Originally from Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, Evan Christian Pappanicholas grew up in the restaurant industry. His father owned two Greek restaurants from 1968-1998 in Delaware. He continued the tradition as owner of three New York City restaurants & soon so be One in LA: Resto, The Cannibal and The Cannibal Hell’s Kitchen & The Cannibal Beer & Butcher in Los Angeles.

Christian earned a degree in finance and entrepreneurship from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts and after graduation, he moved to Manhattan where he began working at Insignia ESG in commercial real estate. After five years, his passion for food and drink combined with his entrepreneurial spirit quickly took over and he found himself at the French Culinary Institute. While spending each day around distinguished chefs and his biggest passion—food—his mind raced to figure out how to break into the New York City restaurant scene.

Upon beginning his career in hospitality, Christian joined the opening team at Snack Taverna in the West Village as manager where he sharpened his front-of-house skills along side chef John Frasier. Afterwards, he went to work for the Bothers Denton to run ‘inoteca on the Lower East Side before accepting a job as manager at Mario Batali’s Otto in the West Village.

While on vacation in Belgium, Christian was intrigued by Belgian culture, specifically the Monastery-brewed Belgian beer and sophisticated pub food. Christian’ entrepreneurial drive enabled him to open the doors to his own restaurant, Resto, in the spring of 2007. Since opening, Resto has been warmly welcomed by their Gramercy Park and Murray Hill neighbors and has also received critical accolades including two stars and inclusion in the “Top 10 Best New Restaurants” from The New York Times in 2007 and four stars and inclusion in 2008’s “Best New Restaurants” feature in New York magazine.

During trips to Europe in the fall of 2009 and 2010, Christian began to develop the concept for a beer and butchery bar and in 2011; he opened The Cannibal Beer & Butcher next door to Resto. The Cannibal, named after the revered Belgian cyclist, Eddy Merckx, is a natural extension of Resto’s nose-to-tail ethos. As a beer and butcher, The Cannibal evokes the feeling of dining in a butcher’s home, with over 500 craft beer selections from around the world and a house made charcuterie program, Christian and his team consider The Cannibal to be Resto’s unruly younger brother. In the fall of 2013, The Cannibal expanded to Hell’s Kitchen within Gotham Market and received Two Stars from the New York Times.   In the winter of 2015 The Cannibal will open in Culver City, Los Angeles.

Pappanicholas is a member of Community Board Five in Manhattan where he serves on the Parks and the Public Safety Quality of Life committees. He resides in downtown Manhattan with his wife and two children and when he is not cycling with the Rockstar Racing Cycling Team, which The Cannibal Sponsors, he STILL attempting to become a professional tennis player.

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