Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Popovic.
Hi Scott, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
From a Rickety Stool to Private Dining: A Chef’s Long Way Home
I grew up in North Olmsted, the son of an auto worker and a payroll specialist. A Midwest childhood. Blue-collar roots. Nothing about my beginning screamed culinary journey—yet somehow, food found me anyway.
My path to cooking has never been straight. It’s been winding, messy, joyful, painful, and deeply human. And honestly? I wouldn’t change a thing.
Before professional kitchens, before chef coats and titles, my love for food lived in a quiet place: my grandmother’s kitchen. When I was sick, she cooked. Every time. I’d wake up, drag myself into the kitchen, and sit on a rickety stool while she stirred pots and told stories. That’s where it started. That feeling of warmth, care, and connection. To this day, every kitchen I step into brings me back to that little boy on that stool.
At 14, I got my first taste of the professional world—helping my neighbor, a chef, cook for the Governor of Ohio. It sounds glamorous, and maybe it was… but my role was running food up and down stairs. I was the gopher. Still, I loved it. Even then, I felt the magic of hospitality—how food could make people happy.
My first real restaurant job didn’t go as planned. At 16, I was accused of stealing tips on my very first day as a busboy. I walked out and never returned. That moment taught me something important early on: integrity matters. Always.
Soon after, I landed in the kitchen at the Radisson in North Olmsted, where I cooked for two years before college. That’s where I met Michael Wutz—my college roommate and one of my closest friends to this day, and someone who would become a lifelong compass. Around the same time, I attended Polaris Career Center and met another guiding force: Maureen Lehman, my instructor at Polaris Career Center. She taught me fundamentals, yes—but more importantly, she pushed me to chase passion, not comfort.
That passion took me south to Charleston and Johnson & Wales University, where I worked at Magnolias under Chef Donald Barickman. Donald taught me Southern cooking, but also something deeper: don’t take yourself—or the food—too seriously. Food feels energy. It tastes its emotion. He’s still a mentor I call for advice on life, not just cooking.
Eventually, I came home to Cleveland and joined the Ritz-Carlton. I met my future wife there. I learned about excellence, relationships, and who I was becoming. The job only lasted a year, but the impact lasted far longer.
From there, I worked at Moxie under Chef Douglas Katz—without realizing he’d become one of the most important mentors of my career. Doug was the person I called when things got hard. After two years, he did something only a true mentor would do: he told me to leave and grow.
So I moved to Las Vegas.At Charlie Palmer’s Aureole, the food was flawless and the service electric—but the biggest gift was another mentor: Chef Barry Dakake. When Barry left to open N9NE at the Palms Casino, he asked me to come with him.N9NE was chaos in the best way. We were the restaurant in Las Vegas. Celebrities everywhere. Snoop Dogg. Muhammad Ali. Will Smith. Britney Spears. Shaq. Night after night. It was wild, exhausting, intoxicating—and somehow lonely. I was working 100–120 hours a week, far from family, far from home.
With guidance from Barry and Doug, I made the decision to return to Cleveland.
Back home, I took my first executive chef role at XO. I ran my own kitchen, created my own food, led my own team. Cleveland celebrities came through—LeBron James, touring musicians, TV personalities. I learned leadership the hard way. But when the direction changed, I knew it was time to move on. I reunited with Doug at Fire Food & Drink, growing again under someone who never let me settle. One day, he looked at me and said, “You need to leave. You need something else.”
That “something else” turned out to be Certified Angus Beef, where I became a corporate chef. I learned media relations, deepened my knowledge of beef, and worked alongside experts across the entire industry—from ranchers to chefs. It was eye-opening and invaluable. Still, the pull to build something of my own never went away.
I opened Vita Urbana, a small neighborhood restaurant in Cleveland’s Battery Park—before the neighborhood was ready. The community supported us, but visibility didn’t. The restaurant closed. It was my hardest lesson yet.
That’s when I called Maureen again.
With her guidance, I realized I wanted—needed—to give back. I took a position teaching special-needs students how to cook. It was challenging, humbling, and one of the most rewarding chapters of my life. Helping others grow gave me something I didn’t even know I was missing.
During that time, life hit hard. My niece battled cancer. I went through a divorce after 24 years of marriage. Later, my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I walked that road with her until the end.
Grief has a way of clarifying things.
After my mother passed, I knew I wanted something different. Something more human. More connected.
That’s when I created Evoke Private Dining.
Evoke brings me full circle—back to that little boy on a rickety stool, watching someone cook with love. Now, I step into people’s homes, cook for them, and witness joy at their tables. Evoke isn’t just food. It’s an experience. It’s a connection.
Through Evoke, I give back—working with organizations like Culinary Fights Cancer, partnering with fellow chefs like April Thompson to give back with Shoulder to Shoulder, and even popping in at Polaris and Tri-C to talk with the students. Food creates community. It always has.
My career hasn’t been linear. It’s been a long, winding journey filled with success, loss, reinvention, and growth. And through it all, food has been the constant—bringing people together, helping me heal, and allowing me to give something meaningful back.
This isn’t just my story.
It’s proof that sometimes, the longest way around is the one that brings you home.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Evoke Private Dining Isn’t Catering. It’s Connection.
Evoke Private Dining is built on a simple belief: people aren’t just hungry for food—they’re hungry for connection.
We are a collective of hospitality professionals who care deeply about how people come together. Before a menu is written or a plate is served, we start by listening. We talk. We ask questions. We look beneath the surface to understand what our clients are really celebrating, what they value, and what kind of moments they’re hoping to create.
Because we don’t just cook meals.
We design experiences rooted in humanity.
Evoke isn’t a caterer.
We aren’t just a chef or a service team.
We are facilitators of connection.
Food is simply the language we speak.
So how does that look in real life?
Recently, I worked with a client planning a 75th birthday dinner for her mother. As we talked, I asked about the people involved, their memories, their joys—the things that make the evening theirs. She mentioned her mother’s love for collecting beach glass. That detail became the heartbeat of the night.
Beach glass appeared in the centerpiece, softly anchoring the table in nostalgia. It found its way onto the dessert—a delicate sugar element designed to shimmer like pieces pulled from the shoreline. She also shared that her mother loved stargazing. So I sourced hand-crafted truffles from Sweet Designs in Lakewood, each one adorned with tiny stars, and gifted them to every guest as a parting moment—something to take home, something to remember.
None of that was on a menu.
All of it was part of the experience.
That’s what Evoke does. We listen closely enough to turn small details into lasting memories.
Yes, my career has taken me into rooms with celebrities and presidents. I’ve cooked on the biggest stages. But the truth is, those moments don’t matter nearly as much as what happens around a table filled with people who feel seen, valued, and connected.
At the end of the night, it’s never just about the food.
It’s about the laughter that lingers.
The stories that surface.
The quiet realization that, for a few hours, everyone felt truly present.
That is Evoke Private Dining.
Human connection—served thoughtfully.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Not advice—just guiding principles that have consistently steered me well: follow your passions, pursue knowledge not money, and always build connections. In the end, we are defined by the relationships we cultivate, the knowledge we carry, and the passions we choose to pursue.
Pricing:
- The Gathering- 3 courses family style meal chosen from our chef crafted menus from 100 per person plus groceries
- The Evoke – 4 course plated meal custom created with Chef from 150 per person plus groceries
- The Evoke Live – An interactive cooking demonstration with a chef crafted menu from 130 per person plus groceries
Contact Info:
- Website: https://evokeprivatedining.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evokeprivatedining/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576089947151
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/evoke-private-dining/
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@Evokeprivatedining
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/evoke-private-dining-cleveland
- Other: https://share.google/ngnh1XBGTCZLMJj2M
