OREGON BUSINESS Magazine (page 12)

Made in Oregon, U.S.A.

In its Around The State section, Oregon Business magazine featured the Evo Professional Wheeled Cart under the banner Hot hot hot!

Culinary pioneer Bob Shingler is convinced his new flattop grill the Evo is the best thing since sliced toast. And some trendsetters in high-end outdoor living seem to agree. Handcrafted in Oregon out of stainless steel and seasoned cast iron, the Evo has been featured this year under Budweiser’s Super Bowl tent and in Penthouse magazine; Robert Mondavi is buying a bunch to give as gifts; Marriott is putting them in resorts around the world; and the chi-chi mail –order catalog Frontgate is plugging the product to the posh patio crowd. Sunset, Organic Style and Good Morning America have also been poking around. After dropping in for a barbeque session in the company’s Beaverton parking lot, we’re sold. Corporate chef Ben Diamond served up pan-seared steak, steamed marlin, Chinese rice and cured pork wrapped in a banana leaf, Korean vegetable pancake, roasted baby bok choy hash browns and a scrambled egg. All exquisite.

Shingler invented the Evo in his garage while working a high-tech job. He insists he isn’t competing with mass-market brands such as Weber and George Foreman. Rather, he’s creating a whole new market segment: flattop grilling. The Evo does virtually everything an open rack grill can do, he says, plus you can smoke a salmon, boil a pot of pasta, make a stir-fry, steam a lobster – all on the flat surface. When he gets going, Shingler sounds like a barbeque preacher. “It’s pure, the way we used to cook before Teflon. It’s a totally new experience. The conviviality of people standing around the grill creating a gourmet meal together.” Shingler’s expanding into a new space to handle the increased production. “ It sure beats selling software to engineers,” he says.