Jean-Philippe Cyr is the “Buddhist” Chef. Trained as a top French gourmet chef, he walked away from his job after cooking one meat dish to many, and he has never looked back. Today, he is a prominent French-Canadian vegan chef and author. His signature cookbook, The Buddhist Chef: 100 Simple, Feelgood Vegan Recipes was published in 2019. His YouTube channel has an impressive 52,000 subscribers and features dozens of French-language recipe videos and tutorials on all aspects of vegan cuisine. He also runs a French-language podcast where he chats to other eminent vegans.

Cyr first built his reputation as a chef in some of the most exclusive gourmet restaurants in Quebec, including The Capitole. However, as he transitioned to veganism, he felt increasingly unable to reconcile his diet and his beliefs about animal rights with the meat dishes he was preparing daily. The final straw came when he was asked to prepare a rack of lamb for, of all things, a funeral. That was his final shift as a traditional gourmet chef.

Since following his heart, Cyr has found true happiness as a Buddhist vegan chef. He works relentlessly to push the boundaries of what vegan cooking can be, and when it comes to connecting with his audience, he works to present as much as he can in both French and English, enabling him to better reach the enormous North American audience on his doorstep. His YouTube channel and podcast are popular, and his Instagram follower count is growing all the time, so now is the moment to get on board with this dedicated, innovative chef.