Leadership Team

Our leadership team endeavors to create memorable dining experiences in the idyllic settling of Breckenridge, Colorado. This team of seasoned restaurant professionals is focused on ingredient & technique driven cuisine, a curated beverage program centered on craft cocktails, notable wines, and non-alcoholic offerings, and an attentive service style rooted in hospitality. We are intentional in creating a restaurant that values our employees, our community, and guests from around the world.

MATT VAWTER

James Beard Award-winning Chef Matt Vawter was raised in Summit County, Colorado, where his first exposure to the culinary arts occurred as an underclassman at Summit High School. Before his senior year, Vawter was invited to the Colorado Mountain College Culinary Apprenticeship Program in Keystone. After completing the program at CMC while fulfilling coursework for high school graduation, he was encouraged by mentors to explore beyond Summit County and gain experience in the burgeoning Denver restaurant scene. In 2007 Vawter joined the culinary team at Fruition restaurant under Chef Alex Seidel. Seidel and Vawter proved powerful collaborators, leading Fruition to nationwide prominence, and then, in 2014 opening Mercantile Dining & Provision at Union Station.

During Vawter’s time at Fruition and Mercantile, he developed his cooking style and honed his culinary ethos with a focus on intentional sourcing. Vawter has maintained a commitment to local purveyors, to utilize the best ingredients available, and to nurture relationships with Colorado’s farmers, ranchers, and artisans. The challenges of seasonality with the elevated mountain environment have expanded relationships nationwide with a network of small, independent partners. Rootstalk has dedicated its efforts to using techniques to highlight these ingredients in a sustainable manner.

Amidst the collective successes of Mercantile and Fruition, Vawter was drawn to return to his mountain roots and to raise his children at home in Summit County. In December of 2020 he opened Rootstalk in Breckenridge intending to provide an approachable, technique-focused, ingredient-driven dining experience to the local community. Rootstalk was designed to feel like coming home, evoking Vawter’s own nostalgic return to the place that he loves dearly. With a steadfast commitment to fostering an environment where hospitality professionals can feel empowered and flourish amidst the backdrop of mountain living, Vawter envisions Rootstalk as more than just a dining destination—it is a place where guests are welcomed, embraced, and invited to savor exceptional food, drink, and genuine hospitality. 

Eighteen months after Rootstalk’s opening, Vawter and his partners opened Radicato in the heart of Breckenridge. Radicato celebrates the rich heritage of Italy and speaks to feeling deeply rooted in a place and the desire to embrace the energy there while also echoing Rootstalk’s commitment to intentionality and excellence on every level.

Both of Vawter’s restaurants are gathering places for the Summit County community and visitors alike, providing a welcome home to this special place and a memory in the making. 

2024 James Beard Award Winner: Best Chef Mountain

Founder and Executive Chef

  • Partner + Director of Hospitality

    Patrick Murphy was raised in Broomfield, Colorado. After graduating from Regis University in Denver he spent 10 years working in various restaurants in the metro area. He joined Matt Vawter’s team at Mercantile dining & provision in 2016. Acting as bar manager for four years Patrick refined his craft as a bartender, honed in his style of hospitality and grew as an effective leader. Patrick moved to Breckenridge in November of 2020 to help open Rootstalk as the general manager with Chef Vawter and Chef Cameron Baker. He is now the Director of Hospitality for both Rootstalk and Radicato and is a partner in both businesses. Under his leadership the service teams provide a genuine, caring, and team oriented style of service and hospitality. Patrick believes restaurants and hospitality can provide a peaceful reprieve from the stresses of daily life. Creating memorable dining experiences for his guests motivates him to continue to seek excellency for his service team and himself. 

  • Partner + Chef de Cuisine

    Cameron Baker was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, where he spent the first twelve years of his life. In 2002 he moved to Summit County. In 2006 at the age of 15 his culinary Journey began working at Food Hedz World Café under chef David Welch. After spending 6 years in David Welch’s kitchen, he left to continue his culinary education and started attending Colorado Mountain College studying culinary arts, and hospitality management under Kevin Clarke. After graduating in 2014, Cameron moved to Denver. He joined Alex Seidel and Matt Vawter’s team at Mercantile dining & provision. During the 3 ½ years at Mercantile Cameron refined his craft and worked his way up to Sous Chef. After departing Mercantile, Cameron moved to Fruition Restaurant as Sous Chef where he continued to learn and develop as a chef under the guidance of Alex Seidel. In November of 2020, Cameron returned back home to Summit county to help Matt Vawter open Rootstalk as the Chef De Cuisine. Now Cameron is the Chef De Cuisine of both Rootstalk and Radicato as well as a partner in both businesses. Being a chef is challenging. It takes perseverance and determination. He believes it’s important to create an environment where everyone is passionate, excited, and constantly pushing forward to better their craft and provide a memorable dining experience for guests.

  • Wine Director | Sommelier

    Madison Church was born and raised in Naples, FL. She began working in restaurants as a teenager and soon found a passion for great food and beverage. It wasn’t long before she fell in love with wine. ‘It’s the cross section of my favorite things; art, history, science and travel in liquid form.’ After moving to Denver, CO in 2018 she began working with Chef Matt Vawter at Mercantile Dining and Provision. With the help of many incredible Denver wine professionals she fully committed to a life of swirling, sniffing and sipping wine and became a Certified Sommelier (CMS-A) in the fall of 2019. She has travelled to Tuscany, Piedmont, Napa and more striving to connect with the people and sites that produce the some of the worlds greatest wines. Now the Wine Director at Rootstalk and Radicato she can be found pouring delicious, thoughtfully made wines with a sense of place for our guests.

  • General Manager

    Teddy Lamontagne moved up to Breckenridge in November 2020 to help open Rootstalk as the Bar Manager, and has since moved into his current role as the General Manager of Rootstalk Breckenridge. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but has spent most of his life in Denver, Colorado. He moved to the state of Colorado in 1997, where his family opened a small restaurant in Broomfield. Since then he has lived and breathed hospitality. He helped operate multiple bars in Denver during his tenure, curating thoughtful & seasonal menus and running successful programs. Day in day out, he puts his best foot forward acting as the leader for the team at Rootstalk. By creating a desirable, safe, exciting work environment, and through providing the team with endless amounts of opportunities for education and personal growth. Curating people’s memories has been something that he takes a lot of pride in. These moments are something that he describes as, “Being able to hang his hat up on.” Whether it’s when he recognizes someone walk through the door by name that he met last spring, recalling what they ate and drank, or asking about how their most recent vacation to Puerto Rico was. The restaurant is more than just a drink and a meal for him. “It’s a special place in time, surrounded by the people you choose to be, doing the things you love to do. We should be more present in these moments with our friends, and family. They are the most important.” He has worked with Matt over the last 4 years, and Patrick on and off for the last 15 years. “It was the best decision I’ve made in my life to move to Summit County and be a part of this hospitality family. More than the job, due to this magnetic effect that Matt and Paddy have, I’ve been surrounded by some of the best people and made some of the greatest friendships in my life.

  • Sous Chef

    Austin Maki spent his childhood in Woodland Park, a small mountain town in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. He began his kitchen career at fourteen and was quick to realize his passion. After working at scout camps for a number of years he was promoted to kitchen lead at Westminster High School and over saw their food service program. It was at that point that he left Denver to return to the mountains to hone his craft for three years at Colorado Mountain College. It was through this that he met Chef Vawter and joined his team as the first line cook of Rootstalk. After seeing himself and the restaurant grow and rising through the ranks he is now the Sous Chef of Rootstalk. His goal is to provide a healthy, safe, and competitive working environment to push everyone to preform at their highest level.

  • Sous Chef

    Known as 'Chef Box', Josh was born and raised in Vermont. He attended the North Eastern Culinary Institute, and after graduation, he moved to Breckenridge, Colorado for an internship. After deciding to stay in Colorado, he went to work at The Cellar, where he met Chef Matt Vawter. He then went on to run Le Petit Paris, a French restaurant in Breckenridge.

    In 2014, he moved to Denver to reunite with Chef Vawter as the Opening Sous Chef at Mercantile Dining & Provision, where he worked for three years. In February 2022, Chef Box moved back up to Breckenridge to join the kitchen team at Rootstalk.

    When he's not in the kitchen, Chef Box is hitting the mountain bike trails, snowboarding, or hanging out with his two dogs.

  • Sous Chef

    David Vizcaino, is a Colorado native from Greeley. His first aspirations professionally were in the medical field, but to help with financials he leaned towards food and beverage and would work shifts at a neighborhood restaurant. It didn’t take long to realize his passion for culinary arts. He continued down this path as a culinarian and decided to receive higher education at the Culinary Institute of Colorado Mountain College. After graduating in 2019, this new found passion has taken him places around the world and has lead to many opportunities. One of them being Fruition, of larger Denver. This is where he crossed paths with Matt Vawter and Cameron Baker and since then has been under their leadership and mentorship as a Sous Chef of Rootstalk. When he is not at the restaurant, David loves to rock climb, ski and spend as much time as possible outside or with great company.

  • Bar Lead

    Joe Zino grew up in Florida and worked every job in the front of house for the past 17 years. He started bartending about 10 years ago, and worked in the cocktail bars of Naples, Florida where he honed his craft. He learned from a wide variety of mentors from all over the sunshine state. He moved to Denver, where he connected with Chef Matt Vawter and has worked with him ever since. He jumped at the opportunity to move up to the mountains when Rootstalk opened. Joe loves to bring the sun and tropical vibes to Breckenridge through his cocktails, but also loves to take classic cocktails to the next level. “The service industry that we are in is a network of friends, family, and colleagues, there is always something to learn from someone and something to teach the next wave coming up. I’ve only really worked in restaurants, it’s what I love doing; making connections and cocktails. Come in to Rootstalk let us make you something.”