Inside the Kitchen: Seven Questions with Matt Conroy

Matt Conroy has cooked in diners, neo-bistros, and Michelin-level Mexican restaurants—but his approach remains the same: edit ruthlessly, honor tradition, and let flavor take the lead. The Pascual co-chef talks fine dining, French bucket lists, and the secret to great soup and butter.

Nevin Martell

5 Minute read

09 Jun 2025

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Credit: Werner

Matt Conroy has cooked in diners, neo-bistros, and Michelin-level Mexican restaurants—but his approach remains the same: edit ruthlessly, honor tradition, and let flavor take the lead. The Pascual co-chef talks fine dining, French bucket lists, and the secret to great soup and butter.

What Is Your Deserted Island Meal?

A perfectly cooked omelet with some chives, good salt, and black pepper.

What’s Your Most Poignant Food Memory?

When I was younger, I would go to my grandparents’ house after school. My grandfather would always make soup. There would always be bread, and he would just leave the butter out at room temperature. Spreading room temp butter on nice bread to go with a nice soup—I loved that.

What Does Fine Dining Mean to You?

Fine dining is the level and the quality of food. There’s this thought that it needs to be very stuffy feeling, but I don’t think that’s the case. It should be a restaurant where everybody who works there cares what they’re doing and is proud of the restaurant.

What Are Your Restaurant Goals or Dreams?

For Isabel and me to eventually have our own restaurant.

What’s On Your Restaurant Bucket List to Visit?

I’d love to eat at some of the classic three Michelin star restaurants in France—the old ones that have been there for a long time, and not even the ones in Paris, like Michel Bras’ Laguiole in Aveyron.

What Is Your Food/Cooking Philosophy?

What can we take off the dish? There’s a time as a young chef when the approach is to add more, more, more to show off, but then things just get lost in the mix. Less is more.

What's Your Comfort Food?

Chilaquiles. Toss together some chips and salsa, put a fried egg on it, add a little queso fresco on top, and I’m happy with that.

The Chef

Matt Conroy is a savory chef with roots in French technique and a deep love for modern Mexican cuisine. He co-leads Pascual in D.C. with his wife, Isabel Coss.

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About the author

Nevin Martell is a D.C.-area based food and travel writer, parenting essayist, recipe developer, and photographer who has been published by The Washington Post, National...

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