A dozen years ago I described chef Brandt Evans’ concoctions as “a carnival in the mouth.”  That was before he moved from Kosta’s in Tremont to become chef-partner at Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern in Twinsburg, before he married and started a family, and way before he began opening restaurants in Montana and Texas.

Luckily, none of this serious stuff has reined in Evans’ culinary joie de vivre. At age 39, he is still throwing together such disparate ingredients as black garlic, pasta, blue cheese and grapes to produce excitement on the plate.

“I always say you either love me or hate me,” says Brandt, who must know that the consensus is a thumbs up. He has been voted best chef and Blue Canyon best restaurant in various magazine contests, and the restaurant has been awarded five diamonds by AAA three times.

“As you get older you get more humbled,” Brandt acknowledges. “There are thousands of restaurants for people to choose and I’m tickled pink when I see that dining room full because they’re coming to try a piece of my art work.”

Brandt moved back to his hometown of Hudson after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and sharpening his skills at top restaurants such as Manhattan’s Aureole. Northeast Ohio is a good place to pursue his three passions in life—cooking, teaching, and helping his wife raise their 7-year-old daughter.

Brandt carves out time to mentor students in Cuyahoga Community College’s culinary management program despite overseeing the kitchen of not just the Twinsburg restaurant, but two other Blue Canyon restaurants he and his business partners opened in Montana (a third in Texas closed in February).

All this and conga drums, too. “I have tons of Latin percussion drums in my basement I play,” Brandt says, laughing.

For some reason, I’m not surprised.