Isa Chandra Moskowitz is an American vegan chef, cookbook author, former host of the vegan community access cooking show Post Punk Kitchen, and restaurateur. She is the author of several cookbooks,[1] and her first restaurant, Modern Love, opened in Omaha in 2014.[2]Its second location opened in Brooklyn in 2016.[3]
The inspiration to create her own cooking show came while watching the Food Network and wondering to herself why there were no vegan shows.[6] According to Moskowitz, the show used the title The Post Punk Kitchen to signify the feeling of being "older and facing the conundrum of growing up and making compromises that their eighteen-year-old selves might hate them for".[6] The success of The Post Punk Kitchen led to the compilation of a cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance, in late 2005, and a number of additional cookbooks over the years.[7][8]
In April 2008, she relocated from New York to Portland, Oregon, then to Omaha, Nebraska. Her restaurant, Modern Love, has locations in Omaha and Brooklyn.[9]
Activism
Moskowitz is a vocal opponent of "humane meat",[10] promoting animal rights through what she calls "Culinary Activism" or "Baketivism":[11]
I think that activism isn't what you decide to do but how it affects people. So if someone says, I'm going to become an activist! I'm going to stand on a street corner and preach about veganism! And then they go ahead and do that but no one listens and no one becomes vegan, then is that activism? On the other hand, maybe there's a girl in the middle of nowhere who loves animals and decided to bake vegan. And then people taste her cupcakes and are like "What the hell, I'll go vegan, too." Obviously, I think the latter is more effective, but I guess people might not see it as activism.[12]
After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Moskowitz posted on her blog a call for vegans to host bake sales in their home cities to fundraise for relief[13] which resulted in over $75,000 being raised.[12]
Media
Moskowitz is currently a Bust magazine columnist, where she writes a column called "Nickel and Dined", which focuses on cooking on a limited budget and has written for Vegetarian Times, Time Out NY, Natural Health and VegNews. In Omaha, she has appeared on KMTV in 2011 and 2012.[14] She presented at the first Austin, Texas VegFest in 2012, and in 2013.[15][16][17]