Our Team

Matthew Chasseur
Chef / Owner

I came from a family that hauls its meals from the soil, the woods, and the waters of New Hampshire.  As a young boy I can remember being at my grandparents’ house and eating stalks of rhubarb right from the garden. Standing in the kitchen, watching my Memere slicing cucumbers for supper and I can vividly remember watching my Pepere bite into a ripe tomato and seeing it burst its seeds onto his white t-shirt, only to let out a light chuckle, before continuing his story. My father often spent his autumns in the woods. In days to follow, we would get lessons on hanging and aging the animal, the process of skinning, and the complete breakdown of all the different cuts. My mother, though not much of a game consumer, prepared most of the meals in our household, simple but most importantly delicious. It was during this time, while living at home, that food became my comfort. 

I have had the opportunity to work in a broad range of restaurants since I began my exploration of cooking as a profession. In the very beginning it was Michael Timothy’s that began the blocks that would stabilize my foundation as a chef, a sense of urgency, how to use a knife, a pan, a kitchen towel, how to conduct myself in a kitchen atmosphere, and most importantly the introduction to the Service. At Michael Timothy’s I built my core of fundamentals.

During my tenure at the Culinary Institute of America, I began the undertakings into the depths of classical cooking. As a student we were taken to the roots on a global scale. A small dice was ¼ inch square, a béchamel was “a white sauce made of milk thickened with a light roux and flavored with onion”, and depouillage was to “skim the surface of a cooking liquid”. The CIA taught by the book. 

At Foliage, (aka culture shock) my first day I was introduced to the pastry team at the Mandarin Oriental in London. I would spend the next six months forming a technique that now embodies what represents my sweeter side of cooking. Once I embarked onto the classical brigade of the Foliage kitchen, I got my first look at creativity bound together with flavor. This was the first time in my career, that I would take everything I had been taught and forced to utilize it.

September 25,2007 the day precision, refinement, efficiency, tenacity, and push entered my life. Alinea polished my craft. Each day was spent taking a raw ingredient and pursuing countless ways to achieve the perfect balance of taste, texture, appeal, and shape, while never misleading from the integrity of its original form. Grant Achatz pushed me to chase my imagination.

Over the past 4 years I have been able to stop and truly look at all aspects of not only cooking but running a business. This is the first time during my culinary career that the numbers have become just as important as the food and service. The food, beverage and team can all be flawless, but without a sound financial operation, nothing is possible. This has been a huge part of my time at The High Lonesome Ranch, one that has broadened my perception of an entire business. 

All of these places served not only as restaurants or institutions, but also as libraries of endless knowledge. It’s been a beautiful ride of culture, history, and surprise. 

When I was in New York, I lavished on the bounty of the Hudson Valley. I can remember crossing route 9 in front of the CIA, jumping into the sprouting hillsides, pulling handfuls of ramps from the earth, and peering up the south-facing hillsides catching the first glimpse of blonde morels. This sparked my interest to seek out the firsts of the farmer’s markets. Large white asparagus peered from the street carts that lined the markets in Munich, the smell of ripe strawberries flowed through the streets of Paris, and my affection for English Peas was discovered while walking through Borough Market. It was in London that I was introduced to the complexity of cheese. Once a week, a Frenchman would arrive at the Foliage and take two chefs to his truck, which was lined with shelves and nests of hay that held his collection. The markets in the Midwest swallowed me; the spring garlic that always arrived first, followed by the berries, by the tomatoes, into the stone fruits and finished with cider and tart apples from Seedling Farm. 

With every corner I turned, I found something new, something fresh, and something beautiful. It was a respect for the ingredients, a respect for their importance, and a respect for those who would nourish them along the way.

I have been lucky to meet some amazing and inspirational people along the way. My Family always provides guidance and security, but also space to continually explore. My relationship with Michael Buckley is one of mentorship; he has always gone to great lengths to express the reasoning’s and makings of not only a good chef, but also a good person, and a good friend. Ted Richter, the farmer from Illinois that instilled the importance of good food; fresh food! Grant Achatz, the chef that pushed me down a road of constant drive, to continue to redefine what’s already defined. Dan Peretta and Justin Albertson, friends that are more like what I imagine fellow racecar drivers to be if we raced NASCAR instead of cooking. My best friend and my lifelong companion Ashley Fees Chasseur, without her constant pool of knowledge, questioning and support I would not be able to assemble the thoughts in my head. These are the people that ignite the drive that I fuel upon to be inspired. 

Ashley Fees Chasseur
GM / Owner

Growing up in a small town in Iowa, I was fortunate to be raised by two of the most supportive and loving parents. They always taught me to live my life and to not allow other people to create my path. With their support I packed up my belongings and moved to Chicago on a whim. I left a career at The Des Moines Art Center (which I loved), to travel to a new city where I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have any financial savings but I did have a crazy vision of making it in the big city. While in Chicago I found myself working at a job I hated, in a field I had no interest in, when I found the ad for a hostess at Alinea Restaurant. I had only heard of Alinea and had the cookbook, but never thought I was experienced enough to actually work there; so, I applied, I interviewed, I staged, I accepted a position and I never looked back. From hostess at Alinea to Assistant General Manager at Next, I continued to professionally grow and mature. From spending my days working with an entirely new concept, restaurant ‘tickets’, to learning how to properly manage reservations and the ‘flow’ of service (thank you JoeCat!) to doing in-depth research on our guest list, I continued to gain knowledge, poise and leadership skills from some of the best in the business. 

While working at Alinea I spied the most handsome devil I had ever seen. His name, Matthew Chasseur. I was smitten. We secretly started to get to know each other, but that secret did not last long. I was invited to take a trip to the Cayman Islands with he and Chef Achatz, and we had our honeymoon before we ever made our relationship official. Everything Matt and I have done in our relationship has been backwards, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Matt is the true inspiration in my life. He pushes me to reach boundaries I never could have even imagined. He helps open the door and I go running through to create my own path.

Upon our arrival in Colorado, I was fortunate to continue my growth at The High Lonesome Ranch where I was entrusted with running the front of house for the food and beverage team. I was able to truly manage a team, conduct tasting menu services based upon my knowledge and have the support from an amazing group of individuals. When I decided to take on a new adventure in Grand Junction as the General Manager of Tacoparty, I had no idea how truly blessed I would be to work with a team that would help me advance to the position of being able to take on opening my own restaurant. Josh Niernberg and the entire staff at Tacoparty guided me through many learning curves and trusted me to manage the team and operations. I gained knowledge of the business side of owning and running a restaurant; how to dive into numbers and dissect P&L reports; how to work with vendors and properly price items based on cost and labor, but most importantly, how to build a team. For this, I am grateful.

What I am the most grateful for is being the mother of the 2 craziest, sweetest, orneriest, smartest, most beautiful baby girls with another addition on the way. Our little family is my life. It is for them that I work as hard as I can. I promised them when I found out I was to be a mother that I would do everything in my power to give them every possibility to grow to be strong women. If I can lead by example, then I will. Without Matt and the girls, I would not be pushed to my full potential, which allows me to be the best mom I can be.

Audrianna Rocco
Junior Sous Chef

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