Kadra Evans has learned her way around the kitchen from some of the best in the local food industry, like Cochinito's Travis Dickinson and Eat Good Group's Adam Hegsted. In 2020, she launched Little Noodle in the Garland District, initially as a six-month seasonal pop-up. It became a permanent fixture of the neighborhood in late 2021. She followed it up with Garden Party in downtown Spokane in summer 2023, serving up craft cocktails and small plates in a nature-themed oasis. Diners can look forward to seeing both of Evans' restaurants in Inlander Restaurant Week 2025.
RESTAURANT WEEK: When and why did you decide to become a chef, and then a restaurant owner?
EVANS: So chef happened because I was general manager of a little restaurant on the South Hill, and the chef never took any time off, and so I said, "Let me help out. I should know the kitchen-side of things, too, if I'm going to be helping you do the whole restaurant." So he trained me, and I fell in love with cooking.
What led you to open the Garden Party?
Garden Party was because I was told I couldn't have any more plants in the house. So my best friend and I — it was really her idea — she's always wanted to open a cafe that was a plant shop. I said, "Well, I have this amazing space downtown that I know is vacant and basically ready to walk into, and all we have to do is add plants, better vibes, and get it going."
What kinds of places do you look for when you dine out — in other words, what excites you?
I always want to try new things. I love atmosphere. I'm all about the vibes and stuff, so that's huge. Mostly I would just want to try new things, so anybody that's doing something out of the box. I love what Joseph O'Neal is doing down at Hogwash, watching how he's making ramen and stuff. It's some of the best ramen I've ever had, you know, and he's making it over there. So like watching those kinds of chefs do something out of the box, too, that's where I'm going to go because I don't have a lot of time to go out to eat. So when I do go, it better be good. I want to be wowed and love the whole experience.
What are some of the biggest challenges the restaurant industry is currently facing, and how are you responding?
Staffing, as of late, like honestly, it's really good, but for the last several months staffing has been really hard. Finding people that want to work hard and also love it as much as you're going to love it is near to impossible. As an owner, you're going to find one or two people that actually care as much as you care, so striving to always find those people is really hard. And I think a lot with the food cost, honestly, it's the roughest time to be in a restaurant.
Who are some of your culinary heroes or biggest influences, and why?
100% I'll always say Travis Dickinson with Clover [closed in 2023] and Cochinito because he's the one that taught me that the industry didn't have to be this masculine intimidation of people. He had such a talented crew when I worked there... but rather than it being a rivalry, it was like constantly bouncing ideas off each other and stuff.
What's something that diners can look forward to on your Restaurant Week menu?
I always try to do some things that I've never done before. A couple of years ago we did the lava cup, and it was so much fun. But when I do these brand-new things that I've never done before, I find the challenges in them and I'm like, "That was too hard for this many people," or that kind of stuff. So it's always a learning curve for me because I want to challenge myself but not destroy everybody on the way.
What is an item that returns to your Restaurant Week menu year after year?
We always do the pho [at Little Noodle] because we want people to try it because it's different from anywhere else in town. Mixed between Vietnamese and Thai, lots of lemongrass, very herbaceous. And getting people to try it with our fresh local meats and stuff is huge. So I always tend to go with keeping pho on the menu because I want people to try ours.
What advice would you give to diners going out during IRW 2025?
Be patient, be kind, be understanding. And, I mean, be over-the-top friendly because this is a lot for my staff. It's exhausting, and they are just trying to stay positive and have good vibes. The more people come in with the better attitudes, gosh, the better the food is going to be, the better your time is going to be because people aren't stressing quite so much.
What else do you hope 2025 has in store for diners, chefs and the local community?
Things like this I think are such a positive experience and bring people out and get them excited about something, and I think that's huge — getting to try new restaurants. I try to try one spot during Restaurant Week every year. It doesn't always happen, but, I mean, one of my employees went to a place and brought me back one of the dishes I wanted. I was like, "Yes! I got to try something new." It's all about trying new spots and new bites, so be adventurous.
