His apartment in Chelsea opens up to a courtyard, and he socializes at trendy New York nightspots.

His Albany loft is an impeccably designed den he shares with his two black Labrador retrievers. He moves fast. Trying to keep up with him is exhausting if not impossible. Walking, driving, speaking, or thinkinghe seems to be capable of operating only in one gear, and its the fifth. He played three varsity sports in high school: soccer and golf, and swim team as a competitive diver. He continued to dive through college and describes the sport as mental because it causes you to push yourself individually. He mastered a front threeand-a-half off of the high board, but was stopped by a trick called the inward on the low board. He says, I feel like I failed, the inward won. Readers of his blog have no doubt noticed the proliferation of iPhone pics he has posted of himself getting pulled over by police officers while driving. In my defense, they are not all speeding tickets, he says. My mom made me promise to stop posting those pictures. AUMGARTNER IS EXTREMely close with his family, and these relationships undoubtedly have played a major influence in his life. My fathers side of the family was very blue-collar, he says. They were very rural. He worked on a farm growing up. My moms side of the family was Italian, and they had a little bit more of a creative side. There werent a lot of entrepreneurs in my family, but there was a lot of emphasis on work ethic. My dad would wake us up on Saturday mornings so we could pile wood. While Baumgartner, along with his two brothers, picked up characteristics and influences from both their mother and father, it was an incident involving their father that reshaped Baumgartners adult life in a way that would affect him forever. In 2000, after a period of marital differences, Baumgartners father committed suicide. He was already separated from Baumgartners mother, and she and the three boys were notified of the tragedy while they were on a family vacation. I was angry, recalls Baumgartner. I drank heavily and avoided it for a year or so, stewing in my own kind of emotion. He recounts this period in his life frankly, almost robotically. I worried about [my sons], says Baumgartners mother, Rosanne MacPhail. Its hard when youve gone through your whole adult life and then this terrible thing happens. I wondered, Would they be able to have happy lives? MacPhail became a suicide cofacilitator for 8 years, helping others overcome the intense and unique grief that the families of suicides feel. Through this work, she also found her own wounds healing. You can be victims or survivorswe all chose to be survivors, she

says of herself and her sons. Baumgartner got through that first year of crippling emotions, and found a new inspiration for life. I realized I had to get out from under the negative feelings, he says. I decided I didnt want to have regrets or feel stuck. I didnt want to get old and regret not taking chancesto the point where now I probably take on too much. From that point on, Baumgartner went full throttle. Before his fathers death he had only owned Bombers in Albany. Afterwards, he initiated a series of projects and launched one almost every year. He also decided to come out as a gay man. My mom came to visit in Albany around 2001, he remembers. She took me to lunch and said that she needed to tell me something. She said, I started dating someone, his name is Pete. I told her that I just wanted her to be happy. Then I said, I have something to tell you. I am dating someone and his name is Steve. Baumgartners mom was accepting of his news, and he used this straightforward approach with his brothers as well. We were in Hawaii and this waitress was hitting on me, he says. I didnt take her number, and my brothers were like, What is wrong with you? I said, Im gayfine! Baumgartner cannot recall his family ever using hate speech or any slurs against minorities. He found this same acceptance from his friends as well. There is not a single friendship that I have lost because of my coming out, he says.

business that youre not good at. Im not good at doing a schedule and Im not good at doing the bills. Were good business partners, says Demetra Vann, one of his current partners in Wolffs, Old English, and Sciortinos, which is set to open soon in the old Miss Albany Diner. Were all good at something. Matt has the visions. He can see things sometimes before we can see them. One of those visions was the revamping of Noche, which the group had sold but then regained ownership of after the contract failed. Originally a high-end bar, Noche tried to capitalize on the seemingly robust economy of the mid-2000s. We took our beautifully designed Noche and tore it down. We had leather booths, red lanterns, beautiful glasses, and $200 bottle service, recalls Vann. We put up picnic tables and told people they could throw peanuts on the floor. I didnt see the whole vision, I definitely wasnt on board. Now Wolffs is my baby, you can

people wouldnt expect. When he is in his element, in one of his restaurants, he appears to be the most self-assured person in the room. Im confident in what Im good at, if you asked me to help you set up a restaurant I would do that with complete confidence, he says. But outside of those safety zones he struggles. Im not good at public speaking, he says. I have debilitating anxiety about it. If you were to say, Im having a birthday party, could you just come and give a toast at the birthday party? I would say no. If you asked me to be the best man at a wedding I would say no because I wouldnt give a speech. Beaumont, his former business partner, recalls, It is the worst. We both spoke at Union around five years ago, he was trembling. It was noticeable where people might wonder, Whats wrong with that guy? Which may be good for the local political machine, since Baumgartner says its this fear that keeps him from delving too far into local politics. He is currently on

I decided I didnt want to have regrets or feel stuck. I didnt want to get old and regret not taking chancesto the point where now I probably take on too much.
eat and do everything you want for $20. Howes and Baum represents the latent fashion desires of both Baumgartner and his business partner, Craig Howes. They met at a party in Miami and two years later decided to launch a clothing company together. Like many of the businesses that Baumgartner has started, this one came together with a bit of sheer determination, some collaboration, and a lot of learning on the fly. He spent about a year researching the industry, and found his designer on Craigslist. [Howes and I] went to Starbucks and met with like 20 designers, 19 of which were crazy, crazy creepy people, says Baumgartner. One guy, Bradley, was the best out of all of them. Hes around 40 [years old] and comes with a lot of experience. Hes a great resource and he came with a lot of contacts, which is really helpful. Baumgartner is looking forward to expanding the line and its presence in different markets. But, even though hes got the showroom, the designer, the merchandise, and the vendors, he still has a hard time owning this new passion. Its a little uncomfortable saying with confidence that Im in fashion because I truly dont come with any experience outside of being a customer and an observer, he says. But I think like with anything, you sort of gain confidence. I didnt consider myself a chef or someone that had experience in the restaurant business, but now I can say with confidence that Im in the restaurant business. His insecurity is something that most the Democratic committee for the 4th Ward in Albany, and has always followed politics. When Sen. Roy McDonald voted for the Marriage Equality Act in 2011, Baumgartner rented a huge billboard thanking him. He is very intelligent and knows politics very well, says Mark Longstreth, a friend of Baumgartners for the past four years. He is fair-minded and has a vision for Albany. Hed be great on a local level because he really cares. Does he have mayoral aspirations? I would be lying if I said that it doesnt cross my mind, Baumgartner says. Coming from someone who told their mother at 12 years of age that he wanted to be an entrepreneur, and ended up being right it just may be in his cards. So why should this new fashion venture work out for the guy known mostly as a successful restaurateur? While nothing is certain, it seems as though Baumgartner has been dealt a pretty good hand so far. Theres his somewhat infamous lucky streak (he once won a hand of poker that paid out $20,000 to help start his first business), and he just seems to defy the rules that the rest of us are bound by. He may know how to hold em, fold em, or when to walk away, but hes just not satisfied yet. I feel like because I had such a great childhoodmy family, and my friends were so amazing its difficult to feel like an adult that I can ever be happier than I was then, says Baumgartner. It still feels lacking, so I just stay busy.

HESE DAYS, BAUMGARTNER is sitting on what many might consider an empire (by Albany standards). He is definitely living a life that many people would envy, but few would be able to maintain. When Baumgartner used to run a new project by his mom, she was hesitant. MacPhail recalls, I used to ask, Matt, are you sure? I dont anymore, hes learned from things that didnt work. While Baumgartners current businesses are successful and he employs over 200 people, not all of his ideas have worked out. He doesnt consider the restaurant Noche to be a success, nor would he repeat the weekly magazine. I was in over my head, it was too ambitious of a business idea, says Baumgartner. You learn your lesson in everything. When the clothing line was starting I thought a lot about that paper. This time, I surrounded myself with tons of people who were experienced in this field. Its a business model that has served him well. I have an accountant and shes amazing, shes like my guardian angel, Baumgartner says. Over the years Ive learned that you should allow people who you trust to take over the aspects of

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