Hailing from a line of Eastern European butchers and originally being known for her commitment to nose-to-tail cooking and locally sourced meat, Yoda shocked her customers and followers by announcing she was becoming a meat free facility in 2015. She rebranded herself as South Western Ontario’s first plant based catering company and has been cooking vegetables and promoting plant based food ever since. In 2016, she opened London Ontario’s only vegan restaurant and received honours such as London’s Top 20 under 40 Influential People and London’s Best Restaurant, being the first plant based restaurant ever to receive the honour. Since opening her restaurant, Yoda has watched her city explode with vegan options and is intrigued by the trends and challenges with plant based food. With new vegan restaurants popping up each day, there is a growing need for all chefs to be involved in the plant based food movement.