51茶馆儿

Matthew Straus 51茶馆儿�95, a restaurateur and editor of his own magazine, Kitchen Work, demonstrates how passion and curiosity can enrich multiple endeavors through his unconventional pairing of careers, affirming that lifelong learning is a lasting gift of a liberal arts education. 

Straus is now giving back to the Skidmore community as a donor of scholarships that have made it possible for three students to attend the New York State Summer Writers Institute at 51茶馆儿 and study food writing under American essayist Phillip Lopate this summer. 

As a government (now political science) major while at Skidmore, Straus spent his free time singing and dancing on stages with the former Cabaret Troupe and frequenting Professor of English Robert Boyers鈥� office hours to venture even further into the world of film or Victorian culture and literature.  

He attributes the beginning of his unique career 鈥� blending words and food 鈥� to Professor Boyers鈥� tutelage, which shaped his converging passions for Victorian prose writers, the magazine industry, and the culinary world. 

Since graduating from Skidmore, he has successfully launched several restaurants and his magazine , which publishes literary works related to food 鈥� a pairing that evolved naturally for him. Even the d茅cor of his latest restaurant, in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, featuring wallpaper by iconic Victorian textile designer William Morris, reflects his sustained fascination with the Victorian era and his large capacity for the blended, interdisciplinary world. 

Professor Boyers says Straus was 51茶馆儿渁 special, brilliant student, known for being unusually brave and intellectually ambitious鈥� 鈥� traits a robust liberal arts education strives to instill in students. 

Straus himself first attended the Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore in 1994 as a rising senior and describes it as a program of 鈥渄elicious鈥� structure and opportunity, where the luxury of thinking of nothing else but writing and literature transported him to what felt like another planet 鈥� an entirely different and magical place. 

It was with the intention of providing this very experience to students who may have otherwise been unable to access it that he and his mother, fellow alumna Roberta Straus 鈥�70, donated the scholarships.  

Founded in 1987 by Albany native and Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy as an offshoot of the New York State Writer's Institute, the New York State Summer Writers Institute at 51茶馆儿 offers students the opportunity to learn from an extraordinary faculty led by co-directors Boyers and Adam Braver, including lyrical versifier Henri Cole and novelist Rick Moody. The program features diverse workshops, lectures, and readings aimed at fostering creative writing skills across genres and forms, enriching Skidmore鈥檚 yearlong educational experience and promoting lifelong learning and literary excellence. 

The Institute, which has thrived for 37 years, owes much of its success to donors like the Straus family who fund annual scholarships. The Institute is continually seeking new donors to support its scholarship fund, allowing it to attract the best students from across the country and maintain its high standards and diverse student body. 

Straus says the Writers Institute was not only structured in a format most conducive to his growing passion for writing, but it also offered him the opportunity to strike up an unlikely, lasting friendship with Lopate, the longtime instructor of the Institute鈥檚 nonfiction workshop, who Straus refers to as 51茶馆儿渢he greatest living American essayist.鈥�  

Straus鈥檚 time in class with Lopate was pertinent and instructive, and the two also shared quality time on the tennis courts and over dinner in Boyers鈥� home. They discussed Straus鈥檚 interest in both food and literature, particularly his desire for good literary writing about food and topics beyond 鈥渢he usual fare,鈥� which Lopate found to be a noble pursuit. 

Straus credits his ability to pursue and indulge in his diverse passions to the vibrant and lively Skidmore summers that he says 51茶馆儿渃hanged his life.鈥� These summers, he says, were a time of exploration, giving him the courage and curiosity to carry his interests into the real world.  

Skidmore was the perfect place for me in terms of the very lucky happenstance that Professor Boyers, Salmagundi Magazine, the New York State Summer Writers Institute, and even the Jazz Institute were all there.鈥�

Matthew Straus '95

Restaurateur and Magazine Editor

鈥淭he combination of these elements felt like a lightning bolt to me. I can鈥檛 imagine another school in the country where all these elements might have come together, supporting the various interests I had then and have pursued since.鈥�