On this episode of The Sauce podcast, host Lauren sits down with Evy Swoboda, executive chef at Pastaria and head of private events for Niche Food Group, for a conversation about coming full circle at the restaurant where her career began, building restaurants from the ground up, and balancing life as a mother of three with a demanding career in the kitchen.
Evy walks through her path with Niche Food Group, starting as a line cook at Pastaria when it first opened in Clayton, back when there was a waitlist just to get hired. She worked her way up to sous chef, helped open Pastaria’s Nashville location, and split executive chef duties with her close friend Ashley Shelton, who was running Sardella at the time. She then spent a year helping build The Last Hotel from scratch, designing the kitchens, hiring the staff, and developing the menu before it opened in 2018.
After stepping away during the pandemic to be home with her newborn, Evy got a call from Gerard Craft asking her to come back as executive chef at Brasserie, a leap into French cuisine after years of cooking Italian. She later became culinary director, took on an ownership stake in the now-closed Porano, and eventually found her way back to Niche Food Group and Pastaria, the place that started it all.
Evy also gives an inside look at Niche Food Group’s current restaurants, including Pastaria, Pastaria Deli & Wine, Bowood by Niche, Brasserie, NOTA, and The Kitchen Bar, plus the soon-to-open Beast Craft BBQ collaboration, and shares what she thinks keeps the group thriving after decades in a competitive market. She opens up about growing up traveling the world with her family, her early dream of running a food truck, and how she and her husband make it possible to balance three young kids with two demanding careers.
In this episode:
• How Evy’s culinary career began at Pastaria during its waitlist-only early days
• Splitting executive chef duties with best friend Ashley Shelton at Sardella
• Building The Last Hotel from scratch: kitchens, staff & menu
• The call from Gerard Craft to become executive chef at Brasserie
• Becoming culinary director and part-owner of Porano
• Coming back home to Niche Food Group after Porano closed
• A tour of Niche Food Group’s current restaurants
• Running Niche’s private events, from weddings to off-site dinners
• Why Niche Food Group has staying power in St. Louis
• Balancing motherhood, marriage & a career in the kitchen
• From line cook to executive chef, she’s come full circle.
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