Hi, I'm Dynise Balcavage, aka, The Urban Vegan. I'm obsessed with hedonistic vegan cooking. My culinary point of view, to borrow a Food Network phrase, results from living and working in a large urban center [Live in Philadelphia; work the NE megalopolis, from Philly to NYC]. My inspiration for new recipes comes from wandering through ethnic markets, devouring cookbooks--both omni and veggie, and experimenting with new ingredients in my humble-but-happy city kitchen.


I think vegan food needs to be held to a higher standard than omnivorous food. Fair? No. But since plant-based food is held under a microscope, it needs to consistently wow. Although my cooking is usually healthy, I do like diving into decadence. Who says healthy and decadent have to mutually exclusive, anyway?

My second cookbook, Celebrate Vegan: 200 Life-Affirming Recipes for Occasions Big and Small, just hit the stores. I've also written The Urban Vegan: 250 Simple, Sumptuous Recipes from Street Cart Favorites to Haute Cuisine and 11 books for young readers. In addition, I've published recipes in VegNews, Vegetarian Times, Philadelphia Daily News, and Végéteriens, France's first vegetarian magazine. I've been interviewed in the New York Times and International Herald Tribune, and have done cooking demos everywhere from New York to Paris. 


I live in Philadelphia with my 3 cats, Bossa Nova, Pablo and Buttons. I tweet at theurbanvegan. You can email me at theurbanvegan@yahoo.com