Meet Top Chef’s Marcel Vigneron at the LA Vegan Beer & Food Festival

Cooking show fans know Marcel Vigneron as the molecular gastronomist with the Wolverine-like hair who made it the finals as runner-up in Top Chef Season 2 and reappeared on Top Chef All Stars. A lot has happened for the chef since then, including his own show on the SyFy channel, Quantum Kitchen, along with appearances on several Iron Chef episodes, Guy’s Grocery Games and Cutthroat Kitchen.

Most recently and perhaps most excitingly, Vigneron has opened his own restaurant, Wolf, in Los Angeles. Wolf is a rustically upscale establishment focused on “no waste cooking” that is heavy on fresh, whole foods. The small space on Melrose is both lively and elegant, buzzing with conversation and culinary appreciation. Service is top-notch while down-to-earth and the food lives up to the hype.

Stand-out vegan dishes on the Wolf menu include mushroom risotto, burnt carrots, beet and citrus salad, and crispy potatoes with chive aioli, rosemary and shredded horseradish. Vigneron, meanwhile, is there behind the line, six nights a week, demonstrating the work ethic that made him the headline-worthy chef that he is.

Vigneron will also be cooking at the LA Vegan Beer & Food Festival this weekend at the Pasadena Rosebowl. This year’s line-up for the fest includes craft brews from many breweries including Allagash and Wolf Creek Brewing, a bevy of kombucha and craft soda makers, cuts from vegan meat pioneer The Herbivorous Butcher (all the way from Minneapolis), snacks from Moby’s newest venture, Little Pine, tacos from beloved local truck Plant Food for Plant People, delectable sweets by The Shugah Mama, and much more.

Vigneron was kind enough to sit down with Paste for a few quick questions.

Paste: I love that Wolf is focusing on seasonal foods. Is that pretty easy to do, being in Los Angeles? (The burnt carrots are amazing, by the way).

Marcel Vigneron: Thank you! Yes, we are extremely blessed to be living in California but it’s no coincidence that my first restaurant is in LA. I felt as though doing a restaurant in another city would have been like a painter moving away from his palate.

Paste: How do you incorporate veganism into your cooking? What is your approach?

MV: I incorporate veganism into my cooking every day as my food is primarily plant based. I oftentimes use meat as a way to flavor ingredients or vegetables. I don’t consider it a pain but welcome making healthy tasty vegan dishes and a challenge and a way of life.

Paste: Do you get recognized on the street a lot after all of the TV shows you’ve done? What’s that like? Any interesting hate or fan mail?

MV: All the time! I actually got fan mail this week from someone who sent me a The Life Aquatic shirt and quoted Steve Zissou by saying, “This is an adventure.”