BY MARY WICOFF
DANVILLE — He might be a top chef in Chicago, but don’t expect to find Jared Van Camp in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day.
“Most of the last 10 years or so, I’ve had to work on Thanksgiving in various restaurants,” Van Camp said. “I’m going to enjoy not working this year.”
The former Danville resident has earned the right to take it easy this holiday.
Time Out Chicago named him one of the city’s top 12 chefs in a recent edition. The magazine noted his eye for detail and his commitment to using local ingredients.
The article says: “ … these cutting-edge epicureans are changing the way you eat, drink and think about food.”
Van Camp is executive chef at Old Town Social at 455 W. North Ave., which serves gourmet food in a bar-like setting. The restaurant is known for making its own charcuterie (salted, smoked and cured meats).
“I was flattered,” he said of being named a top chef. “It was quite an honor.”
His parents, Jack and Kathy Van Camp of Danville, agree.
“We’re pretty proud of him,” Jack said. “He paid his dues. He started low and worked his way up.”
One year, Jared used his grandmother’s dressing recipe when he was working at a Wheeling restaurant, Jack said, adding, “I was pretty tickled about that. He used to help his grandmother prepare Thanksgiving dinner.”
Jack also has been gardening since Jared was little, and grew heirloom tomatoes. He saves the seeds from his Irish tomatoes, and they result in a good meaty product, he said.
That commitment to homegrown produce — with his father gardening and his mother canning —influenced the younger Van Camp later when became a chef.
After graduating from Danville High School in 1996, he went to the University of Illinois for a couple of years, studying painting and sculpting. When he realized he couldn’t make a living that way, he enrolled in Johnson & Wales University in South Carolina. He graduated from its College of Culinary Arts in 2000.
“It seemed to click,” he said of cooking. “And I’ve been doing it ever since.”
He recalls getting excited about a professor talking about heirloom tomatoes, and he called his dad to rave about them. But the elder Van Camp responded, “Jared, I’ve been growing my own tomatoes since before you were born,” he recalled with a laugh.
Although he goes to farmers’ markets, Van Camp said, “None of them compare to my dad’s tomatoes.”
Van Camp goes to the markets twice a week, saying, “I go the extra mile to get fresh produce.”
That refers to livestock, too.
He said in Time Out Chicago: “We have the best pigs in the country in our own backyard. Why would I pay someone from the West Coast to buy our pigs and turn them into sausage? I’m doing it myself.”
Van Camp said the restaurant uses everything from the pig: the belly for bacon, the head for cheese, and the feet, which are smoked and cooked with Tarbais beans from France.
No other restaurant in Chicago makes its own sausage and salami, he said, as well as four kinds of bacon.
The Time Out Chicago article about Old Town Social — which opened in late August — certainly helped business, he said, and now Van Camp is busier than ever. He’s also helping to open a restaurant in San Diego called Quality Social. He’ll fly back and forth to help with that.
Van Camp said he’s rarely home long enough to cook. He and his girlfriend, who’s also in the food industry, prefer to eat out.
Van Camp also credits DHS assistant football coach Frank Luzenske with teaching him the importance of teamwork and working with different types of people.
“The lessons he’s taught are far greater than football,” said Van Camp, who was an inside line backer on the team. “He’s quite a treasure to the Danville area.”
ON THE WEB
To see a menu: http://www.oldtownsocial.com
To read about Van Camp: http://chicago.timeout.com. Type Jared Van Camp’s name in the search box, and then choose “articles and blogs.”
