Teaching People How to Prepare Vegan Cuisine

The Jewish Veg Spotlight Shines On ... Mark Reinfeld

JVNA member Mark Reinfeld chose a most appropriate name for his successful culinary-education business: Vegan Fusion.

It describes Mark’s brand of vegan advocacy, which is a fusion of teaching intensive courses on vegan cooking, writing vegan cookbooks, serving as lead chef at Vegetarian Summerfest, and even writing articles on the Jewish ideal of veganism.

JVNA caught up with Mark this summer during one of his rare breaks at Vegetarian Summerfest, an all-vegan, five-day, food-centric conference held every year in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

JVNA: Tell us a little about your vegan journey, your culinary experience, and how those two came to intersect?

MARK: I grew up in Stony Brook, Long Island, eating a standard Jewish-American diet, chicken every Friday night.

After college, I deferred admission to NYU law school and then traveled through Europe and Asia. During that trip, I was on a kibbutz (Mishmar HaEmek) in Israel for 8 weeks, and during that time was when I actually started connecting with animals. I saw baby cows and baby chicks and realized I felt the same love for them for my dog or cat. I just realized I didn’t want to eat them anymore. That was my shift to a vegetarian diet and veganism came about when I just started feeling better without the dairy and eggs.

After that experience, I went to India and Nepal and did the Mount Everest track. I was out in the wilderness and saw little villages with baby goats and sheep and just really developed this love of animals. It just solidified that I wasn’t going to eat them anymore after that.

JVNA: So at this point, you haven’t started your culinary career yet.

MARK: Right. I came back to New York, went to NYU for a semester, and realized that wasn’t my path. I got rid of everything that wouldn’t fit in my car and headed out west without a clear destination in mind. I landed in San Diego and started working in the kitchen at Jimbo’s, a health food store. I had the opportunity to get really creative with food. And that’s how my culinary career got started.

Then I started the Blossoming Lotus as a private chef service in Malibu. We created the Blossoming Lotus restaurant in Kauai when I was visiting there for a two-week vacation. I wound up staying for over two years.

JVNA: Now you’re back on the mainland, but travelling a lot for Vegan Fusion. Can you describe Vegan Fusion?

MARK: I offer workshops and trainings internationally, of various durations. The 10-day trainings I offer are like a vegan bootcamp, where we go over the all of the tips and tricks on how to create amazing vegan and raw food cuisine. The last three days are all raw food, so it’s a stand-alone raw-food immersion.

To me, showing people how to work with the food is key, because a lot of people hear about veganism, but they don’t know how to do it. That’s what I see my role is, showing people how easy it is. At the end of the training, you have a lot of confidence. Your skill level and creativity increases dramatically. You’re able to break out of the recipe box.

JVNA: Whom are your courses intended for?

MARK: You don’t need to have any prior culinary knowledge. It could be anyone from a college student to a middle-aged housewife. I’ve actually had classically trained chefs. I had a Cordon Blue-certified chef take my training recently. He runs four restaurants. He loved it. He learned a lot. They don’t really teach that much vegan and raw food cuisine in the Cordon Bleu.

JVNA: What if Vegan Fusion isn’t coming to a city near you?

MARK: There’s an online course for people who want to go at their own pace and learn at home. We also have several cookbooks out: the 30-Minute Vegan series, the Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw, Vegan Fusion World Cuisine.

JVNA: Somehow, you found the time last winter to write a great article called “Vegan Is the New Kosher” for the Union of Reform Judaism Website and newsletter.

MARK: To me, veganism is the essence of what kosher is supposed to be: The whole idea of compassion and respect for animals and cleanliness. The kosher dietary laws point to this as the embodiment of all the mitzvot.

JVNA: We couldn’t agree more.