There’s a moment when guests sit up straight in their chairs, taste buds at attention, forks perched in anticipation, fully present and ready to discover something new. This is the scene chef Rand Packer prepares for all day in his passionate quest to create unforgettable, boldly elevated dining experiences.

“It’s all about building dimensions and introducing new popping flavors to make their minds wonder what they’re tasting,” Packer says.

Photos by Ryan Dearth

Heralded for reigniting Evergreen, Colorado’s culinary scene, Packer runs the Muddy Buck Cafe, Murphy’s Mountain Grill, Kiki’s Fresh Bowls and almost one-year-old Evoke 1923, along with the newly opened La Rocca Rossa.

Inside Evoke’s 103-year-old walls, the chef-owner really makes minds wonder. Aromatic kefir lime leaf wafts in a pond of steamed mussels, grilled peppermint elk wears a tart cherry ginger infusion, sea bass melts into house-fermented miso and preserved persimmons. Even Evoke’s cocktail program savors splashes of Japanese yuzu and lemongrass — two of Packer’s favorite ingredients to work with.

Guests witness broad strokes of Japanese and Hawaiian influences, a deep nod to Packer’s years on Maui and Oahu working with Roy’s Hawaiian fusion cuisine. The Southern California native and California Culinary Academy graduate began helming the grill at age 10, cooking his mom’s favorite black and blue porterhouses. He remembers sprucing up boxed mac n’ cheese with chicken, extra cheese and broccoli at 8 years old and impressing high school buddies with gourmet snacks conjured from cupboard scraps.

Today, Packer makes the most of Colorado’s short growing season and his own wildly impressive composting garden — it brims with 10 types of lettuce, Korean purple radish, daikon root, Japanese shiso, six heirloom corn varieties, butternut squash, beets, carrots, lemon balm and more.

Evoke not only composts all food scraps, chefs also transform meat trimmings into refined cooking oils and craft stocks from excess bones, which turn into rich demi-glace. Packer’s ambitious fermentation program was cultivated to preserve peak-season ingredients and stretch summer flavors well into winter months. Finding that perfect balance of seasonality and unexpected flavors, Packer’s local fans can’t stop raving about his earthy matcha dumplings and lemony truffle squid ink cavatelli.

Once the summer home of the Colorado Philharmonic and formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Tea Room, Evoke maintains a certain 1920s elegance. With a fireplace crackling during winter months, piano playing on the weekends and a red barn resting on the meadow across the street, the aesthetic is upscale homestead. A true blending of heritage and innovation.

Simply put: No one else is doing this.

“There’s absolutely nothing like this in Evergreen,” Packer says of Evoke 1923. “I feel like, in today’s world, you need to step outside the box and give people more dimensional bold flavors that will hit their tongue a little bit longer and a little bit different than they’re used to.”

Lisa Blake
Writer
@lisananblake | lisablakecreative.com

Originally published in the winter + spring 2025-26 issue of Well.