Cathryn Matthes

Living a Delisheee Life

Yo! Did you know we have a Certified Executive Chef with more than 40 years of healthy cooking experience living right here in the Lowocuntry? I am so excited to introduce you to Cathryn Matthes, a.k.a. Chef C, whose personality is as bright and colorful as her yummy culinary masterpieces and her eccentric little frozen yo yo yogurt shop, DelisheeeYo. As I walked into DelisheeeYo for the first time, I was immediately struck with the vibrant beauty of fresh and carefully hand-cut fruits and veggies, laid out in a display that was as appealing to the eyes and nose as it most certainly is to the taste buds. My eyes grazed over some of the menu favorites: smootheees [sic] such as the Turbo Ten which combines frozen yogurt with ten super fruits, a garden grown lemon grass, ginger and local honey sweetened hot tea, a Big Salad with an abundant selection of organic, house-grown and vegan toppings, complete with homemade Fred's Apple Cider Vinaigrette, and the Happy Rap, a medley of avocado, carrots, beets, salad greens, and house sprouts wrapped into a whole wheat flour tortilla (plus you have to add a dab of the house-made hummus). After taking in the tiny magic of this colorful little shop-next-door, I just had to know more about the chef who could make eating healthy so much fun! As a child, Chef C struggled with obesity, which made her so insecure that she dropped out of school, and at age 18, took a job in a vegetarian restaurant. "The people I worked with were so happy, healthy, alive and energetic because of how they ate, and I decided then that I would always cook healthy, and I always have," recalled Chef C. From this teenage job sprouted a blooming culinary career, including receiving her culinary training at a Michelin five-star restaurant in Arizona, teaching struggling addicts to replace their addictions with healthy, nourishing food at an addictions treatment center in Tucson, Arizona, and moving to Hilton Head in 1999 to become the executive chef at the Hilton Head Health Institute, where she taught cooking classes, had her own TV show, and received numerous nationwide recognition for her work. As I listened in awe at all of her accomplishments, I couldn't help but giggle as she summed it up with, "Google me. I'm not a celebrity, but I've definitely done a lot!" So how does such a celebrated chef end up owning her own frozen yogurt shop? "Three years ago, I decided I wanted to own my own business, because it was something I had never done before. I wanted something low-key that would appeal to children as well as adults. I wanted a spot where I could have a presence to serve the local community and myself. At the time there weren't any real healthy shops in the area, and for too long, I wanted somebody to do something about that, and that somebody ended up being me." One of the slogans of DelisheeeYo is "Eat, Elate, Elevate" (hence the triple "E" at the end of Delisheee), which encompasses the power of eating to nourish your body, rather than eating for pleasure. Chef C is a strong believer of being discriminating about the quality of food we choose to provide our bodies with. "Maybe it is clichÈ, but we are what we eat. Food nourishes us physically, emotionally and spiritually. When you eat live foods, you become a live person. So many diseases can be managed through proper eating: cancer, diabetes, heart health etc., if people would just make the decision to change their lifestyles." Because of her beliefs in the power of food, Chef C also takes the opportunity to talk with her customers about their backgrounds and their lives, to truly help counsel them in what foods will benefit their specific lifestyles. She serves as a health coach both through her interactions with customers and her online blog, where she shares delicious recipes and tips with followers. "I hope we continue to see this trend of cleaner, more natural eating grow. It is really exciting to see us healing ourselves as a nation. I've been promoting health since the 70s, and I used to be met with resistance from many customers and chefs for my culinary choices, but recently there has been a big shift, and people are becoming more conscious of preventative eating for nutrition rather than weight loss ... I am not a vegetarian, and I do eat at Five Guys every once and a while, but I have made the decision to focus on quality of food, and that is what being healthy is about." Chef C promotes a mission that is heartfelt, and inspirational: "To bring great tasting, super-quality, health-promoting, consciously sourced, and lovingly prepared food to our community, and to serve joyfully, with extraordinary hospitality and gratitude, in a clean, vibrant and artful environment. To build our business with the smallest footprint possible, by buying locally, recycling and composting what we can ." It is people like Chef C that will change the world, one Delisheee meal at a time! UP CLOSE Awards and Recognitions: recognized as one of the Top Ten Spa Chefs in the Southeast (Southern Living Magazine 2002), honored twice by Spa Finders Magazine (2001-2002), featured in The New York Daily News and The Atlanta Sports Journal, hosted her own televised cooking program (WHH, Hilton Head), has been a guest chef on NBC's "The Caroline Rhea Show" (2003), published two recipe collections, and has been a contributing writer for Coastal Sport and Wellness and Zen Asheville magazines. Favorite food: Highly seasoned food, such as Indian food Other hobbies: Yoga, music, walking, riding bikes and travel Other funky DelisheeeYo slogans: "For adults and discriminating children"; "Save the Earth, it's the only planet with frozen yogurt" Follow Chef C's Blog: http://chefc.tv/blog/