Chef Evan combines nearly 20 years of knowledge, experience and creativity into a playful form of culinary activism, as captivating to the senses as it is nutritionally beneficial and environmentally sustainable. 

 

Graduating from the California Culinary Academy 1997, Chef Evan has traveled the world to supplement his education and expand his knowledge base. He has studied with master chefs, including Internships at K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen under Chef Paul Prudhomme in New Orleans, Miami's Chef Norman Van Aken and Newport, RI's Chef Ted Giddley.  Beyond our nation's cuisine, he has completed professional cooking courses in Thailand, India, Italy and Morocco as well as sampling food from countless cultures, countries and world‐renowned chefs. 

 

Wide‐ranging and high‐leveled, Chef Evan's professional experience has been at the forefront of many culinary niche industries. Most prominent and extensive has been his work on Chartered Mega‐Yacht, working for over a decade as a freelance Executive Chef, cooking for celebrities and billionaires on over twenty, 100'+ charter yachts. In the off seasons, he has been lead chef for Rock and Roll tours including Bob Dylan, and his musical heroes, the Dead, as well as Merle Haggard and John Mayer. Yet more challenging, he has held Executive Chef positions at luxury estates in the Bahamas and Fiji Islands, constantly being challenged by the limited local ingredients, nearly always with great success. He has experienced the fast‐paced world event‐catering, working multiple thousand-person events in the San Francisco Bay area, where he specialized in Organic, Vegetarian and celiac cooking. He has also held long term corporate positions where he over saw daily cooking for hundreds and managed annual budgets in the millions of dollars, and as such is fully HAACCP and Serve Safe certified. 

 

The final ingredient in his cuisine, Chef Evan has always challenged himself creatively, finding opportunities to hone his skills and integrate his ever‐expanding knowledge base. He has won cooking competitions at the Antigua Yacht Show in 2002 and Newport's Charter Competition in 2008. Yet more extreme, he has experience at one of the most artistic restaurants in the world. From 2005 – 2010, Chef Evan was the Executive Chef at Burning Man's "PlayaQ", the most renowned culinary performance art restaurant in the event's history. In 2007, he over saw their "Rock Star Dinner" where he led a kitchen and service staff of over 80 people in cooking a 7‐course gourmet dinner based on the theme of the 7 deadly sins. The dinner service integrated theatre, live musical performance, sculptural art and gourmet cuisine in a survivalist camping setting under extreme weather conditions, leaving his 75+ guests with a sense of wonder, disbelief and extraordinary satiation. 

 

Today Chef Evan lives with his fiancé on 12 acres in the Santa Cruz mountains. As well as cooking for clients on a regular basis, he is also the Chef for Cantine Wine Pub in Aptos, and spends his free time raising chickens, and growing the food to be prepared at your next event.