May 16, 2017

Meet Kevin Schuder of Fancy Plants Catering in Humboldt Park

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Schuder.

Kevin, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am the chef/owner of Fancy Plants Catering in Chicago. We host private dinners, cooking classes, and cater events from a small business lunches, to 300 person weddings. Everything we prepare is 100% plant based, and we operate in both San Francisco and Chicago. I believe cooking without the use of animal products is at the forefront of innovation, and have worked with many renowned chefs to help them incorporate this approach into their repertoire.

I started out as a very ambitious home chef in Minneapolis, and then turned professional when I moved to San Francisco in 2005. My first cooking job was at the vegan fine-dining restaurant Millennium. I learned much there, and then moved on to help open 2 wine bars, where I was the chef.

I then found myself wanting to learn more, and abandoned the chef role to learn Japanese cooking from Chef Takashi Saito at Izakaya Yuzuki, molecular gastronomy techniques at AQ Restaurant, and a soulful, integral California approach from Amaryll Schwertner at Boulette’s Larder. I also spent a lot of time staging in Bay Area restaurants known for their fermentation, for their pasta, or for their live fire cooking. All of them now have their own cookbooks, and rightly so.

But as I learned more about animal welfare, I decided to leave working for others to cook an all vegan cuisine popup in the evenings, at a place in Oakland that was known for serving meat in the mornings. It was a real gamble. Although it didn’t pay much, I was rich with freedom. I went on to call the popup Veg388.

From then, I went on to be the chef of the vegan restaurant Citizen Fox, as well as kitfox, our sandwich shop. From there, I went independent, and started cooking under my own name through Feastly. Having grown up in the Midwest, I wanted to be closer to family, and moved to Chicago to start Fancy Plants Catering in the summer of 2016.

Even though I still get called to California for a dinner series or catering job, I love calling Chicago home. Adventurous diners have been very receptive, and there is a lot of demand for catering. I’m hoping we’ll be opening Fancy Plants Cafe soon, which would be a seasonal farm to table vegan restaurant. I feel like there is more demand for meatless options that focus on vegetables, instead of trying to emulate meat with gluten and soy. Over half the people who come to our dinners are omnivores, so one needn’t be vegan to enjoy our creations. I’m very excited for what the future holds in Chicago, and feel like we’re just getting started.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’m always battling perceptions people have regarding the word ‘vegan.’ Anytime I’ve been the chef of a restaurant, I make sure not to use to advertise the food as such, as I like people to enjoy the meal with an open mind. In California, a lot of the best chefs don’t rely so heavily on meat, and they use a ton of vegetables on their menus. It wasn’t unusual for someone to enjoy eating at one of my restaurants, and then realize afterwards that we didn’t use any animal products.

Chicago most certainly does consume a lot more meat, and I think geography plays a large role in that. Here we have to brace for a cold winter, and the produce here has a shorter growing season. So while eating a vegan meal in California is very common, or even chic (all the celebrities are doing it!), I feel like I’m battling a lot of negative connotations regarding the word ‘vegan’ here in Chicago. If you do get a vegan meal here, it is most likely going to be called ‘chicken,’ but made out of soy and gluten. Very few vegan restaurants in Chicago cook vegetables, and so ironically enough, trying to get vegans to eat their vegetables is one of the bigger challenges!

Relying on temporary locations for special events is also tricky, and the exposure of having a brick and mortar restaurant is immense. Fortunately, it looks like it may be happening soon…

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Fancy Plants Catering story. Tell us more about the business.
Fancy Plants Catering is a plant based catering company in Chicago. We do private dinners, cooking classes, special events, and cater parties from as little as 10 people to as many as 300.

Not using animal products certainly distinguishes us from other catering companies, but also the fact that we use so many different traditional and modern techniques. Rarely will a catering company make its own ferments, like sauerkraut, preserved lemons, and miso, but we also have a repertoire of modern techniques (think molecular gastronomy), that we use seamlessly in dishes to create different surprises and textures. I’m very proud of the fact that we aren’t falling into any particular trend or mold, and have been able to thrive because of it.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I do feel very grateful for some of the good luck I’ve had, in terms of having some wonderful opportunities. At the same time, I know I wouldn’t find that opportunity, if I hadn’t been pushing towards the same goal for 10+ years. I never have a ‘side job’ or a plan B. I’m not going to be cooking in a restaurant just to make some money, while relegating what I really want to cook, to a couple of dinners a month.

I feel it’s important to stick with my plan A, all of the time, and it’s either sink or swim. There are times when it has been very challenging, and I’ve had to innovate, or really hustle to stay afloat. I feel like we’ve always been available for good luck and opportunities, because we stick to our goal.

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