Greetings, I'm Beverly Lynn Bennett, and I'm passionate about vegan cuisine! I've been working in restaurants, in one form or another, for most of my life. At the age of 12, I started out helping wash dishes at the club that my parents belonged to, and the rhythm and pulse of working in a busy kitchen began to get in my blood. I later would work my way up through the ranks of various restaurants, and I eventually became a certified foodservice operations manager as well as acquiring a culinary arts degree from the University of Akron.
In 1987, I became a vegetarian, and a few years later I went completely vegan, and it was the best decision I ever made! I never felt healthier, and knowing that I was no longer contributing to animal suffering made me feel even better. As a vegan, I can bake and sauté with the best of them, and I'm passionate about showing the world just how delicious and nutritious food actually can be when it's free of animal products.
In the early 1990s, I was fortunate enough to discover that a few vegetarian restaurants actually existed in Northeast Ohio, where I lived at the time. There I was finally able to put my culinary talents to work without compromising my beliefs. I worked at several vegetarian restaurants in the years that would follow, my favorite of which was the famed Zephyr vegetarian restaurant (now a non-vegetarian pub) located near Kent State University, where I worked for four years as chef. From 1998 to 2000 I was the vegan chef at Tabor's Thyme Cafe, formerly a mostly organic, vegetarian restaurant in Berea, Ohio.
In 2002, I became a regular columnist for the best vegan publication anywhere, VegNews Magazine. My column, "Dairy-Free Desserts," features some of my recipes for vegan goodies that aren't available on this site or anywhere else. Unlike most other mainstream veg-related publications, VegNews is completely vegan-oriented and is on the cutting edge of reporting on what's happening in the world of veganism.
Also in 2002, my partner Ray Sammartano and I relocated to the very vegan-friendly city of Eugene, Oregon, and we're loving it here! From 2002-2006, I worked for a long-established local natural foods store creating a daily assortment of fresh, organic vegan dishes and desserts. In 2007, I decided to take some time away from working in restaurants in order to devote more time to writing, developing recipe ideas for upcoming cookbooks, and spreading the vegan message online and through cooking demonstrations, and as a consultant and contributor to various media projects.
I am very proud to have contributed to and written several books in recent years. In 2005, I wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Living with Ray. It was the first book on veganism in the popular Idiot's Guide series. In 2008, we wrote a follow-up to the book titled The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Cooking, which features over 200 new recipes and variations as well as being loaded with vegan cooking tips, advice, and information.
2008 also saw the release of a cookbook that I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to write for the respected publisher of vegan and vegetarian books, Book Publishing Company (Summertown, TN). It is titled Vegan Bites: Recipes For Singles, which, as the title suggests, features recipes that call for smaller numbers of servings that are perfect for those who are cooking for one.
If you would like me to appear at your veg-oriented event, or if you are interested in my putting together an original column or article featuring some aspect of vegan cuisine, feel free to contact me at beverly@veganchef.com and I would be happy to discuss it with you!
