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Matt

“Food and dining have always been a major part of my life. I want to give my guests a menu to celebrate over.” -Matt Eversman, Chef/Partner OON Chicago

A Chicago area native, Matt Eversman comes from a long line of cooks beginning with his Great-Grandmother. Naturally, food and dining was an important part of his childhood. His family could always be found stove-side or spending hours in the dining room, enjoying good food and conversation. Even while is high school and later attending Iowa State University Matt thoroughly enjoyed restaurant and sports bar cooking jobs, like Wallaby’s in Ames, Iowa. He just really enjoyed being in the kitchen and cooking.

Once Matt realized a career in Aerospace Engineering wasn’t exactly his life’s calling, he returned to Chicago and attended The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago where he was part of the Le Cordon Bleu Program. During his time at Le Cordon Bleu, he worked a six-month externship at legendary Charlie Trotter’s. After graduating culinary school in 2008, Eversman held a variety of positions, including Executive Chef for an International Documentary Association event at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. After two years at May Street Market, Matt was contacted by the Saigon Sisters where he became opening Executive Chef and introduced his signature Innovative Vietnamese cooking style.

From early Fall 2010 through late Spring 2011, when he won TimeOut Chicago’s “Breakout Chef of the Year 2011” Award, Matt was the focus of intense food media scrutiny. During this time, he consistently received high praise from Chicago food reviewers, writers and broadcasters, including Penny Pollack (Dining Editor, Dish, Chicago Magazine’s Weekly e-Newsletter) Phil Vettel (Restaurant Reviewer for The Chicago Tribune and contributor to The Stew) Steve Dolinsky (Host, ABC7’s Hungry Hound), Michael Nagrant (Restaurant Reviewer for The Chicago Sun-Times, CS, Newcity and Publisher, Hungry Magazine) and David Tamarkin (Dining Editor, TimeOut Chicago). Several of Matt’s dishes were featured In the May 2011 issue of the highly regarded Food Arts Magazine. In March 2013, Matt was named by the Zagat Survey as one of their “30 Under 30: Chicago’s Hottest Up-and-Comers of 2013”.

Since May 2011, Matt has focused all of his creative energies on developing OON Chicago.