A native of Bloomfield, Connecticut, chef Matt Griffin has cooked in Nantucket, Lake Tahoe, and Las Vegas, where he served as chef de cuisine at Rick Moonen's RM Seafood. After staging in Italy, France, and elsewhere around the globe, Griffin eventually landed back in New York City at Le Bernardin in 2009. He was inducted into the Happy Cooking family in 2011 while cooking at Jeffrey’s Grocery and has been an integral part of the group ever since, having served as executive chef of bar Sardine, Fedora, and now in his latest role as executive chef/partner at the new Freehand Hotel in Gramercy.