Industry Innovator: Matt Duffin

Duffin wears many hats: He operates both Full Thyme Farms and Friends with Benefits Supper Club, a series of farm-to-table, chef-driven, pre-fixe menus run out of a house near Tower Grove Park. From working at Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions, he’s embraced the art of whole animal butchery. He’s also honed his expertise in live fire cooking, whether at one of the more than 30 Friends with Benefits dinners he’s hosted, or the popular Homie Hospitality x Farm Spirit dinner series out at Such & Such Farm.

Although his workload is nothing short of hectic, Duffin does it because it makes him a better, more well-rounded chef. “This is how I grow this skillset and contribute to my friends and the growing hospitality industry in St. Louis,” Duffin says. “[I love] being able to go out to Such & Such and have that direct relationship with my farmers and growers and see how it’s reflected back in my day-to-day business.”

Kicking off in the summer of 2023, Duffin’s supper clubs have become one of the hottest tickets in town. He has used the venue to collaborate with a lineup of all-star local chefs like Ryan McDonald, Robert Zugmaier, Chris Bolyard, Sam Nawrocki and others. For Duffin, each dinner is meant to be an experience, and with the high cost of food, he believes people want and deserve more than just a meal. “If you’re going to go out, it should fill a few more needs than just getting you full,” he explains. “That’s why we like to do the Friends with Benefits dinners – because they’re so small and intimate. As soon as dinner is over, we spend an hour talking to guests, getting to know people, explaining to them further what we did and why.”

Duffin will keep this “value-added” approach with his new venture: The Promiscuous Pig. This year, Duffin, in partnership with his close friend Ray Carpenter, will host a series of whole-hog pop-ups featuring a variety of pork sandwiches. The series will combine Duffin’s passion for butchery, sustainability and local produce. The star of the menu will be the braised pork banh mi, with other dishes and small bites utilizing the rest of the pig. “This pop-up will test the waters,” Duffin says. “Ultimately the goal is to create a restaurant group … the sandwich shop is a way for us to build it.” But that’s not all Duffin has up his sleeve this year: “I’ve [dialed back] on all the projects I’ve been working on and took a job with Curador Labs, the cannabis company … to head up its edibles line. I’m focusing my time between that, Friends with Benefits and getting The Promiscuous Pig off the ground.”

Full Thyme Farms, fullthymefarms.com