Vegan Chef in Malibu
Dinners built from vegetables, grains and beans — cooked in your kitchen and planned around every restriction at the table.
Cooking for the Way You Eat
Pick the closest fit. Most households end up somewhere in between.
Different Diets, Same Plate
Many of our households aren't fully vegan. One guest is plant-based, another avoids gluten, the kids eat anything. Rather than cooking four separate meals, the menu is built so the shared dishes suit everyone, with a few extras — eggs at brunch, cheese on the side — for those who want them.
- ✓Shared mains everyone can eat
- ✓Extras served on the side
- ✓Labels on every dish at the table
How an Allergy Is Handled in Your Kitchen
A full list first
Every allergy and intolerance in the house is written down before a single ingredient is bought.
Labels read twice
Packaged ingredients are checked at the store and again before they go into a pan.
Separate tools
Dishes for guests with allergies are prepped first, on cleaned boards with their own utensils.
Ingredients in writing
Each dish arrives with its ingredient list, so you can check before anyone eats.
Learned to Cook for a Sister With Celiac
Verdell started cooking seriously at sixteen, when a younger sister was diagnosed with celiac disease and family dinners had to change. Restaurant years followed, then a plant-based kitchen in Venice, then private work along the coast.
The common thread is cooking for people who are used to being the difficult guest — and making a dinner where nobody has to say so.
- Food-safetycertified
- Plant-basedtraining
- Gluten-freebaking, every week
Built Around What You Leave Out
Each household gets its own list of what's in and what isn't. A few of the most common:
Protein on every plate
Beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh and seitan — or no seitan, if gluten is out.
Gluten-free baking
Breads, crusts and cakes made with rice, sorghum and almond flours.
Nut-free on request
Seeds and oats stand in for cashews and almonds in sauces and desserts.
Dairy-free sauces
Creamy textures from potatoes, white beans and cashews instead of cream.
Egg-free baking
Flax and aquafaba do the binding in cakes and cookies.
Less refined sugar
Desserts sweetened with fruit and maple when you ask.
Households That Stopped Cooking Four Dinners
My husband avoids gluten and our daughter is vegan. For the first time in years we all ate the same dinner, with every ingredient written down for us.
Twelve guests, four of them vegan, and the meat-eaters asked for seconds of the mushroom bourguignon. That was the whole point.
Our son's tree-nut allergy makes eating out stressful. Verdell sent the ingredient list for every dish before the night, which told us everything.
From Your Diet List to Dinner
Most households are eating their first dinner within two weeks of the first call.
A twenty-minute call
Who eats what, what's off the table, and the dishes you miss most.
A trial dinner
One evening to taste the cooking before planning anything longer.
Your restriction sheet
A one-page list kept for your household, updated whenever something changes.
A regular night, or a one-off
Book a standing dinner each week or just the occasions you need.
A New Way of Eating at Home?
Going vegan, cutting gluten or cooking around a new allergy? Tell us what changed, and the first week of dinners is planned around it.
Plant-Based and Dietary Cooking, Answered
Do I have to be vegan to book?
No. Many households just eat less meat, or have one plant-based member. We cook to whatever mix you have.
Can you guarantee a dish is allergen-free?
We can't promise that — packaged ingredients and shared kitchens carry risk. What we do is plan around every allergy you list, check labels twice and give you the ingredients for each dish so you can decide.
Will there be enough protein?
Yes. Every dinner is built around beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh or whole grains, not just vegetables.
How is it priced?
Each dinner is priced by how many are eating. Groceries are billed separately at what they cost, receipts included.
Do you cook with organic produce?
Mostly, from the Malibu and Santa Monica farmers markets in season. If organic matters to you for everything, say so and we'll shop that way.
Where on the coast do you cook?
Malibu from Point Dume to Carbon Beach, Topanga, Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica.
Tell Us What Your Table Eats
List the diets and allergies in the house and what you'd like cooked. Verdell will call to talk it through.