For those who don’t know vegan chef Doug McNish, the easiest way to describe him is as a vegetarian culinary savant.

Cooking for 12 years, he trained in French Cuisine at George Brown Chef School and his enthusiasm for his profession is immediate to anyone in his vicinity. Currently head chef at Port Credit’s Raw Aura, a raw food and organic haven for those in the GTA, McNish has also manned the stations at Live Organic Food Bar and Urban Herbivore, putting his unique spin on vegetarian menus throughout Toronto.

Doug recently chatted with Toronto Vegetarian about his life in―and out―of the kitchen. What follows is the story of one man, a twelve-course meal, and how haute cuisine went veg.

Toronto Vegetarian