Matthew Kenney

Matthew Kenney

Matthew Kenney delivering his TEDtalk at TEDxOKC 10 June 2011
Born (1964-08-31) August 31, 1964
Connecticut, USA
Education University of Maine (1988), International Culinary Center (1990)
Website http://matthewkenneycuisine.com/

Culinary career

Matthew Kenney (born August 31, 1964) is an American celebrity chef, author, speaker, educator, and entrepreneur specializing in plant-based food. He has authored 12 cookbooks and is the founder of Matthew Kenney Cuisine, an integrated lifestyle company as well as the Matthew Kenney Culinary Academy, a raw food education center offering courses online, in Venice, CA, Belfast, Maine, Miami, FL and Hua Hin, Thailand.[1]

Life

Born in Connecticut and growing up on the coast of Maine, Matthew developed a relationship with nature and the outdoors. After graduating from the University of Maine with a degree in Political Science he followed his love for food and became a chef. He attended the acclaimed French Culinary Institute, now the International Culinary Center, learning classical culinary techniques. Upon graduating (1990), he worked at various high profile kitchens in New York City.

Career

Matthew opened his namesake restaurant, Matthew's, in 1993 and gained immediate notoriety for innovative cuisine, twice earning a James Beard Foundation nomination for Rising Star Chef and becoming Food and Wine Magazine's 1994 Best New Chef.[2] With traction in the NY restaurant scene he continued his career by opening a group of restaurants: Mezze, Monzu [3] Canteen and Commune.

As his career progressed Chef Kenney changed his culinary interest and style from traditional to plant-based. With a new emphasis on raw, organic and fresh ingredients he opened Pure Food and Wine in 2004 with a group of partners. The now-closed Pure Food and Wine has been featured twice in New York Magazine's "Top 100 Restaurants"[4] and 5 times in Forbes Magazine's list of "All Star New York Eateries."[5]

In 2014, the Health and Wellness Channel announced that Matthew will be hosting a show called Entertaining in the Raw.[6] The show will be held at different exotic locations and will feature Matthew entertaining various guests. It is set to begin production in Miami in August.

Matthew Kenney Cuisine

In 2009 Matthew formed Matthew Kenney Cuisine, a lifestyle company offering a variety of plant-based services and products.

Restaurants

Currently, Matthew Kenney Cuisine owns and operates multiple plant-based restaurants in the US including: Plant Food + Wine (in both Venice, CA and Miami, FL),[7] New York City's 00+Co and Plant Cafe in Bahrain (opening summer, 2016).[8] In summer 2016 the company will be launching incubator concept Arata from the Gothic space, located in Belfast, ME. The prior restaurant located in this space, The Gothic, won Maine Eaters 2013 best restaurant award,[9]

Education

In 2009, The Matthew Kenney Culinary Academy opened in Oklahoma City, OK as the world's first state licensed raw food educational center in the world.[10] The Academy immediately received students from around the globe and in 2015 moved to Venice, CA. The Academy's foundation is 2 four-week courses, Fundamentals of Raw Cuisine and Advanced Raw Cuisine and in 2015 was featured in Food & Wine magazine as one of "Best Cooking Classes Around the World."[2]

Matthew Kenney Academy Online launched in 2012 as an extension of Matthew Kenney Culinary. The online format let's students participate from their own kitchen and offers more than a dozen courses dedicated to the plant-based lifestyle.

Also, in MKC's educational platform is PlantLab (Belfast, Maine). PlantLab is an innovative test kitchen/classroom holding summer school month-long courses. It is directly across the street from Matthew's cooked vegetarian restaurant - The Gothic.

Chef services

Since becoming a well-known plant-based chef and lifestyle educator, Matthew has given his services to athletes, models, and entertainers.[11] He owns and operates Pure Chefs Worldwide, which specializes in chef placement.

Wellness

In Fall 2016 Matthew Kenney will launch Inner Sanctuary, an upscale, eco wellness experience space in Thailand.

Author and speaker

Matthew Kenney has given two TED talks titled, "Crafting the Future of Food" at TEDxAmericanRiviera and "Are You Feeding Your Body or Feeding Dis-Ease" at TEDxOKC, in both he speaks on the inadequacies of the Standard American Diet and the negative impact processed foods and meat have on our health, presenting the benefits on our health and planet of a raw plant-based diet.[12] Matthew is also friends with fellow plant-based lifestyle author/entrepreneur Brendan Brazier and is a contributor to Thrive Forward [13] Matthew's upcoming book 90 Day Raw Food Diet strives to help those interested in improving their health and energy by changing how and what they eat. Kenney provides a day-to-day, structured program of recipes, exercise, and lifestyle tips to optimize health and energy. 90 Day Raw Food Diet will be released in early 2015.

Books

Apps

Awards

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matthew Kenney.
  1. ↑ http://www.matthewkenneycuisine.com/education/thailand
  2. 1 2 M Elizabeth Sheldon, "Best Cooking Classes Around The World", Food and Wine, Readers Choice Issue, January 2014
  3. ↑ Ruth Reichl, "Diner's Journal", NY Times, May 30, 1997
  4. ↑ New York Magazine article
  5. ↑ Forbes Magazine article
  6. ↑ http://www.hwchannel.com/press/hwc-announces-matthew-kenney-host-new-show-%E2%80%98entertaining-raw%E2%84%A2%E2%80%99
  7. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-plant-food-wine-to-open-in-venice-20141203-story.html
  8. ↑ Laine Doss, "Matthew Kenney To Open White Lotus and Culinary Academy", Miami New Times, January 9, 2014
  9. ↑ Tom Minervino, "Eater Awards 2013", The Maine Eater, November 18, 2013
  10. ↑ Darla Shelden, "Oklahoma City's Matthew Kenney Academy attracts students from around the world", Oklahoma City Sentinel, November 29, 2011
  11. ↑ Joe Donatelli, "Can Athletes Improve Performance with Raw Food", Livestrong, July 19, 2013
  12. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MT5zE5plno
  13. ↑ Brendan Brazier Website
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