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 of La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese. Under Spisni’s tutelage, Funke honed the time-honored techniques of making pasta completely by hand and acquired skills that would change his approach to cooking for good. He brings two decades of experience to his restaurant Felix Trattoria on Abbot Kinney in Venice, CA - with a philosophy of seasonality, warm hospitality and the deeply rooted culinary traditions of regional Italy.

Funke, a culinary storyteller, is a custodian of Italian tradition and a master of the old world techniques and culture of handmade pasta. His critically acclaimed cookbook American Sfoglino, published by Chronicle Books and released in fall of 2019, delves into the beauty and tradition of the sfoglia, a sheet of pasta rolled by hand, sharing classic techniques that are distinctly from the region of Emilia-Romagna. The book went on to win the 2020 IACP Award for Best Cookbook, Chefs and Restaurants and most recently received a 2020 James Beard Foundation Award for Best Photography. Currently, Funke is working on his second book set for a 2022 release.

In 2018, Tastemade produced a feature-length documentary film called ‘Funke’ which recounts his journey as a chef through to the opening of his restaurant Felix in Los Angeles. The film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and is now streaming on Tastemade, as well as Amazon Prime and Hulu. In the spring of 2020, the 8-part docu-series, Shape of Pasta, produced by Ugly Brother Studio, features Funke’s journey throughout Italy as he works to preserve the rare and obscure traditional pasta shapes of Italy. Shape of Pasta is now streaming on the Roku platform.

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