Southern Cuisine Turns Sophisticated at The New South Cafe
By Leigh Donovan
(SAVANNAH, GA) One Chef in town is cooking up southern in a whole new way. Master Chef Matt Cohen, owner of Savannah’s The New South Café, does not fit the stereotype of the common southern cook. While Matt is rooted in the South, he is not bound by it. Offering a young and fresh perspective on old southern favorites, Matt prides himself in breaking the stigma commonly placed on southern style food. “Who says southern food can’t be sophisticated?” Matt said. “I am taking traditional southern food and giving it back in a clean, updated way.”
Chef Matt grew up cooking. According to Matt, it was bred in his bones. When he was just five years old Matt played Chef, cooking breakfast and serving coffee for his grandfather on his weekend visits. At the end of the meal Matt would drop a check on the table and his grandfather would pay, with a tip.
Matt never forgot the way it felt to cook for his grandfather. Like most kids, as Matt grew up he became involved in all of the usual activities. Yet even when his life took the twists and turns of the average school boy--including becoming a star high school football player at Country Day in Savannah, and going on to play college football at The University of Georgia in Athens-- his passion for food was still calling. Deep down Matt knew he would become a Chef some day.
“After getting my head beat in more times than I care to remember, I decided that being a college football player was not the life for me,” Matt said. With his father’s blessing, he quit his life as a college football player, electing to drop out of college to pursue his long-time dream.
Matt worked at a number of the upscale Buckhead Life Group Restaurants in Atlanta, including Buckhead Diner and the Atlanta Fish Market, training with some very well-known chefs including Chef Pano Karatassos of Pano’s & Paul’s. He learned the trade from the bottom up and eventually decided to pursue formal training.
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Matt trained at one of the top rated culinary schools in the world and went on to work for French Master Chef Maxime Ribera of the famed Maxime’s in New York, in a variety restaurants throughout the city. He then went on to attend Florida International University, one of the top three hospitality universities in the country, to learn the business side of the industry.
A fifth generation Savannah native, Matt’s inspiration was always to open his own restaurant in the historic south. He moved back to Savannah in 2000, working at The Pirates’ House and 45 South to get back into the swing of the Savannah restaurant scene. In 2003 he launched his own upscale catering business called Professional Chef Services, servicing Georgia, South Carolina and Florida.
Matt was joined by friend and fellow CIA graduate, Chef Scott Gordon. Chef Scott and Chef Matt became fast friends at the Culinary Institute of America and shared a dream of one day opening their own upscale dining establishment.
Chef Scott worked in Florida for many years with the world famous Chef Norman Van Aken, founder of the visionary way of cooking known as “New World Cuisine.” He brought that unique influence to Savannah with him and in 2006 Chef Scott and Chef Matt opened The New South Café. The original flair and amazing talent that these two chefs bring to the table is evident in their delicious and beautiful cuisine, making The New South Café one of the most popular eateries in the city.
Chefs Matt and Scott match your appetite for a new culinary experience with your hunger for the authentic food of the south. “We prepare fabulous southern food, but not what you will find on any other menu in the city,” Chef Scott said.
As Executive Chef, Scott creates the menu, prepares the cuisine and executes the masterful plate presentation. He takes great pride in this, describing his dishes as art on a plate. The new world influence that Scott brings includes living off the local land here in Savannah and incorporating the popular flavors of both Latin food and Asian cuisine, while also maintaining the integrity of southern style food. The fusion creates quite an experience for the taste buds.
With menu items such as Hush Puppy Crusted Fried Catfish Fingers, served up with sweet onion fritters and squash casserole or Cumin Crusted Salmon, seared and paired with sweet potato hash and an orange sour cream reduction, Chefs Matt and Scott demonstrate that traditional southern cuisine can in fact be gourmet.
Both Matt and Scott are passionate guys who have turned raw talent into ripe culinary careers. Chef Scott subscribes to the philosophy of positive thinking. “If you can see it, it can be done,” he says. Chef Matt comes from a southern Jewish family where food has always offered a reason to gather and a catalyst for conversation. “From a selfish angle, it makes me feel good to see people happy and enjoying themselves,” Matt said. “I enjoy cooking the food that causes certain feelings to wash over them and calls to mind the places and the people they love.”
Located just minutes from historic downtown on Skidaway Road, The New South Café is open Tuesday through Saturday serving lunch from 11a.m. – 3p.m. and dinner from 5p.m. – 9p.m. For more information on The New South Café and their 2007 Cooking for Charity Campaign visit their website at
www.thenewsouthcafe.com or call 912-233-7558.
