Rising Star Chef Evan Hanczor of Egg - Biography

The idea of cooking as a career might have come to Evan Hanczor unconsciously. He spent summers strawberry picking and cooking with his family in central Florida, and went to college at Tulane in gastronomically rich New Orleans. He studied English and philosophy, enjoying academic research and poetry.

By the time he graduated and moved to Connecticut, Hanczor knew cooking was his calling and took a hands-on position at The Dressing Room in Westport. Hanczor moved to New York City in 2009 and worked at Andrew Carmellini’s Locanda Verde before nabbing a spot at Williamsburg Brooklyn’s Egg, where he mastered the many expressions of Southern cooking.

In 2012, Egg owner George Weld and Hanczor opened Parrish Hall, whose Northeastern culinary expressions and sustainable infrastructure earned Hanczor a 2013 StarChefs Rising Stars Sustainability Award. When Parrish Hall closed and reopened as the new, bigger Egg, Hanczor stayed on at the wildly popular restaurant, now with a richer repertoire and a continued focus on his team and community. Weld and Hanczor also purchased Goatfell farm, two acres of land in the Catskills, where they use sustainable farming practices to grow produce that they serve at the restaurant.

Hanczor has cooked at several James Beard Foundation dinners and programs, such as the Foundation’s Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change. He and Weld also penned Breakfast: Recipes to Wake Up For and launched an outlet of Egg in Tokyo in 2017.