For those who are new here, or for anyone who’s never heard the full story of how Yvonne’s Vegan Kitchen came to be, I thought I’d finally share it.
Looking back, I can see how every challenge, unexpected opportunity, and leap of faith led me exactly where I was meant to be.
I grew up in San Diego as the youngest of 6 daughters. Both of my parents were born in the Philippines and met after immigrating to San Diego in 1969.
My dad was the oldest of ten children and grew up in Pasay City. His family had very little, so he worked nights in a slaughterhouse to help support them and pay for his education. He’d often bring home scraps of meat for my grandmother to cook.
My grandmother was an incredible cook. Because refrigeration wasn’t common, she learned to preserve and transform simple ingredients with bold spices, aromatics, and flavorful cooking techniques. Even the humblest ingredients became something memorable.
Looking back, I think that’s where my family’s love of food began—and where mine did too.
Meanwhile, my mom grew up in a beautiful provincial town by the ocean. Her family grew their own fruits and vegetables, and if they wanted dinner, all they needed was a fresh catch from the sea, seasoned simply with salt, pepper, chiles, citrus, and vegetables from their garden.
She was raised on fresh, simple, farm-to-table cooking long before that phrase became popular. Looking back, it’s easy to see how both sides of my family shaped my love of food.
Fast forward to my childhood. I am the youngest of 6 daughters, and my 5 older sisters are incredibly high achievers. Between us, we had a valedictorian, a salutatorian, and multiple doctors in the family.
Then there was me.
Looking back, it’s obvious that I had undiagnosed ADHD as a child. It wasn’t until adulthood, after years of therapy, that I was finally diagnosed. I was always in honors classes and excelled in the subjects that genuinely interested me, but I struggled to stay engaged in others. Compared with my sisters, academics didn’t come as naturally to me.
My dad placed a high value on education and had high expectations for all of us. Because I wasn’t bringing home straight A’s like my sisters, I often felt that I had disappointed him. I received many lectures, and for years I wondered why school seemed so much harder for me than it did for everyone else.
Our family always ate dinner together around the table. We’d listen to my dad’s “When I was young…” stories, and he often complained that my mom’s food had “no flavor.” Looking back, I understood why. She had grown up preparing simple, fresh meals with minimal seasoning, while my dad preferred bold, highly seasoned dishes.
One day, I’d had enough of hearing my dad criticize my mom’s cooking. I got up, asked him for his plate, and told him I could make it better.
He handed it to me, and I headed into the kitchen, adding whatever spices I could find. I remember tasting it first to make sure it was actually better before bringing it back to him.
He took a bite, nodded, looked at me, smiled, and said, “It tastes good.”
For the first time, I felt like I had earned my dad’s approval. That moment meant everything to me. Looking back, I realize that food became the way I connected with him.
His approval inspired me to dive into a gift someone had given my mom: a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. Together, we cooked our way through it, and I never heard my dad complain about her cooking again.
From then on, I fell in love with cooking and baking, and with seeing people’s reactions to my food. I’d invite friends over during the holidays to enjoy my baked goods, teach classmates how to make lumpia (Filipino egg rolls) and pancit (Filipino noodles), and we’d sell them at school food fairs to raise money for class activities.
I served as class president for 3 years and student body president my senior year. One of the class president’s responsibilities was raising money for the class. Through our fundraising efforts, we raised enough money that no one in our class had to pay for prom.
Looking back, I can see that even then, I loved bringing people together through food. I didn’t realize it at the time, but those early experiences planted the seeds for the career and life I would eventually build.
Because of the expectations in my family, becoming a chef never seemed like a realistic career path. Like many Asian families, my parents hoped my sisters and I would become doctors, lawyers, or pursue other traditional professions. To me, being a chef didn’t seem like something that would make my parents proud.
At my sister’s medical school graduation party, my dad gave a speech, proudly sharing what each of my sisters was pursuing. Then he got to me.
“Now Yvonne, my youngest… I don’t know what she’ll do after college. I think she’ll either become a model or a chef.”
I remember feeling completely mortified. At the time, it felt like a punch to the gut. I interpreted his words to mean that he didn’t see being a chef as a real profession. Looking back, I’m not sure that’s what he meant at all—I think I had simply been conditioned to believe that only certain careers were worthy of admiration.
I never talked to him about how much those words hurt me, and for years, I carried resentment because of them.
Ironically, becoming a chef would turn out to be one of the best decisions of my life.
My sisters and I all left home for college. They either attended UCLA or UC Berkeley. I took a different path and chose UC Santa Cruz.
Moving away from home gave me my first real taste of independence. For the first time, I was discovering who I was outside of my family’s expectations. I came out of my shell, made lifelong friends, and absolutely loved the experience.
During college, my health took a dramatic turn for the worse. I became so weak that I could barely walk or even lift a spoon. My heart raced uncontrollably, I experienced severe heart palpitations, and I was rushed to the hospital.
I was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition that causes hyperthyroidism by making the thyroid produce far too much thyroid hormone. At one point, my resting heart rate reached 143 beats per minute. The inflammation behind my eyes caused them to bulge, and I barely recognized the person looking back at me in the mirror.
It was one of the most frightening and challenging seasons of my life, but it also marked the beginning of a lifelong interest in understanding health, nutrition, and the incredible impact food can have on our bodies.
I underwent radioactive iodine treatment to treat my overactive thyroid. After the treatment, I developed hypothyroidism, and my body changed completely. My eyes remained noticeably bulging from Graves’ eye disease, my hair became dry and started falling out, and I went from being energetic and naturally thin to feeling exhausted, gaining over 30 pounds, and barely recognizing myself. It felt like I had become a completely different person.
As I struggled to adjust physically, I also fell into a deep depression. My sisters wanted to help me explore natural ways to support my recovery, so they began researching everything they could. One suggestion was to eat a diet rich in fruit, so I did.
Then one day, I watched Legally Blonde. Elle Woods joked that exercise gives you endorphins, the “happy hormones”, and for some reason, that really stuck with me. I decided to start running…a lot. Think Forrest Gump levels of running.
The weight came off, and then some. But my determination to get healthy slowly became an unhealthy obsession. I became consumed with counting calories and exercising, and what started as a way to regain my health eventually developed into an eating disorder. I became dangerously thin before my best friend Susan intervened and helped me get the support I needed.
With my thyroid finally under control and my health improving, I began to feel better. My energy returned, I was able to really focus, and I excelled in school. Looking back, those years taught me resilience, discipline, and just how precious good health really is.
The summer before my junior year of college, I showed my dad my grades. He couldn’t believe I had an A in Accounting. With a smile, he walked over to his file cabinet, pulled out his college transcripts, and showed me the only class he didn’t receive an A in: Accounting.
That summer, while my mom was in Baltimore helping my sister with my nephew as she finished her residency at Johns Hopkins, I asked my dad if he would take a road trip with me back to college for the start of the fall quarter. He happily agreed.
It was the first time I had ever spent so much time alone with my dad—just the two of us. For eight hours, I had his undivided attention. To be honest, I was a little nervous at first, but somewhere along that drive, something changed.
He spoke to me with love, understanding, dignity, and respect. During that trip, he healed a part of my heart I didn’t even realize was broken.
He stayed in Northern California for a few days. We went bowling, shared meals together, and simply enjoyed each other’s company. Before long, it was time for him to fly back to San Diego. We hugged tightly, I kissed his warm cheek, and we said a tearful goodbye at his gate. As he walked into onto the passenger bridge that lead him to the plane, he kept turning back to wave, and I waved back until we were finally out of each other’s sight.
The following month, during a phone conversation, my dad told me that my mom would be coming home soon. He asked me not to bring any friends with me the next time I visited so we could spend quality time together, just as a family. “We’ll all be together again soon,” he said.
When it was time to say goodbye, I told him, “I love you, Papasan!”
“I love you, daughter!” he replied.
We hung up.
Later that night, I came home after celebrating a birthday in Santa Cruz with my housemates. We gathered around the answering machine to listen to our messages. There was one from my sister Janet. She said my dad had suffered a massive heart attack and that she was on her way to the hospital.
I tried calling her over and over until finally her husband, my brother-in-law Memo, answered the phone. He broke the news to me: my dad didn’t make it.
He was gone.
He passed away.
I was devastated. My life would never be the same again.
Several months earlier, I had met Geoff. After my dad passed away, we began dating. His uncle, Colman Andrews, was an internationally acclaimed food writer, editor, and co-founder of Saveur magazine, and through Geoff I was introduced to some of the city’s best restaurants, many of them highly rated by Zagat. Those experiences opened my eyes to a whole new world of food and hospitality and led me to admire chef Suzanne Goin, who would later become one of my greatest inspirations, and eventually, my boss.
I graduated from college with a degree in Business Management Economics & Accounting, with an emphasis in Education. Although I wasn’t sure what career I wanted to pursue, I always knew I wanted to own my own business, just like my dad.
Growing up, I worked alongside him from the time I was little. Some days I wore a T-shirt with his real estate company’s logo and my name printed on the front. Other days, I wore a tiny business suit. We’d pass out flyers door-to-door, help flip houses, and I’d answer phones at his office. You could say I started selling real estate at 5 years old.
One day, my cousin gave me a copy of The Millionaire Next Door to read on a plane. I remember the author sharing that he encouraged his daughter to become an accountant because every company needs one. Since I had always dreamed of owning my own business, that advice resonated with me. I wasn’t sure what kind of business I wanted to own, but accounting seemed like a solid foundation and a career that would allow me to work in many different industries.
Looking back, I wish I’d had more career guidance. At the time, I didn’t realize how many different paths could prepare someone to become an entrepreneur. I simply chose the one that made the most sense to me.
Before and after graduating from college, I worked in accounting and finance for PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bank of New York Mellon, and Universal Music Group. I also had my real estate license and bought and sold real estate.
On paper, I had built a successful career. But deep down, I knew something was missing.
Although I enjoyed the people I worked with, I didn’t love accounting or finance. My favorite parts of the job weren’t the spreadsheets or financial statements—they were the people. I loved dressing up for work, taking clients out to lunch, attending happy hours, and celebrating at company events. I craved creativity, human connection, and work that truly excited me.
One day, I reached my breaking point. I remember thinking, There has to be more than this. I want to wake up excited to go to work. I want to do something that brings people joy.
So I decided to pursue my first love: food.
Food had always been more than something to eat. It was how I connected with my dad, how I expressed love, and how I brought people together. For the first time, I decided to stop following the practical path and start following my heart.
I traded in my business clothes for a chef’s coat and enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu.
Enrolling at Le Cordon Bleu changed the trajectory of my life. It was one of the most exciting chapters of my journey, where I developed a strong foundation in French cuisine and international culinary techniques.
After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, I still didn’t know how to cook like my favorite chef, Suzanne Goin. I wanted to learn from the best, so I sent her an email asking if I could work for her.
To my surprise, she responded.
She invited me to interview and complete a stage—a working interview in the kitchen.
Thankfully, it went well, and I joined her team at Lucques, where I first worked in the savory kitchen, primarily in pantry and prep. I went from spinning salad greens and toasting hazelnuts to preparing stocks, soups, Suzanne’s famous braised short ribs, delicate gnudi, dressings, sauces, and countless other dishes from scratch.
The pace was intense. There was no standing around. Every second mattered, and I quickly learned how to move with purpose, think several steps ahead, and stay calm under pressure.
Every service demanded speed, precision, organization, and incredible attention to detail. It pushed me physically and mentally, and I loved the challenge.
Working alongside Suzanne also gave me the opportunity to cater some incredible events, including the SAG Awards, Oscar parties, President Obama’s fundraiser, and events for many high-profile clients.
Later, Suzanne invited me to join the pastry team at her newer restaurant, Tavern, where I spent most of my time. I made everything from marshmallow fluff, sauces, cakes, cookies, pies, ice cream, and pastry creams to laminated croissant dough and countless other desserts. I didn’t just bake—I also worked the line. A few times when someone called out, Suzanne would ask me to work the front house (customer service) in the larder (Tavern restaurant’s casual cafe), giving me valuable experience working both front and back house.
That experience meant a lot to me because I remembered something I had read in a magazine while I was a student at Le Cordon Bleu. It said that if you wanted to own a restaurant one day, you first needed to work in one so you truly understood what it takes. I took that advice to heart.
Working the line, preparing both savory dishes and desserts, and cooking for some of Los Angeles’ most celebrated restaurants and events was exhilarating. Every day, I learned from incredibly talented chefs and gained experience that would shape the rest of my career.
Preparing food alongside some of the best chefs in the industry was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life at the time. There was something incredibly fulfilling about creating beautiful food for people celebrating life’s special moments. The kitchen nourished my soul, even as it challenged me physically and mentally.
We spent at least eight hours a day on our feet in an intense, high-pressure environment where speed, precision, and teamwork were essential. The standards were very high, and there was no room for complacency. It pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of and helped me develop resilience, discipline, confidence, and thick skin.
Back to My Health
Although I was an avid runner and physically thin, my blood work revealed that I had borderline high cholesterol. Combined with my thyroid condition and my family history of heart disease, my doctor repeatedly warned me that I needed to make changes to my diet to reduce my risk of disease.
At Tavern, we made incredible walnut chocolate croissants with imported French butter, and I’d happily eat the day-olds almost every day—usually with a cookie, too. I thought all my running would offset it, but I eventually realized that exercise alone couldn’t undo the effects of my diet.
One day, I was making 30 quarts of chocolate buttercream when I had an aha moment.
As delicious as it was, I realized I was working with ingredients that contained large amounts of cholesterol. Heart disease had already taken my dad, and now my own cholesterol was starting to rise. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something needed to change.
That moment became a major turning point in my life.
I decided to take my health seriously and began searching for a way to create food that was both incredibly delicious and better aligned with the kind of life I wanted to live. I also found myself wondering if there was a way to nourish people without sacrificing flavor.
That day, I prayed and asked God to present an opportunity where I could make a positive difference in the world.
Almost immediately, someone called and asked if I could become her personal chef. She wanted to lose weight, improve her health, feel great, and still enjoy delicious food.
I saw it as an answer to my prayer.
So, I left the restaurant world, a career I truly loved, and began a new journey. I worked alongside my client’s health coach, planning and preparing meals while studying nutrition. It was the beginning of an entirely new chapter in my life.
Reading Kimberly Snyder’s The Beauty Detox Solution changed my life. Inspired by her philosophy, I began experimenting with my own diet to discover which foods made me feel my best.
I started drinking green smoothies every day—a habit I still have to this day. I found that eating in a way that supported my digestion and energy made an incredible difference in how I felt.
The changes were remarkable. My energy improved, my digestion felt better, and the brain fog I’d struggled with lifted. It was as if a cloud that had been blocking my view of the world had finally lifted. For the first time, I saw the world with clarity.
For the first time ever, I felt clear, energized, and truly healthy.
That experience reinforced what I had begun to believe—that food has the power not only to bring people together, but also to help them feel their very best.
Inspired by Kimberly’s principles, I began creating my own recipes and sharing them on my blog. Soon after, I developed a cookbook app called Yvonne’s Vegan Kitchen (originally My Eclectic Kitchen), which was available on both the App Store and Google Play.
The app featured more than 170 recipes and, at its peak, reached #7 among the top-paid food apps in the App Store. It was incredibly rewarding to see so many people cooking my recipes and embracing a healthier way of eating.
As I continued sharing my recipes and philosophy, Whole Foods Market invited me to teach cooking classes throughout Los Angeles County. Teaching was fun. I loved bringing people together, helping them gain confidence in the kitchen, and showing them that vegan, gluten-free cooking could be simple, nourishing, and incredibly delicious.
Looking back, it was another way my education degree found its way into my life. I may not have become a classroom teacher, but I was still teaching, and I loved every minute of it.
As I changed the way I ate, I became curious to learn more. I watched every food and vegan documentary I could find, and almost overnight, I became an ethical vegan.
For me, it was about much more than food. Living in a way that aligned with my values—showing compassion toward animals while trying to lessen my impact on the planet—gave me a deep sense of peace. It felt good knowing that my choices reflected what I believed in. For me, it was a win-win for my mind, body, and soul.
I continued working as a personal chef while growing my online presence after joining Instagram. During that time, I married my best friend, Peyman. He embraced a vegan lifestyle alongside me during those early years and was incredibly supportive as I pursued my dreams and built my career.
Together, we hoped to start a family, but life had other plans. Over time, we realized we had grown in different directions and wanted different things. With love and mutual respect, we made the difficult decision to amicably end our marriage after 14 years together.
I continued pursuing my passion for food when my sister, Riva, came across a Facebook post from Nuda, a café in the South Bay, looking for a vegan, gluten-free baker. She connected us, and the owner asked if I had gluten-free bread to sell.
I didn’t, but I did have gluten-free crackers I had created for Peyman. Then I remembered my homemade vegan cheese, which paired perfectly with them. I offered both, and Nuda agreed to give them a try.
I announced the launch on Instagram and set up a sampling table in front of Nuda, where I offered passersby samples of my vegan cheese and gluten-free crackers.
They sold out almost immediately.
Stacy, the owner, asked if I could create more products, and I happily said yes. I sold chocolate chip cookies, New York style, cheesecake, muffins, and cupcakes! Those sold well. Looking back, Nuda became the perfect testing ground for my recipes and the beginning of something much bigger than I could have imagined.
As I continued sharing my journey on Instagram, other cafés, restaurants, and retailers began reaching out. One opportunity led to another, and before I knew it, the business had taken on a life of its own.
The cake side of my business began unexpectedly.
While I was sampling our products at Grassroots in South Pasadena, I explained that we sweetened many of them with dates, maple syrup, and coconut sugar. One of the women trying our products, Aisha, asked if we also made cakes. Her gluten-free baker had recently moved away, and she was looking for someone new.
I paused for a moment and thought about it. Then I smiled and said, “We can.”
That one decision changed everything.
Aisha placed her order, and from that first cake, word quickly began to spread. Before long, the cake side of my business had taken on a life of its own and grew far beyond anything I had imagined.
Similar opportunities kept presenting themselves, and with each one, my business continued to grow.
While I was working at Tavern, I ran into Jessica Alba a few times. She’d often come in for breakfast before my shifts. The funny part is that we had a staff restroom, but if someone was using it and I really had to go, I’d use the guest restroom instead. A few times, I happened to run into Jessica there. I never wanted to bother her, so I’d just smile and go on with my day.
Years later, I became a season ticket holder for the LA Clippers, and, unbelievably, Jessica ended up sitting right in front of me. We finally introduced ourselves, took a photo together, and I wrote one of my signature long Instagram captions about how we kept randomly crossing paths.
Jessica saw the post, started following me, and became an incredible supporter of my small business. Her kindness and encouragement meant so much during those early years.
A while later, Jessica invited me to create desserts for the launch party of her Honest Beauty line. She felt that my brand aligned with Honest Beauty’s philosophy of transparency and thoughtfully sourced ingredients.
I happily accepted, and that event became the beginning of my dessert catering business.
In 2018, I officially turned a lifelong passion into a business. Looking back, it’s incredible to see how one opportunity after another led me here. Building Yvonne’s Vegan Kitchen has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It has challenged me, stretched me, and brought me so much joy.
As my business grew, so did my own health journey. I had already been eating vegan and gluten-free for years, but when I occasionally ate gluten while dining out, I began noticing that my body reacted strongly to it. Over time, the pattern became impossible to ignore.
I eventually saw a gastroenterologist, who diagnosed me with non-celiac gluten intolerance and advised me to stay away from gluten. Although I don’t have celiac disease, eating gluten can cause significant inflammation and other very uncomfortable symptoms for me.
That experience gave me an even deeper appreciation for creating food that people with dietary restrictions could genuinely enjoy. It reinforced my commitment to developing recipes that are both vegan and gluten-free without sacrificing flavor or texture.
Today, Yvonne’s Vegan Kitchen has grown far beyond anything I could have imagined. What began as a passion for food and a desire to help people feel their best has evolved into a storefront bakery, an e-commerce business that ships nationwide, a custom cake studio, a dessert catering company, a wholesale brand carried by retailers, cafés, and restaurants, a cookbook app and eBook, and opportunities to collaborate with brands I admire.
There are countless stories behind each of those chapters—many of which I’ll save for another time.
When I look back, I see every experience, every challenge, and every detour as a blessing.
Losing my dad, battling Graves’ disease, learning to live with hypothyroidism, changing careers, working in some of Los Angeles’ best restaurants, and taking countless leaps of faith all led me here.
Today, I genuinely love what I do. Every day, my team and I have the privilege of creating food that brings people together while making vegan and gluten-free options more accessible. Our mission has always been to prove that food can be both incredibly delicious and thoughtfully made—for people, animals, and the planet.
Nothing brings me more joy than seeing our customers celebrate life’s milestones with our food. Whether it’s a birthday, wedding, baby shower, anniversary, or simply sharing dessert with someone they love, it’s an honor to be part of those moments.
Thank you to everyone who has supported Yvonne’s Vegan Kitchen over the years. Whether you’ve ordered a cake, attended a class, visited our bakery, followed along on social media, or simply cheered us on, you’ve helped make this dream a reality.
I can’t wait to see what the next chapter brings.
My mom was understandably nervous when I left a stable career in finance to pursue the uncertain world of food. But over the years, she’s watched me persevere, grow my business, and follow my dreams. Today, she’s my biggest cheerleader. She tells me I can accomplish anything, listens to my ideas and vision, and faithfully prays for me every day. I feel incredibly blessed to have her support.
As for my dad, I still miss him deeply. Looking back, I don’t think he ever wanted me to become someone I wasn’t. He simply wanted me to succeed.
In hindsight, I think he always saw what sparked my curiosity and brought me joy. He probably knew, long before I did, that I would eventually build a life around something I was truly passionate about.
One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned is to trust that quiet voice inside me. When something genuinely aligns with my values and fills my heart with purpose, I’ve learned to follow it—even when the path is uncertain. Every meaningful chapter of my life began with taking a chance on something that felt right.
When I look back on my journey from my family’s dinner table, to Graves’ disease, to culinary school, and ultimately to Yvonne’s Vegan Kitchen, I wouldn’t change a thing.
