Like so many great cooks, Melanie Thomas—the executive chef at Great Sage, an unexpected gem of a vegetarian restaurant in the small Baltimore suburb Clarksville, Md.—didn’t always think that she’d make her living as a chef. She started out studying engineering but heeded a stronger calling to create truly inspired, delicious food. She apprenticed at New York City’s famous Dean & DeLuca and later worked as a sous chef at Ixia, an upscale Asian-Mediterranean fusion restaurant in Baltimore. A vegetarian for a decade, Chef Thomas has perfected the art of the vegan dessert. Her pièce de résistance is Hot Fudge Lava Cake, which oozes with vegan hot fudge sauce (the secret ingredient of which is puréed cashews) and is cooled off with soy or rice ice cream. Chef Thomas also prides herself on accommodating diners who have special dietary needs. Many of the dishes she serves at Great Sage are gluten-, soy-, and peanut-free or can be made so upon request.

Chef Spotlight:
Melanie Thomas

Name: Melanie Thomas

Age: 29

Restaurant: Great Sage
http://www.great-sage.com/

Do you have companion animals? If so, can you describe them?  
Two fluffy and rambunctious feline rescues.

How long have you been a chef?
Six years.

What type of cuisine do you focus on?
Flavorful, well-textured, gluten-free, and vegan.

Have you or has your restaurant received any awards?
Baltimore magazine’s “Best Vegetarian 2005” and Columbia magazine’s “Restaurant With the Healthiest Menu 2005.”

Do you have a specialty?
Gluten-free and vegan desserts.

What are the most important elements in cooking great vegetarian cuisine?
Using the freshest and best ingredients (i.e., organic), the flavor, and the nutritional value.

What is the key to getting meat-eaters to enjoy vegetarian food?
“Pulling out” and deepening the food’s natural flavors.

What, in your opinion, does the future of plant-based cuisine hold?
A strong move toward organic, flavorful food.

Do you have a favorite cooking method?
I like to play with all kinds of different methods.

Where did you train to become a chef?
I was mentored by many talented chefs.

What are your favorite ingredients to work with?
Fresh, local, organic produce.

In your opinion, what vegetarian dish or type of food is most frequently poorly prepared, and why?
Pasta, because it tends to be the vegetarian option at many restaurants, and it frequently has little protein.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only eat one kind of ethnic food, what would it be?
Indian.

Do vegetarian restaurants face any special obstacles that meat-based restaurants don’t have to face?
Longer, more involved recipes and preparation times.

Can you give us one great cooking tip for aspiring vegetarian chefs?
Don’t over-salt. Rely on the natural flavors of the food.

What are some ingredients that you recommend vegetarians and vegans have in their kitchens to cook with?
Tamari, quinoa, and umi vinegar.

Have you had any noteworthy comments from or experiences with diners?
It’s always noteworthy when nonvegetarians comment that the food was great and that they never missed the meat.

What’s the best way to prepare seitan?
Roasting seitan in a marinade and stirring it every five minutes until most of the marinade is absorbed will result in a very flavorful and tender high-protein option.

For creating a raw dish using any type of mushrooms, to avoid using them in a raw state, marinate them to soften and [to] resemble a more cooked texture. To do this, marinate the mushrooms you choose to use in equal parts tamari or shoyu and a good olive oil, [and] from this base, add any other ingredients to the marinade, such as various spices, vinegars, sweeteners, etc.

• Roasted Tempeh With a Creamy Dijon Sauce
• Gluten-Free Gingersnap Cookies
• Roasted Red Pepper-and-Eggplant Soup

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