When Food Network cast Chloe Coscarelli on the competition show Cupcake Wars back in 2009, she had only been baking professionally for three months. The episode featured four bakers in three rounds of eliminations, culminating with the challenge of baking 1,000 aphrodisiac-inspired cupcakes in three flavors—plus a unique display dreamt up on the spot.
For the final challenge, Coscarelli and just one other baker remained. The two contestants sifted, mixed, folded, baked, frosted, decorated, and ran around their kitchen spaces with team members dizzily weaving throughout. They had the nerve-racking task of timing the two-hour bake, cooling and frosting of a thousand cupcakes, and perfecting the final set-up. The champion would receive $10,000 and have their cupcakes featured at a sleek magazine launch party—but of even more value, they would effectively launch their career. When the episode aired, Cupcake Wars was a hugely popular show, and clenching the title would be a triumph beyond any baker’s wildest dreams.
Food Network
Coscarelli was 22 at the time. She had first seen the casting call on Twitter and decided to try out on a whim. “I had to show up with an elaborately decorated cupcake—I made a cupcake with an Alice in Wonderland theme,” Coscarelli says. “They loved the cupcake, and several days later the producers called me back to say I made it.”
On the show, she was bright-eyed and enthusiastic, and a bit overwhelmed by the intensity of it all—but ready for the challenge. In her Cupcake Wars confessionals and before each competitive round, Coscarelli used the word “vegan” as often as possible to help demystify it for the judges and audiences at home, reinforcing her conviction that anything can be made vegan—deliciously and simply. The other competing bakers shared that Coscarelli was the one to beat, while also expressing disbelief that vegan cupcakes could impress the judges as much as they did.
Well, Coscarelli won—and was the first vegan to ever win a Food Network cooking competition. No butter, no eggs, no milk? No problem.
“Winning Food Network’s Cupcake Wars was a key moment for me,” she says. “It helped validate vegan baking on a big platform, and that win shifted my perspective that, yes, plant-based food can be accepted by a wider audience if it’s presented in the right way.”
Chloe Coscarelli/Instagram
The family kitchen roots behind Chloe Coscarelli’s vegan
Growing up in a food-loving, Italian American family in Los Angeles, Coscarelli went vegan at 16 after learning about industrial animal agriculture and not wanting any part in supporting it. She loved food—especially baking with her mother—and at that time, it took some time to figure out how to get the results she wanted without animal products.
“Food was always front and center in all of my relationships and family ties growing up,” she says. “And so when I decided to go vegan, it was a pivotal moment. My first thought was, how is this going to affect my family and my experiences at the dinner table, since food is such a big part of connection?”
Coscarelli was determined and, through trial and error, began adapting recipes to satisfy both her taste and ethical standards without compromise. She explored the emerging landscape of vegan cookbooks, recipe blogs, and community chat rooms, immersing herself in the learning process.
Before she could have ever imagined competing on Food Network, she recalls a formative experience of working with her mother to prepare animal-free dishes for her family’s Thanksgiving. Coscarelli was thrilled to see omnivorous guests wandering over to the herbivorous side of the table and enjoying the food as much as she did. That holiday meal was instrumental in shaping her attitude, showing her that anything could be easily and deliciously made vegan.
“Everybody was interested in it, talking about it, and enjoying it,” Coscarelli remembers. “That’s when I realized, ‘Oh, there’s actually a lot of joy in this food. It’s not about restriction.’”
Chloe Coscarelli/Instagram
Inside the restaurant that helped shape her vegan point of view
While studying psychology and dance at the University of California, Berkeley, Coscarelli couldn’t stop thinking about cooking—and feeding her friends and family remained her greatest passion. While still in school, she landed a coveted gig as an apprentice for the pastry chef at the esteemed Millennium in San Francisco. It was that experience that cemented her future in food.
“What a treat it was to be in that kitchen and be exposed to that level of creativity,” she says. The quality of the food and ingredients, the attention to detail, and the emphasis on beautiful presentation confirmed to the budding chef that meat and animal products were not necessary for a complete and perfect meal.
Her fondest memories of working at Millennium were the family meals, when the staff would enjoy dishes featuring local, seasonal produce in experimental combinations before the shift started. This more unstructured immersion was as formative for Coscarelli’s development as the high-end cuisine being served to guests, and she found herself excitedly anticipating what her colleagues would whip up.
“Their quick-and-easy, innovative staff meals were awe-inspiring to me,” Coscarelli says.
Chloe Coscarelli/Instagram
Building By Chloe, then losing it
After graduating from UC Berkeley and moving to New York City to attend the Natural Gourmet Institute culinary school (having already won Cupcake Wars), Coscarelli began thinking about opening a restaurant. She started to put a plan in place, and in 2015—at the age of just 27—opened her first restaurant in the heart of Greenwich Village with veteran restaurant group ESq uared Hospitality.
The opening of By Chloe was a dream come true, allowing her to bring her flavor-packed comfort food to the New York dining scene. Within one year, however, that dream would turn into a nightmare when her business partnership began to crumble.
To the world, By Chloe was an instant success. It was rapidly expanding to 14 locations (with a goal of 20 more worldwide) and had raised more than $30 million in capital. But during this rise, Coscarelli was secretly being pushed out of the business bearing her name after refusing to allow ESquared Hospitality to open non-vegan locations.
In 2018, Coscarelli filed a lawsuit against the hospitality group for trademark infringement, violation of her right to publicity, and copyright infringement. The litigation continued for years, and By Chloe was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2020. The assets were bought out by investors, and the restaurant was briefly relaunched as Beatnic before closing for good. In 2022, Coscarelli and her former partners finally reached a settlement.
BECOME A VEGNEWS VIP: Get exclusive product deals, freebies, and perks galore!
Chloe Coscarelli/Instagram
A return home and what Chloe Coscarelli is cooking up now
While it was an incredibly difficult and painful time, Coscarelli remained strong and committed. In 2019, she collaborated with celebrity chef and Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio on a vegan pop-up called Supernatural. She was also a frequent guest on NBC’s Today, showing the country how easy it was to make vegan dishes at home.
In between appearances, Coscarelli had time to think about what went wrong with her first venture and started to envision her next chapter. She knew that if she were to open a restaurant again, it would have to be with a team she trusted and who shared her vision and values.
One day in 2024, Coscarelli walked by her first location of By Chloe on Bleecker Street and saw that it was for rent. She immediately called her broker and, the next day, went to look at the empty location that had captivated her heart nine years earlier.
“I went in, took a look around, and my first thought was … ‘it’s perfect,’” she says.
She still loved the street corner, and the bones of the space were exactly what she wanted. She signed the lease and started to think about what to name the restaurant. She decided on chloe.—as in Chloe, period.
“Not a day goes by that I’m not grateful for the chance to start over, because a second chance is something I feel so lucky to have,” she says.
The menu is still focused on accessible comfort dishes with vibrant colors, contrasting textures, and rich flavors. There’s the signature Kale Caesar Salad (with kale, avocado, Brazil nut Parmesan, shiitake bacon, and croutons), the Avocado Burger (a housemade mushroom-walnut patty with jalapeño pesto and Calabrian chili aioli on a multigrain bun), and, of course, her iconic desserts, including the Chlostess cupcake with nostalgic white squiggle icing and matcha blueberry muffins.
All dishes are made from scratch with seasonal, whole-food ingredients. While the classics are always available, the menu changes frequently to keep things exciting for both guests and staff. When developing recipes, Coscarelli tirelessly tests each one before presenting it to her team for feedback.
“It’s usually a dynamic process of brainstorming and thinking about what people may like, and then testing and retesting it,” she says. “What makes it onto the menu is really something unanimous that the team is truly excited about eating. We don’t just create something good enough for vegans. It has to be good, period.”
In addition to cooking, it’s connecting with guests that has provided Coscarelli with endless gratitude.
Emily Teague
“Reopening in the original space almost nine years to the day was more emotional than I was expecting,” she says. “I was surprised to see how much it meant to the community. We still have so many customers come in and share their stories about the passage of time, and what returning to this space has meant to them. Some went to the original location on their first date, and now they have two kids. That is so cool.”
So what’s next for the Food Network star who has already experienced so much? Coscarelli says it’s about staying true to her original mission and growing sustainably while maintaining quality.
“I have a lot more insight this time about the pitfalls of scaling quickly, and I am committed to keeping authenticity and creativity at the heart of my work. That said, everything will happen at the right time,” she says. “And it’s fun. I am reminded every day that it is fun, and that I enjoy the process.”
Chloe Coscarelli is proof that you can find your way home again—but it may require a wild route you never could have planned. It was all part of her journey to emerge stronger, more confident, and prepared to show the world just how delicious vegan food can be—on her terms.
For more plant-based stories like this, read:
JUMP TO ... Latest News | Recipes | Guides | Health | Subscribe
Marla Rose is the co-founding partner of VeganStreet.com.
