About EVO

EVO stands for Eleni Vavouris Originals and is the brainchild and dream of Chef Eleni Vavouris. EVO is a food company specializing in small batch made salsas, sauces, marinades, vinaigrettes, and spice blends.

EVO is Eleni’s 10+ year vision finally coming to fruition.  It all started with the original famous salsa. As Chef and Owner of her catering company, STF Events and Catering, she has spent years creating and perfecting recipes for clients. The salsa has long been a hit with clients, friends, and family alike. An amazing blend of tomatoes, spices, and love-the salsa was always requested and soon folks started begging for it to bottled so they could enjoy any time, anywhere. In February 2016, Eleni began serious plans to bring EV Originals to life.

EVO’s main goal is to bring BOLD, INNOVATIVE, FRESH, and FLAVORFUL recipes to you.

Unlike any other commercial products on the market, your taste buds will EVOlve and explode. Our products are locally made in Middle TN, in small batches from our kitchen to yours. We hope you fall in love with all of our EVO masterpieces and help propel us to the top of the market.

Who Is EV?

Eleni Vavouris is the chef and creator of the product line EV Originals. She would like to introduce you to her Eleni Vavouris original products, made in small batches with love!  Eleni grew up in a large Greek family and community in Memphis, TN. Her love of eating and cooking grew organically by watching and learning from her Greek and Southern relatives. However, she never saw food as a career, just a stress relieving hobby.

She headed off to college at the University of TN Martin and got a degree in Human Environmental Sciences and Psychology.  A year and a half into her Masters in Family Counseling, a friend and sorority sister, sensing her frustration in her chosen field, asked: “why don’t you go to culinary school?” It all clicked for Eleni and she set off to discover her true life-long passion. After a culinary apprenticeship at the famed Opryland Hotel in Nashville, and culinary and catering degrees from Sullivan University in Louisville, KY, Eleni moved back to middle TN to begin her cooking career.

After a stint as an executive chef with Sodexho, she decided to begin her own catering company. Savor the Flavor Catering (now known as STF Events & Catering) was born in 2005. With the freedom to create her own recipes and be her own boss, she flourished. Guests and clients took notice of how fresh and flavorful her dishes were and were soon asking for recipes. Once they figured out that a Chef never shares her recipes, they began asking where they could buy certain dishes and items. The “original famous salsa” was the catalyst.

With so many asking how they could buy it outside of catered events, she knew this would be her flagship. With the encouragement of her family and friends, she started to research how to bring her products to market. For the first time ever, she actually wrote down the recipe that she had so long just made by taste. She then set out to find a co-packer who could produce items for her because she knew it’d be too much with her catering schedule.

The folks at Nashville Kitchen and Cannery were the perfect fit. She met with Parker and Vance and knew right away that they would handle the ingredients and products with the same love and care she did. After several test runs together, Eleni and the NKC crew perfected 4 recipes: the original salsa, the spicy roja salsa, the chipotle peach sauce, and the Greek marinade. All EV Originals; all made with attention and great care; all delicious and unlike anything you’ve ever had before.

More Questions?

Email EV here and feel free to ask her anything about her products or life… She is only a year shy of her masters in counseling after all. :)