Amanda Cohen

Amanda Cohen graduated from the Natural Gourmet Cookery School Chef’s Training Program in 1998, going on to do everything from interning in the pastry kitchen of Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill to working as a baker in the production kitchen of Blanche’s Organic Cafe. After working at DinerBar, an East Harlem diner, for three years, she became the inaugural cook at TeaNY, Moby’s Lower East Side vegan teahouse, and then became the Executive Sous Chef at raw food restaurant, Pure Food and Wine. Later she became the Chef de Cuisine at Heirloom, a short-lived Orchard Street vegetarian fine dining restaurant, and consulted for restaurants like Broadway East and Blossom Restaurant and Cafe. She opened her award-winning, nine-table vegetarian restaurant, Dirt Candy, in the East Village in 2008.