About

My story starts in New York. I emigrated there from Poland in my early twenties. In my search for work in the city, I found myself in a catering business where I served a large number of people on many different occasions in and around New York City. I was offered catering positions at diverse locations, and found myself serving food everywhere from wedding and Bar-Mitzvah venues to places like the United Nations Building, the famous "Tavern on The Green," the Museum of Modern Art and the Design and Arabic Embassies. I loved the diversity of events, creative atmospheres.

 

Soon after, I started falling in love with the kitchen rush. I began to shift my focus from serving to cooking. I graduated from Kingsborough Community College in Tourism and Hospitality with a focus on Tourism and Culinary Arts. I was then offered a position in the culinary program at the College Kitchen as a College Lab Technician. Later I became an instructor's assistant and adjunct professor there. I lectured on front of the house service and led some cooking classes.

 

But all of that was not enough for me. I recognized that I was looking for something else that had some deeper meaning in the food industry. As fate should have it, came across some information on farm factories. I learned that nearly 10 billion animals are slaughtered in the USA every year and that 99% of them are raised on Factory Farms. On these farms, animals endure horrible treatment in order to maximize production and minimize cost. They are squeezed together inside small cages or compartments with no room to move. They do not receive the nourishment or care they need to thrive or even survive. It was after I learned this devastating news that I chose to become vegetarian and later, vegan.

I was inspired to respect my body by watching what I ate, and to respect the animal world by choosing not to purchase or consume meat products since doing so would mean I was actively participating in the farm
factory business and the killing of animals. As a consumerist economy, we vote with our dollar and it is completely against my values to be a part of this cruelty chain.

 

At the same time that I was exploring the vegan path, I also became a certified yoga instructor with 200h in Hatha yoga studies at the Sivananda Ashram in the Bahamas. While I was there, I was able to work in the Ashram’s kitchen. I learned there about the energetics of food and how we transport our own energy to food when cooking. I also learned about Ahimsa, which has become my life mantra. Ahimsa is one of the values in the Yogic belief system. It is a Sanskrit word that stands for non-violence toward self and others. When we live with the value of Ahimsa in mind, we hold a profound respect for humanity as well as all other beings living on this planet. Ahimsa speaks to me on a deep level and has had a great impact on my life choices since I became aware of it.

 

After my 200 hour certification, I decided to look more into the energy of yoga, which led me to Rishikesh, India. There I completed my 500h certification in Kundalini yoga at Sattva Yoga Academy. Since that time, I have been teaching yoga and working in various restaurants as both a sous chef and a restaurant staff lead in the front of house. I have fallen in love with both. I continue to teach cooking classes to adults and children at places like Taste Buds Kitchen in Palo Alto, CA and Cooking Round the World in the Bay Area. No matter what I am doing I keep my focus and teachings on the energetics of plants and humans as well as veganism.

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Currently, I teach vegan cooking classes for organizations like Cozymeal and Classpop as well as private cooking classes within my yoga community. I also organize annual vegan food pop-ups, which accept donations that are then offered to animal sanctuaries and shelters.

 

After years of learning and growing as a vegan chef, a yogi I have come to believe that we are all one and that all beings are connected. To me, this means killing one species kills any and all others on a physical and energetic level.