A self-taught chef, native Californian Matt Horn experimented with Central Texas barbecue for years before opening his first restaurant, Horn Barbecue, in 2020 in Oakland, California, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Horn Barbecue won a 2021 Michelin Bib Gourmand, and was nominated for the 2022 James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant. In 2022, Horn opened Kowbird, a soul-infused fried chicken joint, also in Oakland. Beyond that, Horn will open Matty’s Old Fashioned in 2023, and he continues to run the Horn Initiative, an Oakland-based nonprofit dedicated to food equity and social justice.