Hello, and welcome! I’m Alexandra Shytsman, the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind this website, and home cook of 20 years.
I created The New Baguette because I believe in the healing, transformative, energizing power of plant-based whole foods. My mission is to inspire fellow home cooks with global flavors, beautiful colors, and unique ideas.
My Story
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 my new favorite people: 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. By this time – my early twenties – my interest in the connection between food and health was already piqued, and the job ended up changing my life.
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.
I created The New Baguette to be a resource for others like me. When I first decided to transition my diet from melted-cheese-on-everything to primarily plant-based, I assumed all I could eat were salads, smoothies, and quinoa (so boring, so not sustainable).
As I experimented with new techniques, I created recipes and routines that worked for me. My goal with TNB is to share what I’ve learned to make your kitchen life healthier and happier, too.
Street Cred
The New Baguette is the 2023 recipient of IACP’s Food Blog of the Year award (woo!). Apart from publishing 300+ recipes here, I’ve written several cookbooks – I’m the author of Friendsgiving, co-author of The Complete Vegan Cookbook, and contributor to Joe Yonan’s Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking.
As a freelance food writer, recipe developer, and photographer, I’ve contributed to various 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.
Features
My work has been featured in outlets like HuffPost, Cherry Bombe, BuzzFeed, 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
As a diehard francophile, I wanted to pay homage to my favorite culture. In France, a baguette is a given at nearly every meal. For me, The New Baguette is a representation of a new type of eating, where we think beyond what’s convenient and expected, and consider health and sustainability first. (I still love baguettes though!)
If you’re new here, start with my 10 Golden Rules and learn how to stock a plant-based pantry. Then try some of my reader favorites, like the Moroccan lentil soup, sesame garlic tofu, and date brownies.
While 90% of my meals are vegan, and I don’t cook with any meat or dairy at home, I don’t identify as vegan. I don’t find diet labels useful, and I don’t believe we need to give up animal products entirely to experience the benefits of a plant-forward diet. In general, I consider myself a weekday vegan and weekend “social omnivore”.
