Ellen DeGeneres’ Personal Chef to Open Vegan Restaurant

When talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres first asked Roberto Martin to be her family’s personal chef, his interest was piqued—until he found out that all the food he prepared would have to be vegan. After further contemplation, however, he accepted the challenge and became the chef of one of the most famous women in the world. It’s now been six years, and Martin has become a celebrity in his own right with multiple appearances on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show, a cookbook under his belt (Vegan Cooking for Carnivores), and a forthcoming all-vegan restaurant in Los Angeles called Elevate. The Culinary Institute of America-trained Martin told media outlet Well+Good that the menu will be “in the vein of Vegan Cooking for Carnivores. We understand that most people aren’t going to go vegan. What’s happened is that there are a growing number of people who are more than happy to have a phenomenal vegan dinner, and go have chicken the next day.” Elevate will open in Spring 2015, and Martin is also working on a second cookbook called Roberto’s New Vegan Cooking.