A culinary chameleon spreads his talent across town.
Food was an influence in chef Christian Evans’ life from a very early age, growing up in Chattanooga and Atlanta. “My great aunt watched me as a child,” he says. “She’d put Food Network cooking shows on.” Evans was enchanted by Emeril Lagasse. “His charisma and how he worked the crowd was so interesting to me, and I’d put on a show and pretend to cook like him.”
At 16, he got his first food job at a small Mexican restaurant franchise. At 18, he was part of the 2016 opening team at Porsche Experience Center, working under Justin Netto. “I learned a lot from him. He pushed me,” he says. Then it was on to The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead (now The Whitley), where Evans says he was made into the chef he is via the culture, food and business at the hotel.
After working a stint in Florida, Evans came back to Georgia in 2019 and settled in Buckhead. He dazzled at the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta, Nine Mile Station on the Ponce City Market rooftop and the now-shuttered Dorian Gray on West Paces Ferry before ending up at Midtown’s Divan, where he currently works as the culinary director.
Evans, who attended the now closed Art Institute of Atlanta, is trained in classic French techniques but says the food he’s done has always been versatile, including “a little bit of everything.” He takes heavy influence from Japanese food culture, which he loves for its simplicity. “It’s not overly fussy. I try to incorporate that in with my other influences.”
At Divan, he’s taking the earnestness and depth of Persian food and playing with it as the first chef in more than 20 years to make big menu changes. “The owner Max [Lotfi] challenges my techniques and flavor profiles, even how the food looks,” he says.
So far, the reception to his changes has been warm and welcoming. “I’m not straying too far away from what they’ve been doing, but I’m making it a little more new and modern,” he says. For example, his interpretation of Divan’s classic labneh cheese dish includes a topping of grapes roasted in honey and butter-soaked pine nuts, then an unexpected dash of everything bagel seasoning. “You get the saltiness, the sweet, fresh herbs,” he says. “We sell a lot of it. It’s a top three dish.”
In addition to his regular gig at Divan, Evans is moonlighting for Legendary Events. “I come in and help out where I can and always learn something,” he says. “Tony [Conway] is legendary—pun intended— and it’s an honor to work with him and call him a friend.” Evans enjoys the adrenaline rush of catering, the fast pace and the challenge of pulling off service at a large scale, saying it brings back memories of working at The Ritz-Carlton. “I love the mass production of parties of 500 or more,” he says.
Evans is also creating a culinary event to debut later this summer under his private chef business, Evanlutionary Dining. With chef Amanda Brock, the two are creating a fine dining experience for one night only called A Dinner to Freedom. “It’ll represent African American culture and food from slavery to now. We’re going to modernize it and have it represent us,” he says.
@i.amchefoso
