Chicago VeganMania began hosting Chef Demos in 2010, and they have quickly become one of the favorite events in the festival. This year, we're moving the Chef Demos to an exciting new space with excellent equipment for the chefs to prepare their most popular dishes. And each demo ends with a tasting, where each attendee gets a delicious sample of the dish that have just seen prepared.





RYAN AND MARY HOWARD

Ryan Howard is a food scientist and co-owner of Chicago Vegan Foods, makers of Temptation® vegan ice cream, Teese® vegan cheese, and Dandies® vegan marshmallows. Together with his wife Mary, they will be giving an entertaining demonstration of "Cooking With Dandies". Expect some gooey goodness.





KENDALL HUFF

(Chef Kendall Huff grew up in the Midwest where she was able to work on farms, play with animals, roll in hay, and appreciate nature and what it has to offer. Her obsession with food began at an early age, and she loved to eat…  alot!   While growing up on the farm, there were two calves named Sally and Butterscotch, whom Chef Kendall loved dearly.  One day, after realizing that Sally didn’t really go on “vacation,” Chef Kendall embraced a vegetarian diet.   She was 7 years old.

Chef Kendall attended culinary school at the Illinois Institute of Art- Chicago and has a five-star background with The Peninsula Hotel, The Ritz Carlton, The Nines Hotel in Portland, The Blackstone Hotel and The Four Seasons.

After spending 2 weeks at the Kushi Macrobiotic Institute in Becket, MA, she realized that spreading the knowledge of a plant-based diet and healthy lifestyle was her true passion, and she became an Executive Chef at Native Foods Café.





VEGAN BLACK METAL CHEF

The Vegan Black Metal Chef combines his passions for vegan cooking and making metal music to create an awesomely unlikely combination that is informative, hilarious, and enlightening.

As a Vegan for 12 years, a musician for 10 years, his quest to make awesomely amazing food, music, and blasphemy has culminated into a modern sensation.

His website contains vegan cooking instruction that focuses on cooking concepts rather than strict recipes, a series of YouTube videos that focus on single dishes as well as whole meal ideas, seeks to answer the question “what do vegans eat” set to a self made and recorded soundtrack of Black Metal music with comedy thrown in. The website also seeks to introduce people to bringing consciousness to their lives and all of their actions.

Here is Vegan Black Metal Chef's YouTube channel and website.





JULIE MARIE

Julie Marie teaches people how to enjoy a low fat plant based diet free of animal products, sugar, processed oils and food additives. She is a food coach specializing in weight loss, reversing heart disease and chronic illness.





MIYOKO SCHINNER

Gourmet restaurateur and vegan food expert Miyoko Schinner shares her secrets for making homemade nondairy cheeses that retain all the complexity and sharpness of their dairy counterparts while incorporating nutritious nuts and plant-based milks. Miyoko shows how to tease artisan flavors out of unique combinations of ingredients, such as rejuvelac and nondairy yogurt,, with minimal effort. Get set to enjoy delectable vegan cheeses with a range of consistencies from soft and creamy to firm.





KAT BARRY

Kat Barry is the owner of Kat’s Hot Cakes, a vegan snack food and catering company based out of Bridgman,
Michigan. While she has been vegetarian for most of her life, Kat became vegan five years ago.
Suddenly her life-long allergy and digestive issues were all but cured. Going vegan changed her life in
such a positive way she decided to make it her mission to share her experience, and her recipes, with as
many people as she possibly could. In March of 2011 she moved home to the Shores of southwestern
Michigan and started Kat’s Hot Cakes. Kat is almost entirely self-taught and her passion for veganism,
culinary arts, and living a full life come through in her dishes. She has learned most of what she knows
from trial and error, the women in her life, and, of course, Martha Stewart.


© 2012, Chicago VeganMania