Amanda Cohen is the owner of the Dirt Candy restaurant in New York - a place described as one of the best and most fun vegetarian restaurants in The States.
Somewhat of a trend setter, Cohen was one of the first restaurant owners to eliminate tipping and the first in New York to push a purely vegetable driven menu at a high end level.
Though Cohen has been at the forefront of pushing a ‘vegetable’ focused cooking philosophy and although we’re constantly being told that vegetables are the next big thing - the chef herself, who isn’t a vegetarian, thinks the idea that vegetables are moving to the centre of the plate is a big myth.
In a recent talk at the Irish food symposium Food on The Edge, she speaks about how vegetables have actually been left behind by fine dining, how they are still at the side and how chefs don’t see vegetables as being anywhere near as cool as meat. In fact, she makes a pretty convincing argument for why fine dining chefs may have done more bad for vegetables cuisine than good.
She presents a wonderful speech that really asks some serious questions about the way we perceive the industry and how chefs are actually being overtaken by large corporations when it comes to innovation.
A must watch.
