matchbox is growing.

It’s been two years now since we built our original location in Washington, DC, and from January until the middle of March, (2005) we have worked some hefty hours building this second location here in Palm Springs. As a side note I can say that from a weather standpoint, this process was easy compared to matchbox , DC conditions: snow, freezing temps and propane heaters spitting fumes through our tiny 15 foot wide space. In California there was some rain early in the project, (Who said it never rains in the desert…?) but overall, the average temperature stayed in the mid ‘60’s!

As in DC, Mark acted as the General Contractor on the project. He oversaw everything from the sub-contractors, pizza oven, and hand-built the majority of the woodwork and interior features. Drew was a great second to Mark, coming in with some cool design ideas, building tables and wrangling the trades when he had to. Ted and I were allowed to pick up a power tool from time to time, but for the most part primarily focused on finishes and painting. Ted leveled and poured the resin to finish over 100 of the matchbox inset tables—about 125 gallons worth of Envirotex-and a lot of bubbles! I pretty much painted, sanded and applied polyurethane on walls and cabinets for finish work.

Like our East Coast location, we worked hard on the design of the space to make sure we could get the right kind of oven, and of course install it where we wanted it to be—in the main dining room. The inspectors scratched their heads for a while over this whole deal, until Dave the architect was finally able to convince them that we were really just putting in a big fireplace with a dome and a hood to let the smoke out. In the end, we were able to work it to conform to all of the California codes they threw at us, and still stay true to the design of our oven builder Pat Manley. Check out his work at www.mha-net.org. With the dust finally settled, we have a honey that pipes an internal temperature of over 800 degrees Fahrenheit! What it boils down to is this- quick cook times, New York thin, smoky and crispy, loaded with fresh toppings-- in a couple of words, awesome pie!

People have asked us why a matchbox in Palm Springs? It was pretty simple in that some friends of ours from DC--who own and have been doing great with The Falls Prime Steakhouse www.thefallsprimesteakhouse.com in Palm Springs and La Quinta-- called to see if we wanted to partner up on another restaurant space they had out here. It was a no-brainer for us, and once we concepted and built out the space, our buddies Greg Algie, Michael Estrada and the rest of their team took over the management end. Michael flew to Washington for a number of visits to our kitchen, and then dove right in with the menu and preparations for this space. He has really done a great job, with a few small variations from DC, but everything you see on the menu is still based on simply, yet tastefully prepared dishes. Don't forget to try the Angus beef mini-burgers, a matchbox original, and his special crispy skinned Onaga snapper! Mark Anderson from Liverpool, England also joined the team as GM. He's a great guy, and a diehard Manchester United fan, which makes for some good conversation over a pint of stout http://www.manutd.co.uk!

We really had a great time working on this new space and hope you will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed building it! Don’t forget to check us out in Washington if you get a chance. You can also see us online at www.matchboxdc.com.
Yours,
Perry

matchbox founding partners from left:
Perry Smith, Mark Neal, Drew Kim, Ty Neal