After 8 years away he returned to home to Wales in 2001 to take over the former Foxhunter pub at Nantyderry. With his wife Lisa he has transformed it into a top restaurant which is winning wide acclaim. The Foxhunter has been AA Restaurant of the Year for Wales 2004; Best Newcomer in Wales - Good Food Guide 2003; and won Taste of Wales Dining Out Gold Award in 2004 and 2005.

Matt is a passionate exponent of modern British cooking, using only the best locally sourced ingredients in simple, honest recipes. In a quest to use only the most seasonal and fresh The Foxhunter menu changes daily, sometimes twice a day. He believes in 'rustic, informal cookery - not towers of spun sugar'.

Foraging is one of Matt's hobbies, something he started on long country walks with his children. He has recently started foraging classes at the Foxhunter - groups go out and collect all sorts of weird and wonderful produce such as pig nuts and then cook what they have collected in the Foxhunter kitchen. Matt often creates dishes for the Foxhunter menu that contain recently foraged produce.

Matt's career began with a diploma course in London with Leith's School of Food & Wine. Matt then completed a traineeship with Marco Pierre White, working at The Oak Room and then The Criterion. Matt later moved to the kitchens of Chez Bruce before finding his greatest inspiration at Alistair Little at Lancaster Road and Alistair Little Frith Street where he was strongly inspired by Alistair's rustic cooking and honest approach to seasonal ingredients. Working at 'Clarke's', Sally Clarke's Kensington restaurant, Matt was exposed to the art of bread making at one of the most skilled bakeries in the UK.

Matt is married to Lisa, another Monmouthshire local. A lover of fine wine and good restaurants with a background in accountancy, she manages the running of the business. They have 2 children: Jessie aged 4 and Henry, 3.