ZACH ENGEL x SEBASTIAN WHITE COLLABORATION DINNER
Many Lights, One Table
Many Lights, One Table
in support of The Evolved Network
CAFE YAYA
2431 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614
2431 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614
Friday,
December 13, 2025
6:00-9:00pm CST
Join us for an extraordinary holiday evening at Café Yaya, hosted by James Beard Award–winning Chef Zach Engel and Chef Sebastian White of The Evolved Network.
Experience Many Lights, One Table — a four-course, family-style dinner with wine pairings, celebrating connection, generosity, and the season’s warmth.
Proceeds support The Evolved Network’s mission to create spaces of belonging and healing through food. Reserve your seat and share in this luminous collaboration.
Experience Many Lights, One Table — a four-course, family-style dinner with wine pairings, celebrating connection, generosity, and the season’s warmth.
Proceeds support The Evolved Network’s mission to create spaces of belonging and healing through food. Reserve your seat and share in this luminous collaboration.
About the Chefs
- Chef Zach EngelLearn moreChef Zach Engel is the James Beard Award–winning Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Galit, the acclaimed modern Middle Eastern restaurant in Chicago’s Lincoln Park that earned a Michelin star under his leadership. In 2024, he and his team expanded their vision with Café Yaya, a new event space that extends Galit’s signature warmth, generosity, and hospitality into shared gatherings and collaborations.
Before opening Galit, Zach served as Chef de Cuisine at Shaya Restaurant in New Orleans, where he and his team received the 2016 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant after a year of national “Best New” recognitions. The following year, Zach was honored with the 2017 James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year Award. - Chef Sebastian WhiteLearn moreChef Sebastian White is more than a culinary artist—he is a storyteller, using food as his medium to create extraordinary dining experiences that nourish the body and soul. With a unique journey from psychotherapist to acclaimed private chef, Sebastian brings a deep understanding of connection and care to every table he serves.
Nominated by the legendary Chef Paul Kahan as a "Chef to Watch in 2024" (Insidehook Magazine) and a featured Tastemaker in Chicago Magazine, Sebastian has cooked at prestigious events like the Jean Banchet Awards and contributed to the Mariano’s Chicago Chefs Cookbook.
A note from Sebastian:
I had heard of Chef Zach Engel long before we ever met — his name and food seemed to travel through every circle that cared deeply about creativity and craft.
The first time I saw him in motion was at Galit, during a Together Hospitality gathering where The Evolved Network had been invited as their social partner. As I was leaving, I caught a glimpse of him moving through the kitchen — quiet, focused, fully absorbed in his work. It was one of those rare moments that stays with you, when you witness someone completely at home in their element.
Not long after, I ran into him at Green City Market. He greeted me by name. I remember walking away thinking, “That’s wild — he knows who I am.” That small, human exchange said everything about the kind of person Chef Zach is — humble, grounded, and genuinely connected to his community.
As 2024 came to a close, I began imagining collaborations that could stretch and inspire me. Chef Zach’s name was at the top of that list. His team’s dishes kept finding their way to my feed — each one a study in balance, precision, and soul. I knew right away this partnership would be something special — not only for the artistry but for the chance to explore a cuisine I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to cook alongside.
When Chef Zach offered to host this dinner — opening his team, time, and Café Yaya’s new event space to support The Evolved Network — I felt deeply honored. His generosity and care embody the very spirit we strive to nurture: hospitality, curiosity, and belonging.
Chef Zach’s success is no accident. It’s the result of discipline, creativity, and heart. To share a kitchen with him and his team while furthering The Evolved Network’s mission — to create spaces of connection and healing through food — is a profound privilege.
Thank you, Chef Zach, for welcoming us to your table, for celebrating the season with us, and for reminding us that every meal shared in community is its own small act of light.
The first time I saw him in motion was at Galit, during a Together Hospitality gathering where The Evolved Network had been invited as their social partner. As I was leaving, I caught a glimpse of him moving through the kitchen — quiet, focused, fully absorbed in his work. It was one of those rare moments that stays with you, when you witness someone completely at home in their element.
Not long after, I ran into him at Green City Market. He greeted me by name. I remember walking away thinking, “That’s wild — he knows who I am.” That small, human exchange said everything about the kind of person Chef Zach is — humble, grounded, and genuinely connected to his community.
As 2024 came to a close, I began imagining collaborations that could stretch and inspire me. Chef Zach’s name was at the top of that list. His team’s dishes kept finding their way to my feed — each one a study in balance, precision, and soul. I knew right away this partnership would be something special — not only for the artistry but for the chance to explore a cuisine I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to cook alongside.
When Chef Zach offered to host this dinner — opening his team, time, and Café Yaya’s new event space to support The Evolved Network — I felt deeply honored. His generosity and care embody the very spirit we strive to nurture: hospitality, curiosity, and belonging.
Chef Zach’s success is no accident. It’s the result of discipline, creativity, and heart. To share a kitchen with him and his team while furthering The Evolved Network’s mission — to create spaces of connection and healing through food — is a profound privilege.
Thank you, Chef Zach, for welcoming us to your table, for celebrating the season with us, and for reminding us that every meal shared in community is its own small act of light.
Past Collaboration Dinners
To become an event sponsor please email us info@theevolvednetwork.org