Despite the upturned noses of classmates, as a child Chef Tanya Petrovna brought sautéed spinach and mushrooms to school for lunch. Not until she ate dinner at a friend’s home did she understand why spinach had earned such an unfortunate reputation among her peers.
“I soon realized why the other kids didn’t like the vegetable, because my friend’s mom warmed spinach from a can and served it without any seasoning,” says the founder and executive chef of the premier vegan restaurant Native Foods Café, who stood on a stool in her own home and rinsed the spinach and mushrooms so that her mother could sauté the produce in garlic and olive oil.
Gourmet Roots
Such was the upbringing of Petrovna, who grew up in Palm Springs and inherited her appetite for fresh, wholesome, homemade food from her parents — immigrants from Europe. “My father was a maître de for prestigious restaurants, and my mother worked in food service on a part-time basis and cooked full-time at home,” says Petrovna, who has been featured on the Food Network and is author of two cookbooks, including The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook (2003). “Mom shopped every day and cooked fresh meals, making Julia Child look like Taco Bell,” says Petrovna. “She was ahead of her time in the kitchen, going beyond French and experimenting with a wide variety of cuisines, including Chinese.” For Petrovna, time around the family dinner table involved lively discussions about food. “My father would throw out ideas, and Mom would take them and create something the next day,” she says.
Vegan Beginnings
As a child and teenager, Petrovna also felt an affinity with animals that led to her becoming vegan at the age of 18. “In junior high school, I read an article about cruelty to whales and did a report on the topic, in the process contacting the local humane society for information,” she recalls. “They sent me Polaroid photos of abused animals, which really upset me. I also volunteered at a local animal organization that provided low-cost spay and neuter services and became vice president of that organization while in 9th grade.” It was on a family vacation when she met and pet a dairy cow that Petrovna decided she preferred to befriend animals, rather than eat them. From that point on, she thought about how she could maintain a balanced and nutritious diet with all plant-based foods. Through her research, which included earning a degree in biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she found that vegan food could also be highly nutritious and delicious. In college she rented a room from a natural foods cook and herbalist who made her own tempeh, which involves an incubation process. “She was a great teacher,” says Petrovna. “The first time I tried her tempeh, sparks went off,” she says. “I thought about how many ways it could be served.” Today many of her dishes at Native Foods feature tempeh, such as her “Scorpion Burger” and “Baja Surf Tacos.” Seitan also figures heavily in her dishes, like the “Super Italian Meatball Sub” and “Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger.” Other big draws on the menu include her “Native Bacon” made from specially marinated tofu, her native cheeses created from blends of nuts, seeds, nutritional yeast and various spices and deserts like her dairy-free Cheesecake with ginger granola crust. Such vegan renditions of old favorites are so popular, they’re enjoyed by vegetarians and non-vegetarians.Destined for Food Service
From the moment Petrovna was able to work, she chose the food service industry. “As a teen, I helped my father at catering events, and I worked in a pancake house as a busgirl. Food and serving it was always in my head,” she says.