This past Monday, Oct. 28th, Laguna Beach native Chef Evan Lewis of the new restaurant, Evan’s Gourmet, joined me at the radio station, KFM 104.7. For nearly an hour, we talked everything from …
Evan’s native roots in Laguna Beach and the roots of her recipes in her fabulous restaurant
Her ongoing, creative tenure at the Sawdust Festival
Evan’s new Thanksgiving specials for you and yours
Her group dining and catering options for the holidays and beyond.
3 important notes (in case you don’t read all the way down)
I talked Chef Evan into offering her famed Pumpkin Pie (to go) for Thanksgiving. She upped the ante, then, by offering two additional dessert options. AND THEN she decided to offer an entire Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings!
Order the entire feast or grab a la carte gourmet orders on everything available for pick up the day before Thanksgiving.
To order, call 949-388-1568 or email Chef directly: Evan@EvansGourmet.com
At the 48 minute mark, we talk about the special thing Chef Evan will be providing any of my V.I.P. (paid) subscribers at “Best of Laguna Beach.”
3. AND! When you book group dining or catering with Chef Evan, mention “Best of Laguna Beach” for a very special freebie for each of your diners. Details below!
Moments of the Show:
:55 Chef Evan’s roots in Laguna Beach, including her cookin’ beginnings as a 7-year-old and her first cooking job at the town’s famed Taco Bell.
6:20 The first important lesson the yet-to-be-chef learned from restaurateurs Mike & Toni Leech at Café Zoolu.
7:15 We review Chef Evan’s menus at Evan’s Gourmet and jump into her most recent mushroom soup, a recipe she created in honor of the Tantara Winery.
9:30 Evan’s 30 years in “complete custom catering,” including multiple events yearly of more than 200 people. (And her biggest panic moments in catering.)
All of my recipes have become my clients’ traditions.
- Chef Evan Lewis
15:45 Does group dining demand ebb and flow in Laguna Beach?
16:41 The difference in crowds and Evans’ menus between the upcoming Winter Fantasy at the Sawdust grounds vs. the summer crowds at Sawdust.
18:24 Evan’s biggest selling menu item at the Sawdust and the 3 major adjustments Chef Evan had to make to quicken her Sawdust ticket times.
26:38 The Thanksgiving holiday specialty I talked Chef Evan into doing because Chef Ron Reno retired and we NEED this. She’ll be offering three kinds of dessert – Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Shortbread Bars with a pecan and honey topping and Gingerbread Pudding Cake all to go. To order, call 949-388-1568 or email Chef directly: Evan@EvansGourmet.com
29:03 And, oddly, how the Pumpkin Pie request became Chef Evan’s NEW, ENTIRE Thanksgiving Dinner offering. Purchase the entire dinner, soup to nuts (so to speak) or order a la carte. To order, call 949-388-1568 or email Chef directly: Evan@EvansGourmet.com. Her menu consists of:
Roast sliced turkey (dark and white meat) with white pepper gravy
Green beans with shallots and garlic butter
Candied yams with bourbon butter
Sausage and apple stuffing (with a good share of butter, of course)
Cranberries in pot wine sauce with orange peel
32:15 The going cost of a liquor license now (WOW!), and the downside of carrying a full bar in a small spot like Evan’s Gourmet.
36:32 I tell the rather unknown story of how farmers got really lucky with their land buys from the 1950s when Willamette Valley, Oregon, discovered it could grow world-class wines.
37:28 How Evan’s Gourmet was a “morph” of Evan’s decades-long journey in cooking, and why Evan made the decision to begin her restaurant business.
40:10 How Chef Evan decided on her restaurant’s menu items and the “gimmick” she decided on for an-always memorable taste.
41:30 Chef Evan tells us what her favorite restaurants were in Laguna as she was growing up.
42:40 A wrap up on everything Chef Evan is doing in the next 60 days, including her 25-quart soup pan for her turkey chili and her upgraded vertical smoker for her smoked tomatoes. She talks about the commissary kitchen she used for years and the shared recipe ideas and chef friendships that resulted.
48:15 The OTHER thing I’ve talked Chef Evan into letting me do for my paid subscribers here.
48:35 Holiday and post-holiday Group Dining and Catering events are STILL AVAILABLE with Chef Evan Lewis.
Call or text today: 949-388-1568.
SPECIAL BONUS: Mention me (Diane Armitage) and “Best of Laguna Beach” for a free cup of Evan’s famed soup for every member in your group dining event.
50:01 Finally, Chef Evan tells us where her favorite restaurant is in town (when she’s not cooking at hers).
Evan’s Gourmet Restaurant
860 Glenneyre Street, Laguna Beach (The old Cafe Zoolu that was then ROUX.)
Call or text for reservations: (949) 388-1568
Hours:
Wednesday 5-9 p.m.
Thursday 5-9 p.m.
Friday 5-9 p.m.
Saturday 5-9 p.m.
Sunday (brunch) 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Next Monday, Restaurant Developer Bruce Russo and I return to the airwaves to talk about designing a restaurant to spoil one’s restaurant patrons with the little things. And we talk about the all-important bar - a world and revenue stream unto its own - in any restaurant.
Join me LIVE on Mondays, 2 pm PDT/5 pm EDT at KXFM 104.7 Radio for new restaurant news and reviews, the best Laguna events, and plenty of rockin’ interviews with Laguna Beach chefs, restaurateurs and downright interesting people.
If you’re not nearby to twirl that radio dial … in fact, if you’re one of my subscribers hailing from one of those 32 countries, download the free KXFM Radio app from Google Play or the App Store … OR just go online to KXFMRadio.org
[Podcast] Laguna Native Chef Evan Lewis Talks Turkey (and more)