Living in Singapore four years has impacted Matt Hutsonís approach to life. As the owner of Mattís Wings in Falcon, his experience in Singapore also has influenced the food he cooks.Hutson went to high school in Singapore but was born in Minnesota and spent the majority of his childhood in Denver.ìMy father was in telecommunications,î he said. ìHe was doing contracting work which was why we went to Singapore. We moved all the time, and my brother and I said when we grew up, we were going to move somewhere and stay there.îHutson was just entering high school when the family moved to Singapore. ìThe school was designed for expatriates, for their kids to go to an American school and then come back and go to an American college,î he said. ìIt was an American curriculum, and we had a Burger King, Subway and Pizza Hut in our cafeteria.îDespite the Americanized school system, Hutson said there is a big difference in education overseas. ìYou really see the difference in the lack of reality in academia in American education after being overseas,î he said. ìIt’s so far from what I believe is the actual real world. People think it’s bad here, and it’s nothing compared to what I’ve seen and where I’ve been.îHutson’s high school provided travel opportunities for the students to study in different parts of the world. He decided to go to Nepal, which led him on a trek to the base camp of Mount Everest. The trip was also a rescue mission of sorts, he said. ìWe raised a whole bunch of money so we could basically buy kids out of child labor so they could go to school instead of work,î Hutson said. ìWe had security guards with briefcases of money, and they would hand them over to the warehouse guys. School buses would come and pick up the kids.îWhile in Singapore, Hutson learned about creative cooking. ìFood is cool, and there are a lot of things you can do with it that aren’t normal,î he said. ìI learned a lot about the food over there. It’s a very different way you eat. It’s a melting pot of foods. You’ve got Malaysian, Chinese and Indian all meshed together.îAfter graduating from high school, Hutson came back to the states and attended Colorado University in Boulder. After graduating with a degree in architecture in 2003, Hutson worked a variety of jobs. ìI did everything from managing a gas station to being a firefighter,î he said. He said he ìbounced aroundî to figure out what he wanted to pursue. ìI spent a lot of time working at the Walrus in Boulder as a bouncer … then I worked in a Brazilian grill after that.îThe experience at the Brazilian grill fostered Hutson’s passion for food, he said. ìI’ve always been a food person, and I’ve always loved to cook,î he said. ìAt Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’m the one that cooks. They let me experiment but there are some things they’ve come to expect. Sometimes I’ll make multiples of something like two turkeys.îHutson ended up in Florida working as a finance manager at a Harley Davidson dealership. He married Kristle and they had their first born, son Michael. He and his wife eventually decided to move to Colorado to be near his brother and sister-in-law.In Colorado, Hutson took a job with Qwest. ìIt was a lot of paperwork,î he said. ìI was putting policy in place to make sure that people’s personal information was protected. I left Qwest because I couldn’t take it anymore. It just wasn’t for me.îWith no job options, Hutson and his wife decided to buy a restaurant. ìIt was a chicken wings sports bar kind of place when we bought it,î he said. ìIt has since evolved into Matt’s Wings. We have seafood, sandwiches, burgers and, of course, pizza. I don’t want to do just wings. I want to continue to shift to more and more handmade, homemade stuff.îHutson’s passion for food has driven him to experiment with recipes. He draws on his experiences in Singpore and elsewhere to create interesting and unique foods, he said. ìIt’s usually some form of me doing trial and error,î Hutson said. ìI like taking a recipe and changing it, adding something or subtracting something. For instance, I have a sauce for my wings that’s called Singapore Sauce. It’s a replica of a sauce from a guy I met over there who was a big football fan. He was a Chinese man who made wings, and this is my attempt to re-create that.îThe small-town feel in Falcon is appealing to Hutson, especially with two young boys. The ability to help the economy in the area where he lives is also important. ìTo me, supporting locals is really important,î Hutson said. ìI use Bristol Brewing from Colorado Springs. They’re the only microbrew I have on draft. I use Leopold Brothers top shelf liquors out of Denver.îMatt’s Wings, although fairly new, is making a name for itself, Hutson said. The restaurant is earning a reputation for good food and a family-oriented atmosphere, he said. ìI have young kids so family is what I’m about,î Hutson said. ìI want my business to reflect where I am in my life.ìPeople are starting to know us, and it’s really exciting. This seems to fit for now, and I enjoy it.î
