After Fyre and Tiger King, Chris Smith has put his name in a four-part docuseries called Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives that dropped on Netflix on 16 March 2022. The show explores how the runaway fugitive Sarma Melngailis, aka the Queen of Vegan Cuisine, ran one of the hottest restaurants in New York, a raw-food vegan place called Pure Food and Wine for years. That is of course before she ended up defrauding her employees and running from law enforcement. Matthew Kenney, whom we are going to discuss in the rest of the writing, is a celebrated chef who played a significant role in Pure Food and Wine becoming a reality and Sarma becoming the “Queen of Vegan Cuisine”.
Now, read through this ‘Matthew Kenney Bio’.
Matthew Kenney On Netflix’s Bad Vegan
Matthew, here, is the world’s leading plant-based chef, the writer of several best-selling cookbooks, a culinary educator, and an entrepreneur specializing in the plant-based lifestyle. This is how Matthew Kenny’s story advances on Bad Vegan.
After graduating from the French Culinary Institute, he was working in several restaurants where meat and dairy-based food was the mainstay when he got an invite to work at a raw food restaurant in the East Village in New York. The timing was perfect because Matthew was already considering shifting to plant-based cuisine. So, around this time, in 2003, he crossed paths with Sarma when she was hired to research for one of his cookbooks. They released the cookbook titled Raw Food, Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow. It became a surprise hit and opened a lot of doors for the pair.
They began dating and, in 2004, co-launched Pure Food and Wine, which was soon going to bring about the food revolution and later the controversy of an era, with Jeffrey Chodorow as its owner.
Regardless, by late 2005, not just Matthew and Sarma had ended their relationship, and Matthew even had left the restaurant.
Jeffrey had sued Matthew for an alleged breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. While Jeffrey considered that Matthew was poaching Pure Food and Wine’s employees to work on his other projects; Matthew, in his defense, said the employees were the ones to contact him. (Of course) he also denied all accusations.
Where Is Matthew Kenney Today?
Post Pure Food and Wine, Matthew ran several restaurants in Oklahoma, Maine, Illinois, and California at different times. All along, he also continued dealing with legal troubles and financial issues at many of his establishments.
In 2009, Matthew had notably started a culinary institute that specialized in raw food, with students from all over the globe coming to study there. He had sold the business in 2017.
Since in between and until now, Matthew has earned several awards, including being named one of America’s Best New Chefs by Food and Wine Magazine and twice being nominated as a Rising Star Chef in America by the James Beard Foundation.
Today, based in Venice in Los Angeles, California, he continues to be the CEO of Matthew Kenney Cuisine, a multi-pronged lifestyle company in the run since January 2006.
In October 2021, Matthew Kenney Cuisine launched a dining venue at Expo 2020 Dubai in the UAE. With this, he now owns close to fifty restaurants worldwide other than leading the plant-based culinary program for students from all over the world.
Matthew Kenney Net Worth
Matthew Kenny, who opened his first restaurant, Matthew, in 1993, reportedly held $20 million as his net worth by 2016.
Despite having plans to attend law school and despite having no interest in cooking, he fell in love with culinary and restaurants while in New York. He says that he was intoxicated by the idea of hosting people while they enjoyed an urban social experience.
Matthew Kenney Wife
Matthew Kenny’s former girlfriend got married to Anthony Strangis and even got separated. But, we have not seen much of Matthew’s dating life and any of his married life.
Even today with no details shared, he appeared to be likely single.
Is Matthew Kenney On Instagram?
Yes. Matthew Kenney could be found on Instagram @matthewkenneycuisine. Over here, he entertained some 109k followers, as of 17 March 2022, with his innate understanding of seasonal and local ingredients, his classical training, and his extensive travel background.
Matthew also seemed active on Twitter @MatthewKenney_ and on ‘Matthew Kenney’ Facebook among 182K followers.
Matthew Kenney Age
Born on 31 August 1964, Matthew Kenney turned 57 years old in 2021. Also so you know, his zodiac sign is Virgo.
Related FAQs
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Where Is Matthew Kenney From?
Matthew Kenney grew up in the small town of Searsport, Maine. Before he became the best-known American chef and entrepreneur of plant-based Italian food, he was a kid growing up in a town of 1,500 people in Southern Maine where he enjoyed hunting and fishing as a child. Meanwhile, it’s been said that he was born in Connecticut.
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How Tall Is Matthew Kenney?
With always a slight smile on his face, Matthew Kenney stands above 5′ 10″ tall in height.
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What Do We Know About Matthew Kenney’s Family?
Matthew Kenney has shared that some of his earliest memories include foraging with his family. He recalled how growing up his bedroom window overlooked the misty shore of Penobscot Bay. Matthew used to roam the damp woods foraging for curled green fiddleheads, harvested honey, and canned vegetables from their family garden.
It was his mother who always kept a family garden. While his father was a “devoted” outdoorsman.
Often Matthew can be heard being grateful for his parents’ support of his career path and entrepreneurship.
