Wine Director Matthew Christoff

When you are raised in a household with a chef for a father, you develop a sense of how restaurants work. Then, upon turning 14 years of age, you learn the ins and outs first hand. It was at this young age when Matthew Christoff took employment at the West Point Officer’s Club on the United States Military Base. Working weekends and multiple after school shifts a week, he performed every job from dishwasher to prep cook to captain for special events and a la carte dining.

It was the college experience that beckoned Matthew to Westchester, where he attained employment at a small family owned restaurant in Hartsdale named Lia’s. With a chef and a manager wrought with high-end Manhattan experience, Lia’s proved to be no cakewalk. While studying English literature at Manhattanville College, he continued to sharpen his fine dining service skills and then discovered wine to be his true passion.

After two years of tenure at Lia’s and a bachelors degree in hand, Matthew opted to continue down the road of restaurant work and became a member of the opening team for BLT Steak at the Ritz-Carlton in White Plains. Again, he ran the gamut of responsibility performing jobs from captain to bartender to maître’d, then attaining the position of Assistant General Manager, all while working closely with BLT’s beverage director.

In 2010, Matthew seized the opportunity to become General Manager and Wine Director of Richard Gere’s The Farmhouse at Bedford Post, where local ingredients shine as the main ingredient. More than ever, he developed in-depth understanding of the region and what its residents are looking for in a restaurant.

In March of 2011, Matthew joined the Livanos Restaurant Group as Wine Director of Moderne Barn. Like-minded of his predecessor, Matthew continues to develop an interesting and diverse beverage program that represents winemakers producing wines that speak of the soil from which they originated. This philosophy pairs perfectly with Chef Ethan’s respect for the ingredients chosen for preparations at the Modern Barn.