Lily Walker

Hot Seat with Lily Walker

1. What inspired you to become a Chef?

I am a big advocate of clean eating and healthy living. I developed a habit of healthy eating from an early age, and then started my little Facebook page where I’d post about what I cooked for the day. People started showing interest and my page blew up, I quit my day job and started a small catering service that worked well for me. And that’s pretty much my journey of becoming a chef. It was not really one moment of inspiration, but a mix of passion, hard work and practicality. 

2. What is your signature dish? What do people love about it?

I’d say it’s the Tofu Bowls, as it was the first dish that I posted on my Facebook page. As my page didn’t really have any audience, the post did not do very well but it was a huge step for me to gather up the courage and post it, I felt vulnerable doing it but once I did it, I think it pretty much changed my life from there. And it’s also the customer-favorite on my menu, I run out of Tofu Bowls by mid-day, and I think the number speaks for themselves as I am a very analytical person. 

3. How do you describe your overall cooking philosophy?

There’s no space for any compromises in my kitchen. People have enough opinion about vegan food as it is, I don’t want to add to it by letting mishaps pass in the kitchen. A very keen eye to attention has always been my mantra for cooking. If it doesn’t tickle your taste buds, there’s no way it will even come close to impressing your customers. Being my toughest critic is my cooking philosophy, which can also be a bad thing to do to yourself sometimes. 

4. Tell us a little about your Vegan journey.

I believe in the saying that goes, ‘you are what you eat’. I wasn’t always a vegan, in fact not even a vegetarian. On an excursion trip, I once visited a slaughterhouse and saw some horrific things that I don’t want to go into the details of. That changed my perspective of life, not mine, but that of those animals. I am not here to judge others’ life choices, but just stating mine. Also, did you know one individual vegan saves around 200 animals in a year?

5. If you weren’t a chef, what would you be?

I’ve always wanted to own a farm where I’d grow and sell organic vegetables, spices, fruits and also have some farm animals running around. I am saving up to make this dream come true someday, but I wouldn’t give up on cooking even then. So you can tell there’s nothing I’d rather do other than cooking, but a farm life is something I’d want along with cooking.