This is an incredible achievement and I could not be more blown away by Edmonton Chef, Steve Brochu and his wife Lourdes. For the past 10 months, this foodie couple has been making dishes from my latest cookbook, hot for food all day. This was not a solicited PR opportunity. One day I just noticed @chef_brochew was tagging me in all of these creations and mentioned he was going to do them all! I couldn't believe it. What an honor! Plus he's a trained chef who owns the Edmonton restaurant Milk Crate. He's not vegan, nor is the restaurant.
I have learned more from Lauren Toyota’s cooking style and recipe book than from any other chef or cookbook in the last decade.
Steve Brochu for eatnorth.com
He and his wife do cook and eat plant-based at home which is a huge step in a positive direction. And Steve is one of very few Chefs I've come across who is hella open to this way of cooking. He's aware that he's got to be in order to be leading the pack into what will inevitably be a very vegan future here on earth!
A lot of non-vegan, classically trained Chefs tend to be snobby when it comes to veganism and vegan cooking. Uhh, Gordon Ramsay. Though he's come around, I guess. But it's my goal to be taken seriously as a self-taught vegan Chef who can cook with the best of them.
I'm really very honored that Chef Brochu chose my cookbook, of the many that exist, to school himself. This is why I do what I do. To open minds and hearts, and get rid of the stigma around vegan food and cooking.
Please go read Chef Steve Brochu's full piece on cooking through hot for food all day now on eatnorth.com! And of course, you can dive into it too by getting your copy wherever books are sold.
Lauren Toyota
Lauren is a plant-based powerhouse, a former TV host turned wildly successful food creator, best-selling cookbook author, and the woman responsible for making vegan comfort food a thing worth craving. Through her blog and YouTube channel, hot for food, she’s amassed a dedicated following by recreating all the nostalgic, indulgent dishes we love—mac & cheese, burgers, cinnamon rolls—but making them entirely plant-based. No compromise on taste, no weird ingredients, just damn good food.