolution, you know, understanding what was happening on the floor and the flow of customers and the impact on the kitchen, all those things were relatively new and important to understand. But I had enough experience on the customer side of things, just understanding customer needs, that it wasn't too far for me to. To understand you know, what people needed walking in the door. So

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

is this something that you hope that your own children will continue? Is this something that you see as a family business?

Matt Chappell:

No, no, I don't. I mean if, if they choose to ever get into the food business, I, I would encourage them to pursue whatever they, whatever they enjoyed, things that get them excited. And if that happens to be restaurants and food, then sure. But I, I did not start this to create a family business to pass on or anything like that. And that wasn't how I was brought up either. So I, that wasn't unfamiliar. You know, go out and try, try different things, find out what excites you and, and then go from there.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Talk to me about the importance of music in your restaurant.

Matt Chappell:

Well, let's see. So you know, main being the focus of the restaurant, whether it's the food or the vendors, the art that's on the wall. It seemed logical to plug myself into the music community. I'm not a musician but I like music and I plug myself into the, the very local music scene in the Yarmouth or area around Yarmouth seemed like a natural fit. And I just think atmosphere wise, live music, as long as it's done right, as long as, you know, it's an atmosphere thing where you can still have a conversation with the people you came to eat with, it really just elevates the whole experience for me. And I'll tell you, even for the staff, they love to work on nights when we have live music because it's just a different feel, it's a different energy. There's like a flow to how they're moving around the floor and how they're feeling and hard to describe, I guess, but music is hard to describe.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've noticed sometimes that when we're there and I think it's usually Wednesday nights that you have music.

Matt Chappell:

Yes, although. So we always have, we have a bluegrass brunch on Sunday. So we always have bluegrass live bluegrass music on Sundays. And then once a month on Wednesday nights we feature an acoustic act. Sometimes that's one person, sometimes it's two or three playing together and that's from six to eight.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And I've noticed that when you do have the musicians in, it's very, the small children seem very engaged.

Matt Chappell:

Oh yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

They seem to like to go up and watch them be right there and right. And sometimes they're dancing. I'm kind of looking around the restaurant and some of the people are humming along, some of the people are singing along. So it's, it's kind of interesting. That you've elevated the sensory experience of eating. And it's not just background music. It's not just like something that people aren't hearing. It's absolutely.

Matt Chappell:

Yeah, it's somewhere in between. It's not in your face, but it's not. It's not elevator background music. Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Which is nice because sometimes it feels as if all the. All of our interactions are screen based. So it's something that's sort of out there somewhere. Right. Represented on something in front of us versus if you're there and there are musicians, there are people who are. Who are doing things while you're paying attention.

Matt Chappell:

Right, Right. Yeah. It's a nice add on, a nice feature. Whether it's Sunday morning or Wednesday evenings. I particularly like the feel of the Sunday bluegrass. It's just a really upbeat sound and it's. It's the same. A variation of the same group that plays every week and sounds great.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How have you noticed the Yarmouth food scene changing since you've been there?

Matt Chappell:

Well, I think we've seen more options come into town. A lot more on the sort of pub bar realm, which I think people have wanted, you know, a place to go in the evening instead of traveling to Portland. So I think what's nice is we're starting to, in a small way, get a little bit of a reputation as a place that's got multiple choices and not just one or two, but enough critical mass where people could say, you know, let's say they live in Pownall or Brunswick, hey, let's go to Yarmouth. As opposed to a specific place, there are just enough choices where they can pick something on the way or try something new the next time. I think it's been really nice to see the mix that's occurring and I think it will continue. I think there's a lot of interest and people are willing to go out.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've also seen over the last few years that there's more activity in the winter than ever before, whereas a lot of times we would shut down and there weren't a lot of people going out. It seems like it's more consistent that people. And they're going out on Wednesdays.

Matt Chappell:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That more and more people are using restaurants as almost a living space versus a special occasion space.

Matt Chappell:

Right? Yes. And perhaps they don't want to cook. Perhaps they want to meet up with a friend. Whatever it is, their reasons vary. But you're right. Week to week, a Tuesday, a Saturday, there's people that want to go out.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I appreciate your cooking for. For me for my family on the nights that I don't want to cook and even the nights that I wouldn't mind cooking, but I just want to go to a nice place with my friends and family. I've been speaking with Matt Chappell, who owns and operates Gather Restaurant, a neighborhood eatery in the heart of Yarmouth's Village. Thanks so much for coming in today and I will see you back at Gather very soon.

Matt Chappell:

Excellent. Thanks for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

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Dr. Lisa Belisle:

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Dr. Lisa Belisle:

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