Evan Williams
Dalida and Maria Isabel | San Francisco, CA
September 2026
Evan Williams caught the bartending bug at Club Propaganda in Moscow, Russia, where he worked as a barback at 18 years old while attending his study abroad program. After returning to San Francisco to complete his degree in international relations, Williams couldn't shake the pull of working behind the bar and decided to leave academia behind to pursue hospitality full-time. After leaving university, he picked up a bartending gig at a high-volume cocktail bar in Oakland. It wasn't until he got a job behind the bar at award-winning Bartender Thad Vogler's Bar Agricole that he developed a true appreciation for the producers behind the spirits. Moving over to Vogler's other concept, Trou Normand, he discovered an abiding passion for all things brandy and continued his education in ethical spirit production. Williams then worked at Bartender Erik Adkins' Hard Water, learning the ins and outs of a bar program that delved into American Whiskey and forgotten American cocktails. In 2019, he joined the team at Rising Stars alumni Emilio and Miguel Salehi's The Beehive in the Mission District. When the pandemic hit, he took a break from service to pursue consulting, and moved to Washington state.
When Rising Stars alumni Laura and Saya Ozyilmaz reached out in search of someone to spearhead the bar program at their new Eastern Mediterranean restaurant, Dalida, Williams jumped at the opportunity to own a program of his own. Since joining the team in 2023, Williams has created a streamlined bar program that doesn't sacrifice refinement with a focus on storytelling and the centering of lesser known regional ingredients. At Dalida, he showcases aromatic cocktails that draw on his academic curiosity as much as his love of spirits and their producers like the Glass Garden, a dill-forward aquavit cocktail with clarified green apple juice and musk willow water. Williams recently developed the menu for Dalida's encore, the regionally focused Mexican restaurant Maria Isabel, which took the award for Exceptional Cocktails from The Michelin Guide California 2026, three months after they opened. In addition to his work guiding these bar programs, he gives guided tours at St. George Spirits' distillery, where he relishes the opportunity to share the science and art behind liquor production with a wider audience.
2026 StarChefs San Francisco-Oakland Rising Stars Award Winner
