Ottawa-born chef Amanda Cohen, owner of the first vegetable-focused eatery in New York City, is coming to Edmonton as NAIT’s chef- in-residence for 2017.
Cohen is the award-winning talent behind Dirt Candy, which broke new culinary ground when it opened, becoming the first vegetarian restaurant in 17 years to receive two stars from the New York Times. It was recognized by the Michelin Guide to restaurants five years running, and also won awards from Gourmet Magazine and the Village Voice.
“I’m super flattered and excited,” says Cohen of the opportunity to share her knowledge with NAIT students. “I’ve never been to Edmonton before and so that’s new, and I love doing things at home in Canada. It was a win-win and it’s an honour to be invited to do something like this.”
Celebrity chefs who are women are harder to come by than their male counterparts. The Hokanson chef-in-residence program has featured eight chefs in its history, but only one other woman, chef Lynn Crawford. Cohen acknowledges that the field is smaller for female celebrity chefs.
“There’s lots of us out there, but sometimes you have to look a little bit harder. It’s amazing to be part of such an elite group.”
Cohen became a vegetarian when she was about 15, and started cooking when she was 20.
“My first couple of jobs were all vegetarian cooking jobs, and up until I was about 30, I went back and forth between vegetarian cooking and the mainstream world,” says Cohen, 42.
She stopped being a vegetarian herself “for different reasons,” but recognized that there was room in the market for a restaurant that puts vegetables first.
“When I decided it was time to open my own restaurant, I could see there was a gap in the market and it was a niche I could fill. Nobody was doing anything exciting with them, and I really love vegetables.”
Dirt Candy, which is described as a vegetable restaurant rather than a vegetarian restaurant, has been open for eight years. In 2015, it moved from an 18-seat venue in the East Village to 60 seats on the Lower East Side. According to the restaurant’s website, Cohen was the first vegetarian chef to appear on Iron Chef America and her comic book cookbook, Dirt Candy: A Cookbook, is the first graphic novel cookbook published in North America.
In January 2015, the restaurant became the first in New York City to eliminate tipping.
Cohen, who studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, says she looks forward to meeting with NAIT students in Edmonton.
“I hope I pass on my love of vegetables, and that they’ll understand that they are the most exciting food they can work with.” says Cohen.
The Hokanson chef-in-residence program has been running since 2009. Last year’s chef was Vancouver’s Vikram Vij. The official dates for the 2017 program have yet to be announced, but typically, it is held in March.
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