Matt Haley, James Beard Humanitarian: The Rest of the Story

[jayandstacey]

A story worth reading.   Sometimes you just never know. 

[jayandstacey]

And now the sad news that Matt died due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident while on a humanitarian trip in India.  The post above was from only a month ago, now this...

I was fortunate enough to work with Matt for a brief period at a little bar called "Flaps" in downtown DC.  Per the article linked in the post above, this was probably just after he stopped drinking back in the 80s.  He was a bar tender that drank club soda and stayed rational while the rest of us got irrational.  We weren't close - but we were on the same team.

The articles and eulogies will point to all the good he's done - for people who enjoyed his food, for suppliers, for employees and for the others he touched.  And if the articles are true, he certainly lived more in his 53 years than I'd hope to live in another 200.

Matt used to always request this song, and I'd always play it for him (I was DJ'ing).   So...one last time... "For Matt behind the bar...tip him as hard as he's working for you... this is Hipsway's "Honeythief"

RIP Matt.  Well done.

[jayandstacey]

Here's a tribute video someone made - he had over 1000 employees during peak season, he had a program where teachers that worked for him during the summer would get support for buying school supplies, he supported efforts in other areas of the world... really neat guy.

[squidsdc]

Thanks for posting about Matt. I've seen quite a lot of articles on the web about him-he was an amazing individual.  We ate at his restaurant Catch 54 on Fenwick Island a few years ago and were quite impressed with the service, food and view!  We were surprised that we had never heard it mentioned prior to eating there. But I do recall googling about the restaurant and owner and I was amazed by his life path and what he had accomplished.