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[title]Jared Van Camp, 31
Executive chef, Old Town Social
Those chefs you see at the farmers’ markets? Most are taking their larder back to upscale restaurants and turning Green Acres lettuces, Kinnikinnick tomatoes and Heritage Farm’s pork into $30 entrées. Van Camp brings local food into an informal bar setting, creates plates that average $10, and maintains an eye for detail, which means chips are fried in goose fat, three Midwestern cheeses drown the mac, duck replaces chicken for the bar classic wings, and charcuterie—from pistachio-flecked mortadella to smoky pepperone—is made in-house. As Van Camp explains it, “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.” 455 W North Ave, 312-266-2277.