Evan Funke

EVAN FUNKE is a two-time James Beard-nominated chef based in Los Angeles. After working for six years with Wolfgang Puck at the iconic Spago in Beverly Hills, Funke departed for Bologna where he apprenticed with master pasta maker Alessandra Spisni at La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese. Under Spisni’s tutelage, Funke honed the time-honored techniques of making pasta by hand and acquired skills that would change his approach to cooking for good. Upon his return to the U.S., Funke took on the role of Executive Chef of Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica, where he solidified a “return to terroir” approach to cooking and cultivated enduring relationships with California’s best farmers and ranchers. In 2013, Funke’s Bucato opened to immediate critical acclaim as one of L.A.’s top restaurants and set a new standard for handmade pasta in the city. Felix, Funke’s current venture, opened in 2017 and is a collabora- tion with Toronto-based restaurant group GUSTO54. Situated on famed Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice in L.A., critically-acclaimed Felix embodies Italian cooking sensibilities with a menu reflecting season- ality, expert craftsmanship, and genuine hospitality. Funke was a semifinalist for James Beard “Rising Star Chef” at Rustic Canyon in 2009 and finalist for “Best New Restaurant” at Felix in 2018. FELIX continues to garner national recognition and was named to Esquire’s “Best New Restaurants in America 2017,” Eater’s “12 Best New Restaurants in America 2017,” Bon Appétit’s “The Best Pasta We Ate in 2017,” was short-listed for Bon Appétit’s “America’s Best New Restaurants 2018”, featured on Thrillist’s “25 Best Italian Restaurants in America 2018” as well as the Los Angeles Times “101 Restaurants We Love 2018.” The documentary Funke (Tastemade) chronicles Funke’s journey to open Felix and debuted at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2018