Former Acadia Sous Chef Launching Popups

Don't be surprised to hear about some vegetable-based popups sprouting up in the next couple months from a former Acadia sous chef. Steve Matkovich, a veteran of the Napa Valley, New York, Miami, and Chicago food scenes is launching a speakeasy-style popup restaurant called TurnUp (a play on words between popup and turnip), hitting the scene in early June. Expect to see it in various locales across the Chicagoland area.

A Chicago native, Matkovich studied at the National Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York, falling in love with fine dining after staging at the French Laundry before working in Napa Valley and learning about California fresh produce market and stripped-down style of "letting your ingredients speak for you." Matkovich says he's bringing both of these together in the popups, saying the food will be similar to Vie but "not as rustic" and "not as refined" as Acadia, where he was a sous chef for over a year before leaving less than two weeks ago.

The locations will move around, focusing primarily in the South Loop in the beginning. He says it will appear in restaurants, event spaces, parks, and other outdoor settings in the city and suburbs. A website, Twitter, and Facebook pages will be coming soon. Look for the events soon after.