Considering the history of Evins Mill as a business, there are a few watershed moments. Its founding in 1994 would be one, as would be major construction projects. Maybe the year it first made a profit should also be on that list. But without doubt, the addition of Jason Evans to its staff roster over fifteen years ago is another milestone, for he has transformed the business in profound ways.
So profoundly that it’s fair to reference a “pre-Jason” era, one marked by a revolving staff line-up, inconsistent service, average if not erratic quality of cuisine, and bleak bottom lines. Today however the business thrives – and does so in part for the quality and tenure of its staff, as well as for its reputation for first-class food and service. Jason has been instrumental in developing both.
Born on July 13, 1976 to Dorothy Knipfer and Michael Evans, Michael Jason Evans lived in Smithville from birth through his senior year at Dekalb County High School, where he excelled in a variety of arenas – so much so he was voted by his classmates most likely to succeed.
He was straight-A student with a 3.7 GPA, participated on the quiz bowl team, and played on the school’s basketball squad. The most pivotal figure for Jason in high school however was not a coach but the teacher of a culinary arts class, who alerted him of culinary opportunities after graduation and beyond Smithville.
Another seminal influence in high school was a trip with the 4-H Club to Chicago, Jason’s first encounter with a world-class city. The experience was in his words “eye-opening and emboldening,” strengthening his resolve to leave Smithville, pursue his culinary ambitions and explore the world.
So, when Jason’s guidance counselor encouraged him to attend a four-year college, Jason declined and instead listened to his heart. Indeed, he was rare among teenagers in that he had a clear vision of his profession and career – and more than that, was brave enough to pursue it. Needless to say, that vision involved his passion for food.
Food and cooking were integral parts of Jason’s life from an early age. With a mother who worked full-time, Jason was often responsible for preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner for himself and later his younger half-brothers. On weekends with his grandparents, he remembers preparing polk salad and fried squirrel. He also savors the memory of grilling out with his father - slow cooking pork loin on a wire grate.
Cooking wasn’t confined to family. Jason also worked at the Smithville McDonald's and became a manager at the age of seventeen, which meant getting up at 4:00 a.m. to open shop – an insurmountable challenge for a normal teenager. While in most respects his time at McDonald’s was superfluous to his culinary dreams, it did help him develop important kitchen skills – namely organization and speed.
After graduating from DCHS, Jason embarked on a three-week long, 2,000-mile road trip. While driving cross country in a ’78 mustang without air conditioning, Jason and a friend visited the Grand Canyon and a famed corner in Winslow, Arizona, Zion National Park in Utah, and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, among other sites and states.
Upon his return, he enrolled at Sullivan College in Louisville, KY, where he was in his words “a sponge,” soaking up all there was to learn and acing his classes. Finishing the two-year program in 18 months, Jason eventually accepted a position with Clipper Cruise Lines, where he worked from 1997 to 2002.
Hired as an entry level chef, Jason’s initial job was preparing cold foods on a stint from Jacksonville to Charleston. He would soon graduate to the level of Executive Chef. Whatever the position, shipmates worked all the time – every day from breakfast through dinner for three months straight. The work was so relentless that Jason – a hard worker by any measure – mused at one point if he would stay the course.
His next stint, a cruise through the Great Lakes, was more encouraging – not because the workload was lighter, but because he was now in charge of hot foods, working in closer collaboration with other chefs. He may have also been encouraged by the company of Sharon Webster, who was a Guest Attendant on the ship and who would later become his wife.
Over the next few years, the company expanded its destinations beyond North America, with cruises to Europe, South America, Antarctica and Asia. Jason leveraged the ship’s destinations into his own travel opportunities, which included jaunts in the Caribbean, New Zealand and Philippines. His favorite adventure was a trip to the Greek Islands – and that figures, for Sharon was one of his travel companions.
Under the guise of being just pals, Jason and Sharon would take several other trips together. Behind the platonic pretense though, Jason had strong feelings for Sharon. They started dating in 2001 and married two years later – not long after Jason joined Evins Mill as its Executive Chef. In 2007, their daughter Sylvia was born, while their son Wade was born two years after that.
Jason’s transition to Evins Mill was something of a fluke. On a trip to Nashville in 2001, Jason and Evins Mill proprietor William Cochran randomly bumped into each other - a chance encounter which led to conversations about a job opportunity. Prior to the exchange, Jason had no plans to return to Smithville and suspects he would not be there today if the two had not happened upon each other.
During Jason’s time at Evins Mill, the business has grown almost every year. Playing a part in that growth has provided him the opportunity to expand his own skill set as well as to improve the business. In addition, as the business grew, so too did his job responsibilities, which have kept him professionally nimble and provided him a degree of flexibility and freedom.
Jason has used that flexibility on one hand to be active the life of his community – serving on the board of the Chamber of Commerce, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, teaching culinary classes for high schoolers, leading Sunday School classes and serving as an Elder at his church, and not least, coaching the Frogs, a little league soccer team.
Jason has also used that freedom to remain active in the life of his family, which among many other endeavors manifests itself in local camping trips, and increasingly, in traveling as a family to different parts of the country. They especially enjoy visiting National Parks but plan one day to travel further afield.
It might be safe to say that staff members at Evins Mill hope he won’t travel too far for too long – for intelligent, competent, reasonable, honest, fair, funny and caring bosses don’t grow on trees. Rarer still is the colleague who inspires his or her own boss to be a better one.
So profoundly that it’s fair to reference a “pre-Jason” era, one marked by a revolving staff line-up, inconsistent service, average if not erratic quality of cuisine, and bleak bottom lines. Today however the business thrives – and does so in part for the quality and tenure of its staff, as well as for its reputation for first-class food and service. Jason has been instrumental in developing both.
Born on July 13, 1976 to Dorothy Knipfer and Michael Evans, Michael Jason Evans lived in Smithville from birth through his senior year at Dekalb County High School, where he excelled in a variety of arenas – so much so he was voted by his classmates most likely to succeed.
He was straight-A student with a 3.7 GPA, participated on the quiz bowl team, and played on the school’s basketball squad. The most pivotal figure for Jason in high school however was not a coach but the teacher of a culinary arts class, who alerted him of culinary opportunities after graduation and beyond Smithville.
Another seminal influence in high school was a trip with the 4-H Club to Chicago, Jason’s first encounter with a world-class city. The experience was in his words “eye-opening and emboldening,” strengthening his resolve to leave Smithville, pursue his culinary ambitions and explore the world.
So, when Jason’s guidance counselor encouraged him to attend a four-year college, Jason declined and instead listened to his heart. Indeed, he was rare among teenagers in that he had a clear vision of his profession and career – and more than that, was brave enough to pursue it. Needless to say, that vision involved his passion for food.
Food and cooking were integral parts of Jason’s life from an early age. With a mother who worked full-time, Jason was often responsible for preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner for himself and later his younger half-brothers. On weekends with his grandparents, he remembers preparing polk salad and fried squirrel. He also savors the memory of grilling out with his father - slow cooking pork loin on a wire grate.
Cooking wasn’t confined to family. Jason also worked at the Smithville McDonald's and became a manager at the age of seventeen, which meant getting up at 4:00 a.m. to open shop – an insurmountable challenge for a normal teenager. While in most respects his time at McDonald’s was superfluous to his culinary dreams, it did help him develop important kitchen skills – namely organization and speed.
After graduating from DCHS, Jason embarked on a three-week long, 2,000-mile road trip. While driving cross country in a ’78 mustang without air conditioning, Jason and a friend visited the Grand Canyon and a famed corner in Winslow, Arizona, Zion National Park in Utah, and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, among other sites and states.
Upon his return, he enrolled at Sullivan College in Louisville, KY, where he was in his words “a sponge,” soaking up all there was to learn and acing his classes. Finishing the two-year program in 18 months, Jason eventually accepted a position with Clipper Cruise Lines, where he worked from 1997 to 2002.
Hired as an entry level chef, Jason’s initial job was preparing cold foods on a stint from Jacksonville to Charleston. He would soon graduate to the level of Executive Chef. Whatever the position, shipmates worked all the time – every day from breakfast through dinner for three months straight. The work was so relentless that Jason – a hard worker by any measure – mused at one point if he would stay the course.
His next stint, a cruise through the Great Lakes, was more encouraging – not because the workload was lighter, but because he was now in charge of hot foods, working in closer collaboration with other chefs. He may have also been encouraged by the company of Sharon Webster, who was a Guest Attendant on the ship and who would later become his wife.
Over the next few years, the company expanded its destinations beyond North America, with cruises to Europe, South America, Antarctica and Asia. Jason leveraged the ship’s destinations into his own travel opportunities, which included jaunts in the Caribbean, New Zealand and Philippines. His favorite adventure was a trip to the Greek Islands – and that figures, for Sharon was one of his travel companions.
Under the guise of being just pals, Jason and Sharon would take several other trips together. Behind the platonic pretense though, Jason had strong feelings for Sharon. They started dating in 2001 and married two years later – not long after Jason joined Evins Mill as its Executive Chef. In 2007, their daughter Sylvia was born, while their son Wade was born two years after that.
Jason’s transition to Evins Mill was something of a fluke. On a trip to Nashville in 2001, Jason and Evins Mill proprietor William Cochran randomly bumped into each other - a chance encounter which led to conversations about a job opportunity. Prior to the exchange, Jason had no plans to return to Smithville and suspects he would not be there today if the two had not happened upon each other.
During Jason’s time at Evins Mill, the business has grown almost every year. Playing a part in that growth has provided him the opportunity to expand his own skill set as well as to improve the business. In addition, as the business grew, so too did his job responsibilities, which have kept him professionally nimble and provided him a degree of flexibility and freedom.
Jason has used that flexibility on one hand to be active the life of his community – serving on the board of the Chamber of Commerce, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, teaching culinary classes for high schoolers, leading Sunday School classes and serving as an Elder at his church, and not least, coaching the Frogs, a little league soccer team.
Jason has also used that freedom to remain active in the life of his family, which among many other endeavors manifests itself in local camping trips, and increasingly, in traveling as a family to different parts of the country. They especially enjoy visiting National Parks but plan one day to travel further afield.
It might be safe to say that staff members at Evins Mill hope he won’t travel too far for too long – for intelligent, competent, reasonable, honest, fair, funny and caring bosses don’t grow on trees. Rarer still is the colleague who inspires his or her own boss to be a better one.
Knowing William as a boss from about a year of working at the Mill in and Jason as schoolmate, I was so excited when I heard he was going to be working at Evins Mill! I had moved to the other side of Nashville by that time and now I live in a neighboring state, but I remember thinking that working at Evins Mill again would be fun. It's interesting to read that was 15 years ago. Geez! Time moves too fast. I need to get back there again soon.
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ReplyDeleteI think it was 2003 or so when we booked Evin’s Mill weekend for a first reconnect weekend minus kids. We drove late Friday afternoon into early evening in driving rain from Memphis on I40. Jason kept the fire going in the dining room and prepared one of our most memorable meals. We had the room alone & he made it possible. He’s a good chef and man!
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