Baltimore man featured on Food Network’s ‘Chef Boot Camp’

BALTIMORE — A Baltimore man was featured on the Food Network on Thursday.

It was a part of the program’s show called “Chef Boot Camp.” 

Matt Edelstein stepped in to help Max’s Taphouse in Fells Point during the pandemic. Like many restaurants, it was struggling because of COVID-19, losing its entire kitchen staff. 

Edelstein, whose in-laws own the restaurant, helped revamped their entire menu. However, he has no culinary background as he is a psychologist who runs a clinic at Kennedy Krieger. 

Last year, the Food Network wanted to showcase a restaurant hit hard by the pandemic and chose Max’s to feature. 

Edelstein became the perfect choice to appear on the program’s show called “Chef Boot Camp.” 

“The angle was this guy who isn’t a chef is jumping in to help during COVID,” he said. 

The show shot scenes at the restaurant in September of 2021. Edelstein was also flown to New York where he went through the boot camp. 

A professional chef tested his skills, had him make food and even taste tested one of his best dishes.

Edelstein said it was a very cool experience. 

He also said it’s great to get this kind of exposure for the restaurant after its struggles because of the pandemic. 

“Now to have people here sitting at the bar with no masks on, to have a kitchen staff, to have a TV network kind of featuring the bar, it’s an unreal 180 from two years ago when literally this whole floor was just boxes of to go containers trying to get a couple dollars selling what inventory they had,” Edelstein said.

The show aired at 10 p.m. Thursday and the restaurant held a watch party to celebrate.