Toronto restaurant surprises its chef with a congratulatory billboard

A Toronto restaurant knew that a big surprise was needed for morale right now, so they took out a billboard to congratulate their chef on his latest cookbook.

Matty Matheson, the tatted Toronto chef behind Maker Pizza, the famous Parts & Labour burger (R.I.P.) and Matty’s Patty’s Burger Club, recently released his own comfort food cookbook, Home Style Cookery, in tandem with a YouTube series of the same name. Recipes from the book include Cincinnati Chili, chocolate chip cookies and short rib queso.

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A post shared by MATTY MATHESON (@mattymatheson)

Matheson posted a photo of the billboard, which is located near Queen and Spadina, with the brief thanks “@makerpizza I LOVE YOU! YALL DUMMYS FOR DOING THIS!”

The billboard reads, “Maker Pizza would like to congratulate Matty on the success of Home Style Cookery.” The whole team kept it a secret for weeks, and there’s another billboard up at Avenue and Lawrence. Maker’s has locations around these two areas.

“Honestly, it’s just brotherly love. Matty is genuinely such a good person who does so many amazing things for people on the low,” Maker Pizza founder Shlomo Buchler told blogTO. “This is a super small token of our appreciation for Matty. We could not be happier for him.”

Matheson’s previous self-titled cookbook enjoyed a great reception as a New York Times best seller, and Home Style Cookery was recommended by cookbook authors in New York Magazine as a 2020 cookbook to give, and was listed as one of the best cookbooks of 2020 by Esquire, among other accolades.

Wondering what all the hype is about? Hit up your local bookstore to see if they’re selling Home Style Cookery and try out some recipes for yourself.