“Called To The Kitchen” with Hunter Evans
Show Notes:
If you’re not hungry at the start of this episode, you probably will be by the end. And you’ll probably want to run down to Jackson, Mississippi to eat at Elvie’s.
Hunter Evans is the owner of Elvie’s that serves seasonal dishes and highlights ingredients from local farmers. For Hunter, owning a restaurant is first about hospitality. He focuses on making connections with his patrons, and is a champion of a city in Mississippi that often gets overlooked or looked down on. He also focuses on the wellbeing of his staff, because he believes that if he’s asking his staff to take care of others, they have to be taken care of first.
He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and the Culinary Institute of America and has worked with acclaimed chefs like John Currence and in the kitchens of New York restaurants Le Bernardin, Cafe Boulud, and Daniel.
Resources:
Transcript:
Eddie Rester 00:00 Hi, I'm Eddie Rester.
Chris McAlilly 00:01
I'm Chris McAlilly. Welcome to The Weight.
Eddie Rester 00:03
Today, our guest is Hunter Evans. Hunter is a chef and he has started a restaurant in 2020, Elvie's, in Jackson, Mississippi. And today we're going to talk to him about a wide range of topics. We're going to talk to him about the restaurant industry. We're talking about hospitality. We're talking about family, what it means to be a young adult growing into the work that he's doing. Chris, what stood out to you in the conversation today?
Chris McAlilly 00:30
Yeah, a lot of people cook food. There's some people that engage in the restaurant industry as a career or even as a craft. You know, for Hunter, it sounds more like a calling. You know...
Eddie Rester 00:45
And he says that, specifically.
Chris McAlilly 00:47
Yeah, there's a sense of calling and particularly to build a restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi. That's, I think, the thing that frames everything else for me in the conversation, and it's just, you know, creativity and people that are engaging in using their creative gifts to build community with other people. I think that's one of the things that I hear in Hunter's story and a real desire for people to experience genuine, rich hospitality.
Eddie Rester 01:18
Absolutely. Well, I hear so many great things that he's wrestling with, or wrestled with, when you talk about his role as a father and a husband and his role as leading a team at his restaurant, his role within the larger restaurant industry. And listening to how he values certain things, his commitments come through. And I think that's important. If you're going to be a success, you've got to have some commitments that come through, and I think he's got some of those, but also just the way he is wrestling with all of these factors. He's 34 years old. He's got a very successful restaurant success, a successful career already. And what I enjoyed about it is that he's really trying to figure out, how does it all fit together?
Chris McAlilly 01:19
What about you? Yeah. And, you know, I think that one of the things that I see from a person who... We've talked to people that are kind of working with college students or kind of wrestling with calling and vocation. If that's where you are, you're gonna get a lot from this conversation. Or if you know somebody who's trying to figure out how to integrate their life, their faith, and their work. That's very much a part of this conversation. I hope you enjoy it. It's really, really, really good, really rich. Makes me hungry.
Eddie Rester 02:37
Very hungry for chicken and dumplings.
Chris McAlilly 02:40
Yeah, egg drop soup, a number of other foods that get dropped in this conversation.
Eddie Rester 02:44
So share it, make sure that you tell others about the podcast, and come back week after week.
Chris McAlilly 02:51
[INTRO] The truth is, the world is growing more angry, more bitter, and more cynical. People don't trust one another. And we feel disconnected.
Eddie Rester 03:02
The way forward is not more tribalism. It's more curiosity that challenges what we believe, how we live, and how we treat one another. It's more conversation that inspires wisdom, healing, and hope.
Chris McAlilly 03:15
So we launched The Weight podcast as a space to cultivate sacred conversations with a wide range of voices at the intersection of culture and theology, art and technology, science, and mental health. And we want you to be a part of it.
Eddie Rester 03:30
Join us each week for the next conversation on The Weight. [END INTRO]
Chris McAlilly 03:38
We're here today with Hunter Evans. Hunter, thanks for being on the podcast.
Hunter Evans 03:43
Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me.
Chris McAlilly 03:45
Hunter is at Elvie's in Jackson. Eddie spent time in Jackson.
Eddie Rester 03:48
I've spent time at your restaurant. It's the best brunch anywhere.
Chris McAlilly 03:52
And we're recording at 3:30 in the afternoon, Hunter.
Eddie Rester 03:53 On a Thursday.
Chris McAlilly 03:53
Yeah, Hunter was just telling us that he's getting ready for the evening. What's on the menu for tonight?
Hunter Evans 03:59
So we're actually starting a new menu tonight. So it's even, like, more of a crazy day. But it actually feels really calm right now. So...
Chris McAlilly 04:11
How do you put together a new menu? What does that mean for you?
Hunter Evans 04:15
Oh, so you know, the seasons change, produce changes. Farmers are, you know, growing new things, or one season is ending and other one is starting. Mississippi, it's a little different, harder, because it's like, what season are we in? It's 80 degrees, and then it's 30 degrees. But it's kind of a lot, for me, it's kind of where my creative space is. And a lot of it happens outside the restaurant. Being outside, doing things, and just kind of having these ideas. We kind of take those ideas and run them as specials, kind of leading up to the new menu. So that way, we roll out a new menu and it's not you know, eight new day dishes. Everyone's kind of had some time to play with it and figure it out. So that seems to be really helpful, to kind of slowly introduce and play with the dish, I guess, as a staff.
Eddie Rester 05:13
The restaurant industry is so foreign to me. I mean, it's one of these things that for folks who are in it and love it... Tell us, how did you find your path? How did you decide, "I love to work with different ingredients and make something incredible and beautiful and tasteful?" And even to opening your own restaurant, there in Jackson?
Chris McAlilly 05:13 That's really cool.
Hunter Evans 05:38
Yeah, um, so I get asked this question a lot. You know, how did this come? I think there was a lot of things. So Elvie was my grandmother, from New Orleans. So I think, early childhood, I had a ton of exposure to food, was just going down to visit her. And there's definitely the component of like, going to New Orleans and visiting that very unique culture, and all the great restaurants and kind of experiencing that. And then also, growing up, that's where our family hung out, that's where our friends came over and hung out. We were one of those families, you had a big island. And everyone, you know, sat in the kitchen and hung out. So there's definitely that aspect, which we tried to carry over into the restaurant of like, I want to shake your hand when you come in and be able to say hello, and like it's very, I guess, homey, if you will.
Eddie Rester 06:40
You've got a place where people can watch, watch and interact with the chefs.
Hunter Evans 06:45
Yeah, and that was very intentional with the way we designed it--open kitchen, so you can see us, we can see you. And essentially, I think people love to feel known. And so you walk in, boom, we can see you, and there's that instant connection. So that's very, like, I guess, below the surface stuff that I kind of realized later. I always just loved cooking, you know. I think my family is very creative, and my brothers were great at art and pottery and whatnot. And so there's definitely kind of this like, playful side of, you know, playing with food. And that, I always, you know, I loved that interaction and the feelings of kind of having just like aha moments and creating stuff. And also, there's like a really instant, like, you taste something, and you're like, "Whoa!" You know, "This is great." You can paint a picture and you're like, "I don't know..." You can, you kind of, I guess, live with it for a while. But food, it's pretty immediate: "This makes me feel good."
Chris McAlilly 07:55
Yeah. And I think that one of the things about food, just being creative with food, is it is very social. There's this the social dimension that's there within the context of families and friendships and whatnot. There's what being created is a thing that is immediately satisfying, in a very real way. But it also is that, not just for yourself, but it's something to be shared. I mean, there's something really cool about that.
Hunter Evans 08:23
Yeah, I mean, to kind of piggyback on that, you know, one of the ways that we treat our staff is in that same way. People want to come and be taken care of and be known. And I think the root word of restaurant is 'restore.' And people come and share meal, share conversation, listen to each other. And so that's a huge component that we don't want to lose. Or, you know...
Eddie Rester 08:55
When I think about what y'all offer, and you offer, I mean, it's not... It really is space. I mean, when you eat at a restaurant like Elvie's, it's not rushing in, 23 minutes later you're turning the table.
Hunter Evans 09:09 Right.
Eddie Rester 09:09
You're creating a space for for restoration. Has that always been a thread? Or is that something that you've grasped over time that you want to make sure it's a part of your experience?
Hunter Evans 09:21
Yeah. I think when I was figuring out what I wanted to do as a career, cooking, okay, that's fun. That's cool. It seemed too small, I guess, you know, when I could step back. And really, that's where I kind of jumped in. I was actually 18 walking around the woods with Bill Blair. Trying to figure out what I was gonna do. I had committed to Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. They have a youth ministry. I think it's a big school that's involved in Young Life. My dad worked, has worked for Young Life for 30 years. So I was kind of like, why would I do anything else? You know, religion, that's the most important. And then I was like, "I would be really bad at that." But I couldn't see that. I was just like, I'm just gonna do it. And then kind of shifted, okay, maybe I have different interests, skills, and ministry could be anywhere. That clicked. Everything changed that day. There was this huge calm, peace, of, like, "it's okay." And it was kind of like this green light to pursue, to give up religion as a career, but ministry can be anywhere, and that's been my goal. And so that has bled into how we take care of our staff, how we set up the restaurant, how we treat our guests.
Chris McAlilly 11:00
That's really cool. I mean, I think, you know, I've been around several people over the course of time, over the course of the last 20 years that have started restaurants, have failed at that, have started restaurants and succeeded at that, have treated it like a business, have treated it like a craft. And, you're on the craft end of things, but also the calling. I mean, this sense of being called. I don't know. I think that's a concept that oftentimes it was talked about in terms of religion, in terms of being a pastor or whatever. But it does seem like what you're describing is a different way of thinking about having a restaurant, you know. It does, it's like being... It's almost like a calling or like a vocation. I think that that's an interesting concept to dig into, when you think about the integration of faith and life and work. How do you think about that?
Hunter Evans 11:53
You know, I think it also... I think it kind of... You start to question intentions, maybe of each decision. You know, so we're going to open a restaurant. Well, where are you gonna open a restaurant? We were very intentional about being in the city of Jackson. You know, we could go to the suburbs, and where people are moving to and whatnot. But there's another layer of a calling to the city, and the people in the city, and the people that work for us in the city, and guess that ecosystem. You know, everybody can't leave. It's gotta... People have got to want... People do want to work here. But people also want to come and eat here. So yeah, it's kind of aligned a lot of decisions and our intention, which has been cool.
Eddie Rester 12:57
As you think about that, because that's one of the things early on, I was in Jackson for two years, that I understood about your story, is that when it came time to make a decision about where, not just what you would serve and who you'd want to hire and how the business end of it would work. But you were very intentional about being in Jackson at a time where a lot of restaurants, a lot of businesses, were stepping out of Jackson. How has that been received? How did people in the neighborhood respond to that part of the story?
Hunter Evans 13:32
You know, we're in Belhaven neighborhood. My wife and I also moved into the Belhaven neighborhood. And my kid just started going to school in the Belhaven neighborhood. So, I love it. I literally walk across the street to take my kid to school, and I can walk four blocks to the restaurant. And I have this very walkable lifestyle. So the neighborhood has definitely supported us and been a huge cheerleader. And then it's really fun to just have random people coming to visit and it's almost like, "oh, we just ate at Elvie's." Like," Oh, I didn't know this could exist in Jackson. Oh, I didn't know." Like, a couple last week, "We're from San Francisco. We're driving through. We love your restaurant," you know. And like, there's some insanely good restaurants in San Francisco. It's cool for them, for people to travel through and recognize what we're doing here and to come to Jackson. They're experiencing Jackson, I think, differently than people that grew up here. Or how they've been told Jackson is or where to go where not to go. And somebody just shows up and like, "Oh, we were just standing on the street. This place is great. The city is awesome. You know, there's so much to do," and we're like, "Yeah. We agree."
Eddie Rester 14:44 Exactly. Yeah.
Chris McAlilly 14:56
I do think that, you know, for a place to become a place, you need... I mean, you use the word "ecosystem." And I do think that... You don't just need one place to make a place a place, you know. You think about New Orleans coming back to, you know, what makes New Orleans New Orleans, and it's a whole history. And then it's also a whole lot of places within, a whole lot of institutions, a whole lot of different things. And, you know, I think sometimes when a place gets a certain reputation. I do think that Jackson has had a reputation of being a place that's in decline, or that's a place that has a kind of a racial history, or there all kinds of things that people will say about Jackson. And I do think on the edge of any kind of renewal of a place, a cultural renewal of a place, I think you have to have creative people that can see and imagine things that other people can't see and imagine. And then there's an invitational dimension of that, and I do think restaurants are kind of... In a way that an art museum is not, you know. I mean, it's like, you walk around an art museum, and that's important. It's an important part of a cultural landscape. But I think a restaurant plays a significant--and a whole host of them. An ecosystem of restaurants can play an important role in, I don't know, in the renewal of a place, cultural renewal of a place. I wonder, I mean, you strike me as the kind of person that has thoughts about that. I just wonder kind of what rattles around as you think about that, about how to culturally renew a place like Jackson.
Hunter Evans 16:36
I think the phrase is like claiming. First we have to claim, we're going to do stuff in Jackson. We're going to claim this place as our home of business. You know, we're dedicated. I guess for the art museum, like, that's stuff that's usually kind of traveled around and sits here, and then it goes somewhere else. But like, our goal is not to leave. It is to enrich and provide something for the community. And so I think, yeah, you have people that do that, and you have people that jump in and say, "I'm willing to help. And then you have people that watch and are like, "Man, that's cool. I want to jump in." And then you have businesses opening up around you, this neighborhood is on the rise, or whatever.
Eddie Rester 17:29
And I think you'll definitely see that in Belhaven, because around Elvie's, you have several new restaurants. You've got, you know, the amphitheater out behind Elvie's that hosts events. You've got new apartment buildings going up around and I don't think we want to underplay the role of restaurants in all of that. I think there are places that people want to go, then they can look around and say, "Well, what else do we need in this space?" I think about Fondren, another neighborhood in Jackson, that has Walker's and Saltines and other restaurants that are anchoring that place as well. When you got into the restaurant business in Jackson, did that kind of ever enter your mind? Or was that just a benefit of being there?
Hunter Evans 18:14
Um, so I guess really, first, I moved back to Jackson from New York, and got my first job in Jackson at a restaurant, which is also funny, because I feel like a lot of people have worked at so many restaurants and know a lot of people. And I've gotten to know a lot of people, but I've only worked at one other Jackson restaurant. So I didn't really have much to compare or whatnot. But I started working at Lou's Full Serv, and I was there for four and a half years. It's around the block from us. So it's in Belhaven. Then my wife and I got married and we got a little apartment in Belhaven. Then we kind of got knit into the fabric of the Belhaven community. And then when this was happening, and some other people in the neighborhood were kind of creating the Belhaven Town Center, we were already invested. And Belhaven has a very high population of people who were pro-Jackson and committed and know the struggles and are willing to kind of work through them. So it felt like a very easy transition when they were like, "We're working on this as a larger idea to kind of bring things to the neighborhood and make it more enjoyable." You know, we were no brainer. It's in an old house. It just feels good and so glad. Glad that worked out and we have that network.
Eddie Rester 19:45
You talk about that network. And one of the cool things that I've seen you do, but other restaurants in other places it seems somewhat new, is that you are welcoming chefs from other restaurants to come do a night. And there seems to be not competition but camaraderie among these chefs that all are doing these amazing things. And yet, you don't see each other as "Oh, that's my rival over there." Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it seems like a neat thing. How does all that develop? How does that come to be?
Hunter Evans 20:21
Yeah, it was... So I guess it kind of started pandemic era. We, as a restaurant, opened six weeks prior to the pandemic, so.
Eddie Rester 20:35 Good timing. Good timing.
Hunter Evans 20:37
We shut down. We started doing pop ups, just like within our own restaurant. Many great things came out of that. So you go to culinary school, and every three weeks you have a different class on a different cuisine. So you kind of get this like, rapid fire three weeks of Asia, three weeks of the Mediterranean, three weeks of the Americas, you know. And I kind of took the restaurant through that with my staff of like, "Alright, what do y'all want to cook Mexico? Let's do that. Let's explore." You know, I was missing food in New York. So we did like New York deli. So it was cool. Like one, the neighborhood was looking forward to something new every week, when they cannot get really anything, because a lot of restaurants shut down. And then at the same time, I was able to expose my staff on a technical and educational way to many different things. How they use spices and Indian cuisine and whatnot. And then, okay, how can you take some of that, and incorporate it or add that to your repertoire of how you cook. And so really, a lot of cool stuff. So we got used to kind of being a new restaurant every other week. And I just love meeting new people and hearing stories and working with people. And especially in this industry, it's fun for chefs to kind of get together because you work so hard, for so long. So it's nice to get away and just kind of hang out. And yeah, you know, food cost is terrible. And so inviting chefs kind of became this idea to do that, but also provide Jackson with another restaurant option that isn't even in the city, you know. And, also, there's a personal, selfish reason. We were having our second kid in October. And I was just getting all these emails and calls to go and travel and do all this stuff. And I was struggling to leave my pregnant wife. And so I was like, well, why don't we let everybody come to me? And so that also was a benefit of not traveling.
Chris McAlilly 23:03
Yeah, the thread that I hear is that, you know... I do think one of the things that is challenging for college students growing up in America, middle class, upper middle class, is this sense that you could travel and go all over the world, right. And I have friends that have done that, and you could travel and go all over the world, right. And I have friends that have done that, and I've done some of that myself, and and it leads to a kind of rootlessness. You know, like this sense that where are you from, or like, I don't know. There's a sense of you can travel anywhere in the world. So you can go anywhere in the world, but when you're in other parts of the world, you have no place. You feel literally homeless. And there's this... What's cool about your story, and kind of what I'm hearing is that, both in terms of the pandemic created a situation where nobody was going anywhere. And so it's so cool that one of the ways that you engage that was to take your staff through this experience of learning how to be a staff, learning how to cook as a staff, by traveling through Asia, traveling through Mexico. The image that I have is like, I don't know, it's kind of like a low budget version of it. But it's like Epcot, you know, like the sense of going around the world.
Eddie Rester 24:18
He just compared Elvie's to Epcot.
Chris McAlilly 24:20
No, no, no. Sorry, I don't mean to offend. But I do think that sense of, I don't know, there's bringing the world to a place rather than leaving a place to go to the world is a really interesting concept. I've never really considered. I wonder how you're... And then, if you can't go other places. One of the things you got to do in your 20s and 30s, if you're going to have a family is you're going to have to have kids and that feels very constraining for people, because it means you're locked down. And I love the way that you're flipping that script. You know, this sense that instead of me going everywhere, I'm gonna invite everywhere to this place that people don't think is a place woth coming to, for whatever reason. I think that's a really cool concept. How are you continuing to think about that?
Hunter Evans 25:09
Yeah. We've kind of thought, how do we do that? Because last year, we did one a month. And that can be just kind of a lot to plan logistically. And I think also, post-COVID, a lot of people were craving that collaboration and working with other people. So we had a huge, really great feedback. People were like, "Yes, I'm in." "Can't make it work now, maybe later." So we kind of backed off pursuing every month. And I've kind of... I don't know if I'll have it this year, but I kind of want to pivot to reversing that. Instead of inviting people, maybe now we do a dinner, but we go to a place in the city that's underutilized or not... Like Lefleur's State Park. I'm obsessed with. It's beautiful. It's literally like three minutes, three miles down the road. But you go and camp there, and you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere, and like Jackson's so far away. But it's so close. And so having a dinner out there in a pavilion in a state park and hitting these places where people don't use or think to go or think it's rundown. So that's kind of been this idea, it's been a little harder, taking a kitchen into a state park. But I really love that idea of kind of flipping it. Now let's celebrate Jackson and look at what we have and how we can interact with the city, maybe partner with an artist and you know, do some some collaborative stuff there.
Eddie Rester 26:54
So reintroducing people to parts of the city that maybe they don't know yet, or have forgotten about, over time. That's, yeah, that's an amazing idea, I think, and probably pretty difficult, logistically, to pull off. As you well know. One of the other things I think about your restaurant and others is that it's incredible hospitality. We've talked to several of our guests about hospitality. In the restaurant industry, specifically, how do you under... What's best practice for hospitality? What are you hoping to achieve when you offer hospitality to the folks who come to Elvie's?
Hunter Evans 27:37
I think for us, it's, as I kind of mentioned earlier, someone walking in and feeling known, feeling seen, feeling taken care of. Whether that's, "I know that guy loves the chicken Pate," you know, so every time... Just kind of hit those little touches. You know, we've found a system where we can make or when you make a reservation, I can make notes and stuff, like, hey, last time this guy came, he said his steak was too salty, you know, whatever. And it's remembering that and kind of maybe even referencing it. Like, "Man, you said, you loved this wine last time. We don't have it, but I can do something else." Or just making those... Connecting the dots is a huge thing that I learned from the guy I worked for in New York, Danny Meyer, who's kind of the king of what he calls enlightened hospitality. Yeah, it's just going the next step of getting to know somebody in the neighborhood. You know, if it's an anniversary, or we're here, it's a special occasion, we try to give you a little bite or here's a little sparkling wine.
Eddie Rester 28:53 There's a guy...
Hunter Evans 28:53
Yeah, we had a friend once in our growth group. And she had just passed the bar. And she came with her husband and I told the staff, hey, send them a glass of wine. Tell her congratulations. And she was weeping at the table, like "Some strangers are recognizing the big test and the difficulty that I went through, and are here, celebrating with me." So we kind of ask them, what's the next step? How can you make connect the dot?
Eddie Rester 29:31
An unexpected connection.
Hunter Evans 29:34 Yeah, exactly.
Eddie Rester 29:34
It's a guy named Will Guidara. You may be familiar with him. He's also a restaurant guy from New York. Wrote a book...
Hunter Evans 29:41
It's in that same restaurant group.
Eddie Rester 29:43
Okay. Okay, that would make sense. Yeah, he wrote a book called "Unreasonable Hospitality," which I would encourage anyone, church, business, whoever, to read that book. Just...
Hunter Evans 29:55
Our management team is reading right now.
Eddie Rester 29:57
I mean, it's worth every page, because it makes you think about not interactions as transactional, but transformational. How do I make sure, when this person comes into our orbit, that their life is some way, small way, changed, transformed for the better? So that it's not really, you know, he's like, at some level, it's not about the food anymore. It's about how do we make people feel welcomed?
Chris McAlilly 30:22
Yeah, I think that's a beautiful, beautiful thing. And I do think that rush ,that space, because you're doing it every night, right? Like you're doing it every... There's a constancy to that work. And I do think that that's one of the reasons why the restaurant industry has this reputation of being such a grind, you know. And so I think, you know, we've been talking about some of the upside of doing it, and some of the benefits and the beautiful, like creative dimension. But I wonder... I think that's another dimension that's important to just kind of name and talk about is the obstacles of grinding in the restaurant industry, one, and then specifically within some of the unique challenges and obstacles that you face, doing that work in a place like Jackson.
Hunter Evans 31:18
Yeah, I think one of the... I think the most important component that Will's mentor Danny Meyer kind of set was, if I expect my employees to take care of other people, I have to take care of them. And in our industry, he kind of has this cycle, where it's usually the investors are the first ones to take care of, then it's the owners, then it's the managers. And then it's the employees. And he flips it and says, the first people we're taking care of with the employees. If I expect them to be able to take care of anyone, they have to be taken care of. And so that's kind of another thing that we really tried to do. Like, just 30 minutes ago, every Thursday, we have family meal. The whole staff sits down, eats together, everybody kind of takes a break. So that's really a special time for us to kind of get out of that grind, take a minute, be with each other. And then yeah.
Eddie Rester 32:29
Do you pick what's going to be served at family meal? How does that? That's a great idea.
Hunter Evans 32:36
I mean, I'll let the guys in the kitchen do whatever they want. A lot of times, it's kind of, oh, we have extra chicken, we have some of this. So we got some pork racks from a farm. And so today, it was kind of like, oh, we had this tzatziki sauce leftover from this party, and we did, you know, chicken pita wraps and whatnot, and kind of pieced it together. And somebody usually does a salad. Somebody does a dessert. Sometimes we do themes. When it was really cold, and one of my favorite things that I would cook at family meal in New York was chicken and dumplings. So I just made a big pot of chicken and dumplings. But it's fun, the guys, the kitchen kind of goes back and forth, "I'll do this." And somebody else, "Let's do this." And you know, you'll have a whole taco bar and everybody's had a hand in something.
Eddie Rester 33:35
Let me just say, chicken and dumplings are an underappreciated meal. My daughters would eat chicken and dumplings every day of the week, every day of the week, maybe even for breakfast on some of those days. So anytime you want to make up, we'll just drive down.
Chris McAlilly 33:51
I want to come back to this because I do think that's essential, taking care of employees as a way to... The care of other people is one of those things. I also I want to push you on it, because I do thinkm you know there is a grind and particularly for a person who's kind of in a leadership role within the context of the restaurant industry. How are you taking care of yourself? Like, what does that look like?
Hunter Evans 34:16
Yeah, that's hard. That's something I've definitely struggled with. I think when I'm best taking care of myself... I love getting outside. I love running around Lefleur State Park. Yeah, I think recently I've kind of spent a lot more time with my family and kind of set up the boundaries of alright, five o'clock, I'm going home to have dinner with my kids and my wife and help put them to bed. And that's been really sweet. I mean, my wife and I were talking, I've been home the most the last five months, you know, and had dinner, sit at the table. Because it's hard. I absolutely love this industry. And I love the work. I love working with the people. I love taking care of people. I love the creative side of it. But that can be... The pressure can build, especially if you get some recognition and people start saying things about you. And there was a moment where I was kind of like, I don't know what to do. I was just getting really stressed and felt a lot of pressure. And I've kind of been able to let that go and kind of... I'm not saying I did not enjoy dinner with my family. I was worried and concerned about the restaurant when I was not there. And vice versa.
Chris McAlilly 35:59 Yeah. I think...
Hunter Evans 36:00
That's been huge, to separate.
Chris McAlilly 36:02
Anybody that's in a pastoral role or in a faith-based role, we feel that. I think that both Eddie and I know what that feels like. It's like, I mean, I was at church last night for a church meeting. And then I was there, there was this incredible gathering that was happening. We were talking about faith and youth and one of our friends, David Magee, he's been on the podcast, was speaking to families in our community around mental health and substance misuse and all that. It was incredible. It was so cool. And also my child, my family is at home, you know, and so it's like, I feel this. I'm constantly kind of feeling that that tension. And I think there is this sense of kind of breaking away and making sure that the things that you're doing for other people are also the things that you're doing for the people that are closest to you. And one of the things that Eddie has constantly said to me when we were working together, especially when I had much younger kids, is you only have one chance to raise your family. And that's this massive thing that I've held on to through time. I wonder... The question I wanted to ask you was what do you cook for your family? What are some of the favorite things that you cook just for your family?
Hunter Evans 37:16
I'm a big sheet tray, one pan and roast everything. And then maybe do some meat. We actually subscribe, I guess is the word, we get like a meat CSA box from Homeplace Pastures, which is just close by, which is amazing. Because I just have a great freezer. I get hotdogs for the kids. I get steaks and whatnot. And so usually vegetables. My wife and I do like some pork chops. We love pasta. My favorite, if I have time, and my three-year-old's favorite is mussels.
Eddie Rester 37:59 Really?
Eddie Rester 38:03
Wow. Your three-year-old loves... That's...
Chris McAlilly 38:07
Eddie, when your daughters were three did you cook mussels for them?
Eddie Rester 38:11
There's a lot of mac and cheese at our house. And chicken. A lot of mac and cheese and chicken, not mussels, at our house. One of the things you mentioned a few minutes go is "as you get recognition." And I think one thing I want to ask you about is earlier this year, early 2024, you were named a semifinalist, a James Beard semifinalist, which is an incredible honor. One of the few chefs in Mississippi, over time, to be named anywhere in that realm. What did that mean to you? What did that say to you? Or how did... Did it encourage you? Or did it ramp up the pressure on you?
Hunter Evans 38:51
So, so well. So we got nominated last year as well, which was the first time. That one kind of wrecked me. Because ever since I started cooking, I worked in Oxford. I worked for John Currence. We kind of set these goals and these pinnacles. "I want to win the James Beard Award." Okay. I'm 33. I'm three years at my restaurant, and we're on the list. I'm like, impostor syndrome. What's next? How do I maintain? I got really caught up. And I guess the shift, my career as my identity, that has shifted a lot the last six months. But yeah, it's hard. Because when so many people only know you. We go to the bank and "Oh, you're Elvie's." "Oh, you're Elvie's." You know, like I work there. I'm an owner. Yeah, but it can be a lot. And then you're at home. People go and eat, and in my head, it's like they're going for this amazing meal. And I'm not there to do it or make sure that it's done the right way. I have an amazing team, and I trust them. I guess it's just kind of, I was clutching on for so long to maintain that identity. And yeah, I think it's really been more of like a softening of my heart. Like, this is important, too. I'm going to raise these kids, and I only have one shot at that. I'm 34. My career is hopefully going to go for another 30 years, so I have all the time to do whatever. And so that's been a really good shift for my wife and our family.
Chris McAlilly 41:05
And then also, when to... I think the thing that will be interesting, you know, five years from now or three years from now, it'd be nice to get you back on the podcast and ask you the question of how do you maintain? How do you maintain a high level of personal engagement with the work in a sense of calling or whatever, when it's something that you're doing through Brush some muscles. time? I think that's something. It'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on that moving forward. I think that there are a lot of... I mean, I know that that's been a part of my own journey. It's just trying to figure out how to make sure that you get the balance. I don't know that that's the right word. I mean, people use the word balance, but I don't know that that's right. The thing that I think about is, is how do I make sure that I am present 100% in the place that I am when I'm at that place, and then also knowing when to cut it off. And that doesn't feel like balance to me. It feels like, I'm not trying to do one thing, 50/50, in a balanced way. I'm trying to be all in where I am, and then know when the time is to shift it, to pivot my energy in a different direction.
Hunter Evans 42:25
Yeah, I don't know. Definitely, I think in that, in this part of our career, trying to figure that out, and I think the thing that seems to help or ease some of that stress is leaning into how to manage. My role is always shifting. I'm not just a cook anymore. I need to be a better manager or learn how to manage people well while I'm there, so then when I'm done, and I am not there, I feel good about what we did or what we talked about or giving them the tools to do their job.
Chris McAlilly 43:09
I lean on Eddie. I mean, Eddie and I worked together. Eddie was the senior pastor, I was the associate. Eddie give us some advice. What do you ,what have you learned through time in terms of how to do that well?
Eddie Rester 43:20
Yeah, I think you've got this awareness, Hunter, that I hear in you. And for some people, it's slow, but you realize, my role is shifting. If the organization is going to grow, if the people around me are going to grow, if what I have to offer to the world is going to grow, it requires me just to release some of what I used to love to do. And begin to empower other people to do what I used to love to do, so that I can step into this other thing that I'm going to learn. It's going to challenge me. It's gonna be weird. It's gonna be different, and I'm gonna learn to do it. And I'm thankful that it sounds like your, those lessons are right there for you. I know it's fast paced for you.
Hunter Evans 44:03
There's also, I think a part I didn't anticipate, almost like, grief might be a strong word, but giving up some of those things that I do love doing in order to do other things, that was also pretty hard.
Chris McAlilly 44:17
Yeah, there's a culture. It's a setting a culture, right. Setting a culture where a lot of people can live into the thing that you love to do. You know, I think about the role you were talking about this guy, Danny, in New York, and you talked about John Currence in Oxford. What's cool about this guy, Danny, in New York, and you talked about John Currence in Oxford. What's cool about John Currence to me is that, you know, as he's kind of stepped into different roles, other awesome chefs have had an opportunity to engage. And so it's like, just creating a culture where you're inviting. In some ways, it's kind of an extension of what you're doing with friends in other places. It's like inviting other people to live fully into their gifts within the context of a culture that you're helping to create. That's a cool thing. I can envision you doing that in Jackson for a long time, and you know that's a great vision I could imagine you live in into.
Hunter Evans 45:09
Yeah, I'm trying to figure that out.
Eddie Rester 45:12
We know you've got to get back. Get everything ready for tonight. We are so thankful for your time. One quick question. If you get to cook yourself one meal, what are you cooking for you?
Hunter Evans 45:27
Depends. There's so many factors. What city am I in?
Eddie Rester 45:32
Cold winter's night. It's a cold winter's night. Kind of...
Hunter Evans 45:35 Egg drop soup.
Eddie Rester 45:36 Egg drop soup. Excellent.
Hunter Evans 45:41
It's like comfort food to me. You know? I don't know. It feels weird, but...
Chris McAlilly 45:45
Chicken and dumplings and egg drop soup. I like that.
Eddie Rester 45:49
Hunter, thank you so much. And next time I'm in Jackson, I'll definitely stop in again. And for folks who are listening if you're ever in Jackson, brunch in the morning, dinner in the evening. It's fantastic at Elvie's. Thank you, Hunter.
Hunter Evans 46:02 Yeah, thank you.
Eddie Rester 46:03
[OUTRO] Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast, the best way to help us is to like, subscribe, or leave a review.
Chris McAlilly 46:11
If you would like to support this work financially or if you have an idea for a future guest you can go to theweightpodcast.com. [END OUTRO]