Vegan chefs from around the world have been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to plant-based food products. Without their creative brainstorming and experimentation, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy so many of the fantastic vegan dishes we have access to now! One of the biggest struggles of enjoying a plant-based lifestyle is finding alternative ingredients without sacrificing taste or quality. Luckily, vegan chefs have done the work for us and continue to find new ways to incorporate delicious plant-based ingredients into their recipes.
Each vegan chef has their own culinary style and unique talents. Here are five awesome vegan chefs that are changing the world of vegan cuisine one dish at a time.
Photo credit: Big Hospitality
Matthew Kenney is a huge inspiration for us at BReD. He is leading the way in fine dining, showcasing his talent in all his vegan restaurants, cookbooks and online cooking courses.
He has been working as a chef since graduating from the French Culinary Institute in 1990. He opened his first restaurant soon after in 1993 and his first vegan restaurant, Pure Food and Wine, in 2004. Since then he has been opening up vegan restaurants all across the globe, including fine dining establishments like Adesse in London.
We recommend taking one of his online courses on Food Future Institute.
Ed Tatton is our very own vegan chef and Co-Founder here at BReD. He began his culinary training at the age of 16 at Thanet College in Kent, UK. At the time, the UK wasn’t the most vegan-friendly place to be, nor was veganism incredibly popular, but Ed was drawn to explore the versatility of plant-based ingredients. After working in multiple Michelin-starred kitchens across the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, he returned to the UK and became the head chef at a farm-to-table boutique restaurant in Bristol. He would craft menu items based on fresh, seasonal ingredients from their on-site garden, and his interest in plant-based cuisine began to grow.
After moving to Canada, Ed recognized that it was easy to find vegetarian options on most menus, but vegan options would be harder to come by. He introduced a vegan cheesecake to the menu of a farm-to-table restaurant where he was the sous chef, and the sales skyrocketed. At the same time, Ed started his side hustle, baking bread. He always loved the art of baking, especially making sourdough, and his business took off! Eventually, everyone in town was talking about Ed’s sourdough, and he finally decided to open his own vegan bakery, BReD in Whistler, Canada, alongside his wife, Natasha. The pair have now joined forces once again to write their first cookbook together with Penguin Random House, also called BReD.
Ever since he’s been providing the community with a huge range of vegan baked goods using local ingredients. Everyone raves about his sourdough, cinnamon buns, focaccia and other baked delights. Find out more about Ed’s journey here.
Photo credit: Bookshop Santa Cruz
Isa Chandra Moskowitz is an OG in the vegan culinary space, starting a cooking show back in 2003 called Post Punk Kitchen, which aired until 2005. She continued the brand in the form of an online community where she started sharing recipes and food photography. She has also written many vegan cookbooks, including Vegan with a Vengeance, Vaganomicon, and I Can Cook Vegan.
She became vegetarian when she was in her teens and started digging into vegan cookbooks to find recipes to try. That’s what sparked her love of cookbooks and her motivation to write them herself. She now owns two restaurants, Modern Love Brooklyn and Modern Love Omaha, where they serve vegan comfort food like nachos, cauliflower wings, burgers, and even mushroom fried chicken.
Photo credit: Millennium Restaurant
Eric Tucker is the co-owner, founder and head chef of Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco. He is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Cookery School in NYC and has authored and contributed to many vegan cookbooks. Eric has always been passionate about plant-based cooking but has made it his life’s mission to create unique, contemporary dishes combining various ethnic styles. And he did just that when he opened Millennium Restaurant back in 1994, making it the first entirely plant-based fine-dining restaurant in San Francisco.
Eric also is an instructor at Conquering Homelessness through Employment in Food Service (or CHEFS for short) and a huge advocate for sustainable local agriculture. He also frequently offers vegan cooking classes at his restaurant and even goes into schools to teach and spread the word on the benefits of plant-based foods.
Photo credit: Tip Hero
Babette Davis is a vegan chef, motivational speaker, and fitness guru who has been active in the animal rights community for many years. She became vegan back in 1990 when veganism wasn’t very popular. After suffering from asthma, digestive problems, and skin disorders for years, she became passionate about healing through nutrition and started the transition to more raw and vegan foods. Babette then opened her own vegan restaurant, Stuff I Eat, in Inglewood, California, in 2008, which brought vegan cuisine to a neighbourhood lacking options. She was committed to serving her community by making nutritious and healthy food options more accessible, and the restaurant took off.
She is now in her 70s and still creates online vegan cooking classes and speaks at events all over the country. Babette has done a lot of work with the animal rights charity Mercy for Animals, who recently produced a video profile for Stuff I Eat which received over 7.3 million views on social media.
Photo credit: Doug McNish
Last but not least, we have Doug McNish, an award-winning vegan chef who has made his mark on the vegan food scene of Toronto, Canada. He was one of the trailblazers of “Vegandale,” an area with excellent vegan food options in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto. He was pivotal in the opening of Mythology Diner, where you can find everything from vegan eggs to his iconic vegan Reuben.
Besides being a chef he has also written four cookbooks, is a restaurant consultant and menu developer. Doug is also a public educator and speaker, spreading the word about veganism and helping other restaurateurs and brands to offer more raw and vegan options. He received the title of “Best Chef in Toronto” in 2017 and participated in many cooking competitions where his recipes reached an international audience.
These vegan chefs, and so many others, serve as inspiration for both plant-based and non-vegan communities. They show us that we can enjoy nutritious, healthy recipes without sacrificing taste or quality. For those who are hesitant to make the move to more plant-based options, vegan chefs offer know-how and educational resources and classes that can help make the transition easier and more accessible. Plus, they ensure we can enjoy tasty vegan dishes without lifting a finger!
