Speaker
Chef, restaurateur, food educator and visionary, Ann Gentry has spent the past twenty-five years striving to raise the standard of vegetarian cooking in this country. By combining the balanced approach to macrobiotic food preparation with the ambience and richness of her Southern upbringing, she founded and continues to run Real Food Daily — the only restaurants in the Los Angeles area that serve a 100 percent vegetarian/vegan menu using foods grown exclusively with organic farming methods. Now boasting locations in Santa Monica and West Hollywood, the trailblazing proprietress and former executive chef is the owner of LA's most progressive and highly lauded gourmet vegan eatery. After years of requests from customers, Ann has written her first cookbook, The Real Food Daily Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, October 1, 2005; $24.95 (CAN $34.95), ISBN: 1-58008-618-7).
Ann was born in Tennessee and grew up in a home filled with great food and a love of entertaining. She became interested in vegetarian cuisine in New York City during the 1980's and she became interested in the cause and effect relationship between the health of her body and the foods that she ate. Fusing the essential elements of Eastern macrobiotics with her own American culinary style, her distinct "gourmet whole food cuisine" was born.
In 1986, after relocating to Los Angeles, she became the personal chef to actor/director Danny DeVito and created the idea of a home food delivery service that served truly healthful but exciting dishes. From 1988 to 1992 Real Food Daily thrived as a home delivery service and garnered many loyal customers.
In June of 1993, Ann opened Real Food Daily, the restaurant, in Santa Monica. Antithetical to the dreary perceived notion of a vegetarian restaurant, RFD's décor of blond wood, clean lines, cozy counter space and eclectic art perfectly complements the innovative style of Ann's gourmet whole food. The original location has been going strong for fourteen years.
Thanks to the restaurant's immediate and enduring popularity, Bon Appétit declared that, "Ann Gentry, the chef- owner of RFD in Santa Monica, has taken two different California trends - vegetarian food and the organic, seasonal cooking...and come up with a cuisine that is as interesting and delicious as it is healthful." Ann Gentry's recipes have been published in The Los Angeles Times, Vegetarian Times, and various food industry trade magazines. Articles and reviews of Real Food Daily have appeared in Cooking Light, Esquire, Self, Allure, Fit, Longevity, Los Angeles Magazine, US Weekly, InStyle, and Daily Variety, among others.
Because her creations are absolute originals, Ann Gentry has been instrumental in raising the profile of vegetarian cooking. Ann has appeared as a guest chef at the Canyon Ranch in Arizona, Pritikin Longevity Center, Robert Mondavi Wine Center, Natural Foods Expo and annually at the Environmental Media Awards in California. She has also taught at the annual conference of the North American Vegetarian Society, toured Texas teaching at Central Market and inspired 350 graduate students at the World Arts & Cultures program at UCLA.
Ann is also the executive chef to Vegetarian Times magazine, where she contributes recipes and articles about healthy eating and lifestyle. She writes her own bi-monthly column about food and children for a magazine out of the UK called Junior: The World's Finest Parenting Magazine.
Ann can be seen on television hosting her own cooking show, Naturally Delicious with Ann Gentry on Veria, a new network dedicated to health and wellness that airs nationally on DISH Network. Ann is the spokesperson for SOYJOY, an all-natural nutrition bar made with whole soy.
Health-conscious celebrities who are fans of the Real Food Daily cuisine include Gwyneth Paltrow, Tobey McGuire, Jack Black, Leonardo Di Caprio, Queen Latifia, Russell Simmons, Anthony Keidis, Dave Navarro, to name a few. Recording artist Moby said in Bon Appétit that the Real Food Daily tacos are one of his favorite dishes.
Ann lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Robert Jacobs, a health professional and entrepreneur, and their two children, Halle and Walker.
