In honor of Matt Kubarski, (1927-2021)
We knew Matt as a gracious, kind, always smiling guest who was an incredible appreciator of soups—he was @Soupman1927 on Instagram and won our AW40S competition every year. Meaning, he tasted EVERY SINGLE WORLD SOUP. Even when one of our soups didn’t suit his fancy (like the tripe-laden Philadelphia Pepper Pot, for instance, not a big crowd pleaser), he was gracious and polite, saying “Well, I’m not sure I’ll try that one again.” Once, he brought in a quart of his own Polish Cabbage Soup for our manager Avery to try (so we’ve put it on the calendar for November 22!). His daughter told me that “soups were part of his identity” and a “really big deal in our family.”  Soups were Matt’s passion, and he seemed to understand that they weren’t just about eating, but about tradition, story, family, change, love.

You can read Matt’s full obituary here, He had an incredible life that began in Bachowice, Poland, in 1927 and ended in Santa Fe in 2021.  He spent his later years in Steamboat Springs and Santa Fe, to be closer to his three children, which is how we came to meet him.