Welcome to Plant Academy

Created to inspire passion through plants, Plant Academy offers creative culinary trainings to bring your dreams to life through food.

We collaborate with the best chefs in the industry to teach cutting-edge techniques, elevated plating and conscious cooking, with a focus on using natural ingredients, elevated.

Our courses give you the skills, connections and ideas you need to help take your food knowledge to the next level. Plant Academy classes are interactive, dynamic, and visually incredible like no other culinary experience.

Everything we do is focused firmly on the future of food and sustainable cooking so we can make a positive impact on the wider world. We hope to become part of your food journey!

MEET OUR FOUNDER

Lauren Lovatt

Lauren Lovatt is a plant-based chef, entrepreneur, and the founder of Plant Academy.

Seeing a need in the industry for visually creative and sustainably minded plant based chef trainings Lauren came up with the Idea for Plant Academy whilst advancing her own culinary skills on a course in LA. Plant Academy came to life as a physical school in East London in 2019 running collaborative masterclasses and our signature Plant 123 chef training, which is a three part course that takes students from plant food fundamentals to conscious business.

Lauren’s passion for food has been lifelong but turned into a career after experiencing first hand the impact of food on her mental health. Lauren has trained and worked as a plant based chef always with the mission to share the power food has on our mental and physical health. Her first cookbook – Mind Food came out on this topic in 2022.

Her career officially began when Lauren joined the aspirational vegan restaurant Asparagasm as Chef Creative, running the restaurant and hosting plant-based pop-up nights and gaining a wealth of experience in developing recipes, writing menus and curating culinary events.

Lauren currently works as a plant based hotel and restaurant consultant around the world, as well as curating food concepts, such as HOY PARIS and teaching at culinary institutions such as Leith’s school of Food and wine and Alchemy Academy, Bali.

Lauren has a keen eye for plating and a passion for the most vibrant, seasonal ingredients with sprinkles of adaptogenic herbs and tonics, so our courses focus on the power of visual communication and using ingredients that positively impact the future of the planet.

Lauren is the curator of all the courses run by Plant Academy and acts as the lead instructor to support your experience.

The Team

The majority of our visuals and all of the images on our courses have been created by Sara Kiyo Popowa of Shiso Delicious, at our previous home The Food Studio, in East London.

Our vibrant course videos have been created by videographer Emily Munster shot onsite and on location.

Carolina Chinea, Plant based business coach and chef, wrote our original onsite courses as well as Plant Three Online and has played a vital role in Plant Academy from the beginning.

We have a vast network of chefs and entrepreneurs who play a key part in brining our courses to life as well as many Alumni who have been part of the team over the years and inspired the Plant Academy that you see today.