Hi!
I am a vegan personal chef from Long Island. My journey started in 2011, at a raw food cafe in Huntington, NY. It was in the kitchen of Live Island Café that I knew I had found my calling. I started as an apprentice and soon enough graduated to sous chef. In addition to becoming a vegetable samari, I saw first hand the transformative powers of a plant based diet, as it was helping and healing our customers. Fueled with the desire to share these healing benefits with my community, I began teaching uncooking classes and practicing as a health coach with certification from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I further developed my health supportive culinary skills at the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC where I received my chef certification.
In 2015, I designed and implemented the vegan dishes for Batata Cafe in Northport, NY. As the head vegan chef, I served a variety of plant-based items to a diverse customer base. My cooking was well received by the community and I was featured in Edible Long Island Magazine as a Trail Blazer for vegan food on Long Island. Following that I pursued personal cheffing as a way to expand my skills and furthur share my healthy and creative cooking approach. In 2019, I was the guest chef aboard the Holland America Cruise Line, where I presented vegan cooking, techniques and lifestyle. Since having a baby, who is now a toddler, I have happily expanded my repertoire to include kid friendly, veggie packed dishes!
My calling in life is to help people have access to healthy and delicious meals. I believe what we eat is a tremendous tool in helping to prevent and in some cases, reverse illness, and improve our quality of life well into our golden years…and beyond!
If you feel good, you will do good.
Love, Chef Elyse