Bio

Bio

A graduate of the French Culinary Institute, Matthew Kenney started his career 20 years ago being named one of the Ten Best New Chefs in America by Food and Wine Magazine. He has received two James Beard Nominations for Rising Star Chef in America. He is the author of several cookbooks, including Raw Food Real World, Everyday Raw and Entertaining in the Raw.

After accompanying a friend to a “raw vegan” restaurant, the course of his life – and the health of a multitude of other people – changed forever. Despite Kenney’s diet becoming more and more focused on vegetables over time, he hadn’t fully considered making a full transition to healthful food. Though hesitant at first, he not only found this raw meal enjoyable, but was struck by the mental and physical clarity found upon dining. Almost instinctively, Chef Kenney came to the realization that his mission as a chef was to introduce more people to the benefits of a raw, vegan lifestyle. This switch to innovative Raw Food cuisine altered his entire way of cooking, eating, and living.

Matthew Kenney Cuisine promotes healthy living with ventures in New York, Madrid, Florida, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – where he launched his most ambitious project to date, the highly acclaimed raw food restaurant and academy, Matthew Kenney OKC and Matthew Kenney Academy. Heading to the Midwest on his quest to help people solve obesity and find wellness seemed like the perfect challenge – to change American eating habits from the inside out – and help spread wellness one bite at a time in the country’s most unhealthy region. Matthew Kenney OKC was named one of America’s Best New Restaurants by Forbes in 2010.

Matthew Kenney Academy boasts the first and world’s only state-licensed culinary school with an emphasis on raw and vegan cuisine, and has already hosted hundreds of students from 18 countries, sending health-focused, plant-based chefs into the battle for a healthier, more sustainable world.