Comerica Small Business of The Game for Lions-Bucs Monday Night Football at Ford Field
DETROIT — Chef Evelyn Stokes’ mission is to promote healthy eating, cultural awareness, and team collaboration while cultivating lifelong culinary skills in a fun and inclusive environment.
With her business, Evelyn’s Midtown Kitchen, located in Eastern Market, Stokes offers team-building corporate cooking classes, youth and family cooking sessions, wellness-focused workshops, and international cuisine experiences.
The business also offers private events, charcuterie catering, and culinary consulting.
Honoring her love, excitement and enthusiasm for culinary art and community, Evelyn’s Midtown Kitchen will be honored as the Comerica Small Business of the Game when the Detroit Lions host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on October 20 in a Monday Night matchup at Ford Field.
Now in its seventh season, Comerica Bank’s partnership with the Detroit Lions promotes one new business each week of a Lions regular season game at Ford Field and offers exposure to the NFL audience through in-stadium, digital, social, and traditional media platforms.
Evelyn’s Midtown Kitchen, which can be found online at emkculinary.com, is also a 2025 Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest by TechTown semi-finalist.
The annual retail competition gives savvy entrepreneurs exposure and the chance to win a cash grant and a package of in-kind services to open up their brick-and-mortar storefront in Detroit, Hamtramck, or Highland Park.
Stokes says that participating in Hatch was an “extraordinary” experience.
“You know, it’s always good to develop your chops and define who you are, and really go on a hardcore journey of promoting your business,” said Stokes.
“It was an incredible amount of work, but it was really great to connect with people at those events. The exposure is fantastic, and you also get a little bit deeper into the ecosystem, developing relationships within the extraordinary business ecosystem we have in Detroit.”
Known as Chef Evelyn, Stokes has a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix, and an associate’s degree in culinary arts from the prestigious Schoolcraft College of Culinary Arts in Livonia.
Under the tutelage of several certified master and executive chefs, Stokes was formally trained in French culinary cuisine.
Stokes culinary journey has taken her to several places across Michigan, as well as to one of the finest French restaurants on the East Coast—Bar Boulud in New York—where she gained experience in a traditional French kitchen.
Her inspiration started out at home from her father and mother, David and June Stokes.
“My father was a cook in our family,” Stokes explains. “I was raised by entrepreneurs on the west side of Detroit, awesome people who got here at the tail end of the Great Migration and came to Detroit for new opportunity. My mother had opened a flower shop on the west side, and my father was a real estate agent. So, I was raised by these two people who had a lot of agency in their lives.
“They were pillars of the community. People looked up to them. They provided these safe spaces, and one way our family often connected, whether it was during the holidays or throughout the year, was through food. And my father was extremely passionate about food. He planned our meals ahead. He really thought about interesting foods that we can eat for dinner. And I would help him a lot in the kitchen.”
Stokes believes that food brings people together.
“It is what I promote,” said Stokes. “My business is rooted in my own background, where I believe food can bring people together, not just at the table, but in the kitchen as well. Kids learn something new. They feel good about themselves, you know, they’re confident in their ability to make something.”
Evelyn’s Midtown Kitchen provides a fun, memorable, and exciting culinary experience in Detroit.
One reviewer shared, “My daughter-in-law and I attended a French Holiday cooking class at Evelyn’s Midtown Kitchen in November at the Eastern Market. It was a great bonding experience. We enjoyed the meal we prepared in class, and we recreated the meal for Christmas Eve dinner for our family to rave reviews.”
Stokes loves when people come in, learn something new and have a wonderful time.
“Sometimes, on a Friday night, customers are laughing so loudly that it makes it all worth it. Our classes naturally bring people together from diverse backgrounds —they prepare the meal together and eat what they make. That’s the kind of thing that we can create in the city, a sense of togetherness and belonging. And sometimes we get people out of the house, give them a place to do something new and different.”
For the Lions game on Monday night, Stokes has invited family members from across the country. “We all have our Lions jerseys ready,” she said. “I’m excited.”
On social media, find out more about Stokes and Evelyn’s Midtown Kitchen via Instagram (@evelynsmidtownkitchen), Facebook (@EMKCulinary) and LinkedIn (Evelyn’s Midtown Kitchen).
