Hello! My name is Alex and I am the creator of The New Baguette. My mission is to make plant-based home cooking more accessible, craveable, and fun 🎉
I’ve been a professional recipe developer since 2017 and have published upwards of 400 recipes here on TNB, the winner of IACP’s 2023 Food Blog of the Year award. I am the author of Friendsgiving, co-author of The Complete Vegan Cookbook, and contributor to Joe Yonan’s Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking. I live in Brooklyn, NY.
My Philosophy
I believe that eating more plant-based whole foods is one of the most powerful things we can do for our wellbeing. When we make nutrient-dense vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds the stars of our plates, we give our bodies what they need to thrive.
When I first transitioned to eating primarily plant-based, I could not believe the positive changes I was seeing in my energy levels, immunity, digestion, and even skin. (As someone who always struggled with acne, this last one was huge!) However, gentleness always comes before perfection in my book, and I don’t think we need to be 100% vegan to experience these benefits.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s our everyday choices that matter most. It’s our go-to breakfasts, desk lunches, and the dinners we cook at home that paint most of the picture – not the one-off ice cream cone or the occasional cheeseburger. Home-cooked meals are where we have the most control and can make the biggest impact on our health (and the planet’s, while we’re at it).
I am not here to tell you not to eat meat or dairy. However, if we do tend to plan our meals around them, we might miss out on the rich diversity of plant foods our bodies need to function at their best. That’s why my goal is to teach you to add ingredients to your repertoire, not to simply take stuff away.
My Journey with Plant-Based Eating
For a long time, I believed that one day I’d become a “perfect vegan”. I was convinced it was the right thing to do because I believed eating for health was an all-or-nothing game. I also felt guilty about eating meat and figured if other people can be “perfect”, why can’t I?
Unfortunately, over time I found that denying myself certain foods out of guilt led to disordered eating patterns – namely deprivation and binging. I realized my goal of perfection was actually doing more harm than good, and I know that’s something a lot of people can relate to.
Once I started accepting how my brain works and stopped trying to be someone I’m not, it was like a huge weight was lifted. I still opt for plant-based meals 90% of the time, but I no longer berate myself for the remaining 10%.
A Little About Little Alex
I’ve been obsessed with food since I was tall enough to see the top of the stove. Back then, that meant hovering over my mom’s hands while she folded varenyky.
When I was nine, my family and I immigrated from Odessa, Ukraine to Brooklyn, New York. Soon after, I became acquainted with Rachael, Giada, and Ina. And it wasn’t long til I started pretending to host a cooking show of my own. My “recipes” included such classics as Goya Yellow Rice with Chopped Chicken Nuggets and Orange Cream Sauce Spaghetti. (God bless my family for dutifully eating my experiments night after night…)
While in college, I started a blog to document my cooking projects (spoiler alert: I never stopped!). My love for food even eventually led me to a job at Natural Gourmet Institute, the renowned NYC plant-based culinary school.
Working alongside NGI’s chefs and nutritionists showed me how exciting cooking with plants can be. So in 2017, having completed their “Writing for Food Media” program, I decided to pursue plant-based recipe development on The New Baguette full-time.
Street Cred
My work has been featured in various other publications, including Simply Recipes, The Kitchn, EatingWell, Food52, and Taste of Home.
I’ve also had the immense privilege of presenting at The NYC Vegetarian Food Festival and The Great New York State Fair, and teaching vegan cooking classes at The Institute of Culinary Education and Yondu Culinary Studio.
My expertise has been featured in outlets like Cherry Bombe, Epicurious, HuffPost, Wall Street Journal’s Buy Side, and New York Magazine’s The Strategist. You can also hear me on the Food Blogger Pro and Sprung on Food podcasts.
Stay In Touch!
Follow me on Instagram for video and behind-the-scenes content, and subscribe to my Substack newsletter to get all the latest recipes in your inbox. You can also find me on LinkedIn and email me anytime at hello[at]thenewbaguette[dot]com.
