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Community Corner

Bites Nearby: Meet the Chef/Owner of Bevan's Own Make Candy

This week food writer Clara Park sat down with Randy Bevan, third generation chocolatier of Bevan's Own Make Candy in Media.

In a world dominated by corporate giants and heavily processed foods it's always a treat to meet an actual artisan, particularly when the handmade goods are edible. While Randy Bevan of may not call himself an artisan, it's exactly what he is.

This third generation chocolatier and confectioner learned how to do everything from his father and grandfather. Bevan continues to use much of the same handcrafted machinery his predecessors used and though much of the equipment is more than a 100 years old it still works better than many machines built today.

Read below to find out more about this dyed-in-the-wool candy fanatic who is gregarious, energetic and thrives under pressure.

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Name: Randy Bevan

Age: 31

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Hometown: Media, PA

Home now: Media, PA

Favorite Thing about the Community: Everything...It's a small town and that's great.

Do you do any community work? We make donations to schools, churches and sports teams in the form of gift certificates, candy, etc.

Years in the Industry: My whole life, but full time about 12 years.

Earliest Cooking Memory: Making nut brittles when I was little or else packing candies with my mom.

First Kitchen Job: When I was about 5 or 6 I would do whatever jobs my parents would let me whether it was mopping or making nut brittle.

What brought you to the industry? My parents owned the business and my father passed away when I was in college, so I started helping my mom with the business, and then she passed away a year later, I've been running the shop on my own for 10 years. 

Advice for Home Cooks: Be creative. When working with chocolates and candy, be patient, don't rush it or it'll be terrible.

Favorite Thing to Cook: Chocolate caramel, it smells so good.

Favorite Menu Item: Vanilla buttercream and caramels.

Healthiest Menu Item: Anything dark chocolate, there are flavonoids in it that are shown to be anti-inflammatory, cancer-fighting, etc.

Favorite Local Restaurant:

Favorite Restaurant in the World: The Farmhouse in Avondale, PA

Guilty Pleasure (food or drink): I work at a candy store, I eat too much candy.

Last Meal on Earth: My mother-in-law's macaroni and cheese and a Coors light.

Cook for Any Celebrities? Tug McGraw

Favorite Food Shows: Kitchen Nightmares and there used to be a show called Little Chocolatiers about little people making chocolate, that was great, but it was on for a second. 

Biggest Kitchen Disaster: Cutting off my finger on Palm Sunday while I was cutting caramels. Karen (the store manager) had to drive me to the hospital to have it re-attached. 

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