He slices, he dices, he tantalizes with dishes like tabbouleh, risotto-stuffed mushroom caps, and bean pâté—all in the comfort of your own kitchen! Chef Ben Adams is the owner of Vegan Chef Ben, an in-home personal chef service in Brooklyn, New York. Chef Ben will come to your home, establish your "food profile" by asking you what types of foods you like to eat, do your grocery shopping for you, and leave your fridge and freezer stocked with fresh, tasty, tailor-made vegan dinners that are ready for you to heat and eat. He even does the dishes! But wait—there's more: As a pastry chef at Washington, D.C.'s Sticky Fingers Bakery, Chef Ben specialized in making customers' mouths water with ooey, gooey Cinnamon Sticky Buns, lush Chocolate Love Cake, smooth I Dream of Cheesecake, and tons more decadent vegan treats—so if you want to have your (vegan) cake and eat it, too, Chef Ben can make it happen! Chef Ben trained to please discerning vegans at the School of Natural Cookery in Boulder, Colorado. His extensive travels in the Netherlands, Southern France, Italy, Egypt, and Korea have infused his cooking with exciting, exotic flavors, and his work has appeared on the Food Network and ABC's Nightline. Chef Ben's creations have also been featured in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, VegNews, and Modern Baking.

Chef Spotlight: Ben Adams

Age: 29

Restaurant or Company: Sticky Fingers Bakery/VeganChefBen.com

Do you have animal companions? If so, can you describe them?
Our cat tragically passed away last year, and we haven't been able to bring ourselves to recover. Her name was Stella, and she was the best calico cat ever!

How long have you been a chef?
I finished school in 2003, but I've been working in kitchens on and off for about 12 years.

Where did you train to become a chef?
The School of Natural Cookery in Boulder, Colorado.

What inspired you to become a pastry chef?
When I returned to Washington, D.C., after cooking school, I searched for a place where I could cook vegan food. Sticky Fingers had opened about four months prior, so I got in touch with them. When owners Doron and Kirsten told me how they wanted to attract people to veganism by making delicious, indulgent pastries, I was on board!

What influences the desserts that you create? Do you focus on regional styles or seasonal ingredients?
I think that it depends on the product. Each item I create comes from a different inspiration. Often it stems from some sort of challenge; someone will ask me if I've ever tried to make a vegan version of something, and I'll work on it until it seems right. The recipes that spring out of my own mind tend to be rethinking common forms and flavor combinations. Surprisingly, I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so it's important to me that my recipes have more depth of flavor than just sugar. I like to draw on different flours, sweeteners, spices, oils—anything that can make that baseline flavor bolder and allow me to employ different fruits or other character ingredients to give a product its individual personality.

What is your favorite type of dessert to work with (e.g., candy, cake, ice cream, tarts, etc.)?
I really like making cakes, but I hate to decorate them! The wonderful decorators I've worked with at Sticky Fingers have spoiled me. I'm more of a "guts baker"—I can finish a plate or a cake or any other item, but I'm much more comfortable worrying about the components and letting someone else worry about making it pretty.

Do you have a specialty?
At Sticky Fingers, our specialty is most definitely our sticky buns. They're big and gooey and delicious—and now available in New York!

What are the most important elements in cooking great vegetarian desserts?
A sense of adventure and a whole lot of patience! As I mentioned previously, I'm frequently challenged or inspired to create a vegan version of some classic form, which takes a lot of patience and attention to detail. Patience is also a necessity when developing your own recipes, which usually requires not only trying different ingredient combinations but trying them over and over and over to get it right.

What, in your opinion, does the future of plant-based cuisine hold?
I tend to disagree with the fashionable thinking that plant-based cuisine will one day be thought of as just another choice in the myriad of options available to the restaurant-going public, such as Thai or Italian food. Yes, I think there will be more restaurants centered on plant-based cuisine, but I also believe that it will penetrate further on to the menus of other kinds of establishments. The fact is that people like vegetables, they like beans and grains and nuts—these things are part of the human experience. As it becomes more and more apparent how inefficient the animal food industry really is, plant-based cuisine is bound to start sharing the spotlight.

Do you have a favorite cooking method or technique?
I tend to categorize desserts by form, and my favorite form is biscotti. As a strong coffee drinker, I enjoy eating them. However, I find that the form also lends itself to adventure. I can make a rosemary pine nut biscotti or almond cardamom. One of my baking colleagues here in New York even makes a raw blueberry pistachio biscotti. It's a form that allows for risk-taking, and I love that.

What is your favorite chef's tool?
My flat whisk—I absolutely love it. Next to a paring knife, which is my all-time favorite, I'd say the flat whisk gets the most play these days.

What are your favorite ingredients to work with?
Maple syrup. Not only is it one of my favorite ingredients to work with, it also may be my favorite thing in the world. I'm always on the lookout to discover new maple products.

In your opinion, what vegetarian dessert is most frequently poorly prepared and why?
Cake of any kind. People tend to be so concerned with replacing eggs in their cakes that they forget to make them taste good. Cake is essentially a sweet quick bread; eggs are not necessary. It's all about balancing the fat, sugar, and flour correctly, having just enough leavening that it doesn't ruin the flavor, and not over-mixing. It's science, for sure, but not rocket science.

If you could eat only one dessert, what would it be?
An apple crumble with the crust made of oats, walnuts, currants, and maple syrup!

Do vegetarian restaurants face any special obstacles that meat-based restaurants don't have to face?
In vegetarian restaurants, the primary obstacle is making sure that your menu satisfies the requirements of both vegetarians and omnivores. The fact is that veg folks frequently bring their nonveg friends and family out with them to eat; if you can't attract both, you're in trouble.

Can you give a great cooking tip for aspiring vegetarian chefs?
Don't be afraid of vegetables! Too often we rely on meat analogs as the center of our dishes, which is unfortunate. Expansive thinking is necessary in today's market. People don't want to just eat seitan made up to look like chicken.

What are some ingredients and tools that you recommend that vegetarians and vegans have in their kitchens to cook with?
If you want to make pastries, it's important to have a wide array of spices. In my pantry, I always have the "cookie spices" on hand: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom. Clearly, all-purpose flour and whole-wheat pastry flour are staples, but other flours are wonderful for added character. I like chickpea flour in a lot of things, and oat flour is absolutely fantastic for adding some deeper flavor. As for tools, it never hurts to have a stand mixer. And a deep fryer may not be necessary, but it sure is fun!

Are there any newer vegetarian products on the market that you are particularly fond of?
I can say that Temptation Ice Cream is the best out there and everyone should try it.

What are some good substitutes for dairy-product ingredients and eggs?
Soy milk is useful in many ways, but don't be afraid to make your own nut milk. Cashews and almonds are the best. Eggs are simply not as necessary for baking as you might think. Ener-G egg replacer is very popular, but it really doesn't do what eggs do—it's just starch and baking powder. I use it occasionally, but in general, I'm not a big fan. Instead, I like to use flaxseeds, xanthan gum, and agar, among other products, that provide the binding power usually found in eggs.

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