Hello!

Welcome to my culinary world! 

I’m the author of around a dozen cookbooks, and an educator, edible gardener, and formerly, a personal chef for William Shatner, Patrick Dempsey, and Joshua Bell, plus I created culinary offerings for live events for Sharon Salzberg and Ruby Warrington.

I used to grow food for clients in Malibu with a minimum of 2 acres - that’s how I pruned Barbra Streisand’s peach trees, and looked after Odwalla Juice’s gardens in Topanga. Lots of time outdoors in the sunshine getting up close and personal with ingredients, soil, and ecology, learning through experience what makes a good farmer, and how organic techniques impact plants, animals, humans, and the planet.

My first cookbook, Organic Cookbook, was published under the name Ysanne Spevack, which became my author name. Subsequent books were published by HarperCollins and Rizzoli, including a book commissioned. by Whole Foods Market, Fresh & Wild: A Real Food Adventure. A big book in 2004! 

My biggest book so far was a ghost-write for The Ranch at Live Oak, Malibu an upscale retreat center where I worked for three years. The book was featured on Good Morning America, plus had reviews in Vogue, The New York Times etc. A big, beautiful Rizzoli book in 2016. Since then, I’ve had two more books published, about sugar-free cakes, and another baking book, with a twist, both of which also garnered a lot of press.

I’ve written for The Los Angeles Times, Food Illustrated, Observer Food Monthly (UK), and numerous print publications and zines, blogs, interviews and podcasts.

I’ve led workshops, private classes, and given a TEDx Talk about how taste, smell, sight, touch, and sound combine to create the integrated pleasure of eating.

I was a consultant for Pret a Manger, Marks & Spencer, and McDonalds back in the 90s, supporting these behemoth corporations to pivot towards organic ingredients and more sustainable packaging options. While that was very much frowned upon during the 90s, I’m proud of this contribution to mainstream corporate food culture, and have seen the ripples of these ideas spread way beyond these companies, because of their size and impact as commercial leaders, and the oversized weight of their impact on agriculture.

Having lived in London, Los Angeles, and NYC, these cities all inspire me - healthy plant-based cuisine from California, creativity from New York, and comfort from London - paired with flavors and techniques from my ethnic heritage, which I’m currently exploring in the Levant via the culinary inheritance of the Bedouins.

I’m curious about food that’s actively good for you - simple, and beautiful. Plant-based and heirloom - vibrant with modernity, yet paradoxically, with deep ancient roots. That’s why ancient Levantine ingredients and techniques continue my explorations into healthy eating in this current chapter, and why I look forward to co-authoring my next book with these deep, local, Levantine insights, despite the intensive research and development it entails, and therefore the gap between my last book, and the next.

Thanks for reading my back catalog in the meantime!

Warmly, 

Meena Ysanne

P.S. I do music too… The Smashing Pumpkins and non-food related bands, also!