154: Meet the Celebrity Chef Who Pioneered Plant-Based Cuisine - with Matthew Kenney

He’s probably the best-known chef in the world when it comes to vegan dining. 

Matthew Kenney didn’t start as someone you would expect to become a leader in the plant-based cooking field. That’s because Matthew grew up in Maine, where fishing and hunting were a big part of his family’s way of life. 

But many years ago, before most futurists and business speculators could see it - Matthew caught a vision of where the food industry was going and how plant-based cuisine would one day explode into the billion-dollar business it is today.

His career is jaw-dropping for anyone who understands the food business’s ins and outs, yet Matthew is still growing. He’s planning more exciting things as plant-based cuisine and vegan products continue to grow in popularity. 

When Matthew first switched from including animal protein in his repertoire to exclusively plant-based cuisine, many of his colleagues thought he was crazy. At the same time, the food media stopped covering his work. 

Feeling alone and isolated, Matthew struggled through some highly lean years. Thankfully, he persevered, and his work contributed to the paradigm shift that we see today. Now, pretty much every restaurant offers at least a few vegan options. Meanwhile, vegan restaurants continue to multiply. 

Matthew takes us through his incredible journey during his conversation with host Wade T. Lightheart - who asks his usual probing questions to draw out Matthew’s story and what makes him stand out enough to become famous as a plant-based chef.

Not only is Matthew the world’s leading chef of plant-based cuisines, but he is also the author of twelve books and a best-selling memoir. He is a culinary educator highly respected throughout the halls of all primary cooking schools. 

As a graduate of the French Culinary Institute, Matthew went on to work in upscale New York kitchens, opening up several of his restaurants along the east coast. 

His awards include being named one of America’s Best New Chefs by Food & Wine Magazine. Matthew was also twice nominated as a Rising Star in America by the James Beard Foundation.  

Matthew regularly appears on various media channels, including all the well known talk shows, and presented two TEDx talks that are still highly viewed (link below.)  

In this podcast, we cover:

The ups and downs Matthew saw while shifting into gourmet vegetarian cuisine What motivated Matthew to push ahead as a pioneer when everyone thought he was making a mistake The traits that make someone a talented plant-based chef How the Matthew Kenney Cuisine brand grew to world dominance How an experienced chef uses art, fashion, and architecture for culinary inspiration The dessert Matthew makes that Wade can’t get out of his head A new plant-based fast-food drive-thru Matthew recently opened How Matthew keeps his restaurants on the cutting-edge of vegetarian cuisine Where Matthew sees his company going in the next ten to twenty years

 

When your career aligns with your passions and principles - magic happens.

No matter what industry it is, when a person finds a vision that aligns with their personal beliefs, this is often the secret formula that enables them to leapfrog over their career to the highest levels of success. 

This is what happened with Matthew. His love for food and wine intersected with his passion for health and environmentalism. Matthew didn’t like how many of his tastiest dishes made him and others feel like crap the next day in his early days as a chef. As someone who wanted to achieve optimal wellness and nourish the environment, Matthew found a path that aligned good food, health, and environmental integrity. 

Matthew tells Wade at one point, “The chef's role is not only to feed and entertain but to nourish people and the environment. This is the most aligned path I have ever experienced. I have always been motivated by the fact that if I don’t keep going, I’m not going to be able to share this with people and not show what can be done, to teach others how to do it...I’m lucky that I was able to stick it out.”

Everything is creative.

Matthew is a true polymath with many additional interests outside of food, including fashion, art, architecture, music, and writing. His brand has become multifaceted over the years, as his new clothing line is about to launch. 

The pandemic pushed his business into other creative areas. For example, Matthew’s business creates a ton of content and recently produced a series of educational cooking videos for people to learn cooking skills online. The course was projected to receive a few hundred students. However, because of the lockdowns, more than 500 people signed up for the video course the first month.

Matthew says, “We’re always shifting our business model. Right now, 85% of our company’s revenue is from restaurants. This will eventually flip upside down, and most of our revenue will be products and institutional food service, serving huge campuses with our patented know-how. Our system will be seeing significant demand in every sector - hospitals, schools, universities, corporate campuses, and so forth. We will see huge growth online with 60 different types of businesses like meal plans, frozen food, etc.”  

Wade is super excited to have Matthew visit his BioHome, as Wade has followed Matthew’s career for years and loves to eat at one of Matthew’s restaurants located just a couple of blocks from his house. You will enjoy this episode if you are a fan of Matthew or love plant-based cuisine. Investors and entrepreneurs should tune in also to hear about the glowing opportunities ahead of us in the plant-based food industry. 

Check out this episode - plant-based cuisine never tasted so good! 

 

Episode Resources: 
Check out more about Matthew Kenney
Matthew Kenney Cuisine on Instagram
Matthew Kenney’s Wikipedia Page
Matthew Kenney’s Amazon Author Page
Matthew Kenney’s TEDx Talk: Crafting the Future of Food
Matthew Kenney on Facebook
Matthew Kenney on Twitter
Matthew Kenney Cuisine on LinkedIn