AIR MILES

AIR MILES WITH Matthew Kenney

Matthew Kenney is an American celebrity chef, entrepreneur, author, an educator specialising in plant-based cuisine, and the founder of several vegan restaurants including concepts at Expo 2020 Dubai

WORDS HANNAH BRANDLER

What attracted you to your profession? During my first five years in New York, I couldn’t stop exploring. I walked every block. Every restaurant I walked by stood out. I would stop and look at their menus to try and understand what inspired them. I was a student of restaurants. I would use any extra funds I had to dine out and learn. I grabbed at everything I could. I read cookbooks and cooked at home at midnight after work. I wanted to dig deeper into that whole culinary world, which was captivating and mysterious to me; from then, I was hooked.

When did the love of plant-based cuisine kick in, and why?

As a child I roamed the damp woods, foraging for curled green fiddleheads, harvested honey and canned vegetables from the family garden. As my culinary career developed, I experimented with vegetarian foods, not even intentionally, by just following my own taste and food preferences. I started incorporating more vegetarian ingredients and then stopped eating meat and poultry. By the time I considered being plant-based 100 per cent, I was ready and just did it. That was 18 or 19 years ago.

The future is bright for plant-based cuisine says Kenney

What’s your favourite dish?

Kimchi dumplings because they represent a plant-based alternative without compromising culinary artistry, flavour, presentation or experience.

Most versatile ingredient?

Avocado – no explanation required!

Your guilty pleasure, food wise?

It’s definitely pasta. Simple pasta with lemon olive oil or, you know pasta with olive oil and sea salt, or pasta Pomodoro.

How has the pandemic affected the restaurant world?

With the hospitality landscape changing every day, restaurants and their owners must be nimble and adapt to the pandemic restrictions. I truly feel that the industry will be forever changed in whatever the postCOVID world may be.

What have been its pluses in terms of accelerating the plant-based movement?

Food should not only bring pleasure, but nourish, heal, and promote longevity. Food consumed impacts the body and eating clean helps keep people healthy, which is important in the time of Coronavirus.

What’s the future for plant-based cuisine?

I believe people are more concerned about what they put in their bodies, so the future is certainly bright for plantbased cuisine; we are only getting started.

Why is Expo 2020 Dubai a good fit for your food and dining concepts?

This is the largest event of its kind and the opportunity to share our food with the world is something we cannot miss.

What do you like about Dubai?

I was pleasantly surprised by all the different types of cuisines and international restaurants in Dubai, but I am yet to see anyone tap into the luxury vegan market, which is why we picked Dubai as our first official base in the Middle East.

What has been your most rewarding travel experience?

One of the most recent was Rwanda, preCOVID. I worked with gorillas.

And most challenging? Too many to mention.

What are your dream destinations?

Hawaii and the Maldives for sure, but you can never beat New York.

What’s your indispensable travel gadget?

I like to sleep on the flight so that once I arrive at my destination, I am truly aligned with the time zone, so I guess it’s my phone so I can listen to meditation podcasts.