Three-time James Beard Foundation semifinalist Matt Steigerwald leaves Wilson's Orchard
Less than two weeks after Ciderhouse Restaurant opened at Wilson's Orchard's new facilities in Cumming, culinary director and executive chef Matt Steigerwald decided to part ways with the company.
“After 7 great years with Wilson’s — opening the Iowa City restaurant and now the long-awaited Des Moines property — I’ve decided to pare back a bit and put my energy elsewhere. Though I will no longer be an official part of the team at Wilson’s I look forward to supporting the entire Wilson’s Ciderhouse team, in Iowa City and Des Moines, in anyway that I can,” Steigerwald said in a statement originally reported by Wini's Food Stories.
Who is Matt Steigerwald?
The chef behind the Ciderhouse in Iowa City and Cumming opened and ran two lauded restaurants, Lincoln Cafe and Lincoln Winebar, in Mount Vernon. He opened the Lincoln Cafe in 2001 after his wife Dr. Michelle Mouton accepted a job teaching English at Cornell College and bought the neighboring Lincoln Wine Bar in 2006.
Steigerwald sold both locations, according to a 2018 article from the Iowa City Press-Citizen naming him someone to watch. Rachel Sauter bought Lincoln Cafe in 2014 and converted into Palisades Cafe. That same year, he sold Lincoln Wine Bar to long-time employee Jesse Sauerbrei, who still serves the Neapolitan-style pizzas that made the restaurant famous.
The James Beard Foundation recognized Steigerwald with a Best Chef Midwest nomination three times — in 2008, 2011 and 2015.
At the time of the article, Steigerwald had just joined Rapid Creek Cidery to run the restaurant that opened at Wilson's Orchard in Iowa City in early 2017. The 10,000-square-foot barn-like cidery features a full-service restaurant, the Ciderhouse, with a bar that offers Wilson's Orchard hard cider and a special events space for wedding receptions, business events and more.
More: 'Cacophony of colors': what to expect as Wilson's Orchard opens in Cumming
Steigerwald was born in Cincinnati, but grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and worked in restaurants beginning in high school and while he studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Early in his career he trained with Southern chef Ben Barker at his now-closed Magnolia Grill in Durham, North Carolina. Barker won a James Beard Foundation award in 2000 for Best Chef Southeast, and his wife, Karen Barker, was named the nation's top pastry chef by the James Beard Foundation three years later.
Steigerwald later went on to work as a chef at Vertigo in downtown Raleigh and Helen’s in Richmond, Virginia.
Wilson's Orchard opened April 10 in Cumming, southwest of Des Moines, with a second orchard and a restaurant and event center in the state's first agrihood, a 900-acre development called Middlebrook. The $800 million mixed residential, retail and commercial project is centered on farming, with the orchard joining a giant community garden.
More: A comprehensive guide to finding James Beard Foundation-nominated chefs, restaurants in Iowa
What's next for Wilson's Orchard?
Chef Lenny Trapane will continue to lead the kitchen in Des Moines. Trapane worked at Cobble Hill from Carrie and Andy Schumacher, himself a James Beard Foundation semifinalist, and the now closed Rodina from Chloe and Samuel Charles, another JBF semifinalist, in Cedar Rapids. Trapane helped Big Grove open its Solon location. He joined the staff in Iowa City before moving to Grimes this year to open Ciderhouse at Wilson's Orchard.
This past weekend, the new location in Cumming saw 6,500 people walk through the doors and served 1,200, Jacob Goering, general manager of Wilson's Orchard, told the Des Moines Register.
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Wilson’s Orchard executive chef Matt Steigerwald leaves company
