VP#86: Far Beyond Sushi with NYC Plant-Based Restaurateur Chef Guy Vaknin! From Hell’s Kitchen, Shark Tank, and Vegan Sushi to City-Wide Fine Vegan Dining, Cultural Connectedness, and Truth

Chef Guy Vaknin is the founder and executive chef of City Roots Hospitality and based in New York City. For part of his youth, Chef Guy was raised on a kibbutz in Israel, where he was immersed in agriculture from a young age. He was taught how to cultivate food for the benefit of a community as a whole. To this day, Chef Guy believes that food is deeply connected to emotion, culture, and memory which is why he set out to create a restaurant group that would raise awareness about the interconnectedness of food and environment. Chef Guy launched his first restaurant, Beyond Sushi, in 2012 as a tiny storefront in the East Village. As the success of Beyond Sushi flourished with several locations across New York City, Chef Guy’s vision expanded into a multi-restaurant group including Willow, Coletta, Anixi, and Sentir - each venue distinct yet unified by the goal to redefine vegan cuisine. In 2012, Chef Guy was in the spotlight as a contestant on Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen Season 10. He also appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2018 where he made one of the largest deals in the history of the show. He has plans to open more restaurants in New York City - stay tuned to see what's next!  Resources: City Roots Hospitality: https://cityrootsnyc.com/restaurants/ City Roots Restaurants... Anixi: https://www.anixinyc.com/ Beyond Sushi: https://beyondsushi.com/ Coletta: https://www.colettanyc.com/ Sentir: https://sentirnyc.com/ Willow: https://willownewyork.com/ Chef Guy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefguyvaknin/?hl=en City Roots Hospitality Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cityrootsnyc/?hl=en Contact Chrissy Benson: [email protected] Christine Melanie Benson website: https://christinemelaniebenson.com/ Marrying Myself by Christine Melanie Benson: https://www.amazon.com/Marrying-Myself-Christine-Melanie-Benson/dp/1685130763/