Evan Neumann is the executive chef of Auro, the Michelin-starred restaurant at Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley in Calistoga, California. Born in Cavaillon and raised in Avignon, Neumann trained at the École Hôtelière d’Avignon. His cooking combines a foundation in classical French gastronomy with the ingredients, vineyards, and agricultural landscape of Napa Valley.
Neumann’s career has taken him through Michelin-starred kitchens in France, Monaco, and the United States. He worked at Restaurant Joël Robuchon at Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo and on the cooking and sauce stations at Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée in Paris. He later served as sous chef at La Dame de Pic, Le 1920 at Four Seasons Hotel Megève. In New York, Neumann helped open Essential by Christophe, served as executive sous chef at Daniel, and later returned to Essential as chef de cuisine.
Neumann credits those experiences with introducing him to different ways of approaching ingredients. He says the philosophy of naturality he encountered at Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée taught him to look beyond technique and consider a product’s origins, while his experience at La Dame de Pic demonstrated how infusions, fragrances, and citrus can create complexity and emotion. His time in New York broadened his understanding of cultural diversity and creativity.
After taking over Auro in April 2026, Neumann brought those influences to a restaurant grounded in Northern California. Auro retained its Michelin star in June, its fourth consecutive year with the distinction and its first with Neumann leading the kitchen. His cooking there begins with understanding how an ingredient is cultivated, when it reaches its peak, and who produced it. Technique, he believes, should reveal an ingredient’s character rather than obscure it.
Neumann is a 2026-27 U.S. Regional Finalist in the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition. He views the competition as an opportunity to share his culinary perspective, encounter ideas from chefs of different backgrounds, and continue refining his identity. Representing the United States at the global final would also allow him to showcase Napa Valley, where agriculture, wine, and gastronomy are closely connected.
His signature dish, From the Valley to the Shoreline, pairs wild razor clams and coastal seaweeds with Napa Valley verjuice, vine shoots, and fennel. The Pacific Ocean meets the vineyards and farms of Napa, while fennel reconnects Neumann to his Mediterranean roots. The dish also recognizes the fishermen, farmers, producers, and winemakers responsible for its ingredients.
Neumann hopes the judges experience a clear sense of place through the dish and recognize the relationship among Napa Valley, the Pacific coastline, and the people working across those environments. For him, it represents the future of his cooking: product-driven, rooted in its surroundings, and shaped by land, sea, and seasonality.
Evan Neumann is one of 10 chefs competing in the 2026-27 S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy U.S. Regional Final. Meet the other finalists vying for a place at the global Grand Finale.
