Driven by Curiosity
I have always loved experimenting in the kitchen, creating new dishes, and crafting new taste experiences. In 2016, I decided to change my lifestyle for ethical reasons, and since then, I’ve been living vegan. Switching to a plant-based diet gave me an extra boost of interest and enthusiasm for cooking. Especially at the beginning, I tried out a lot of new things. To this day, there is still so much in plant-based cuisine that I want to discover and try.
On my blog “Don’t Waste Your Taste,” I share my tips and tricks for vegan cooking and baking. Here, you’ll find recipes that you can enjoy and savor.
My Journey
After a few years of experimenting and tinkering alone in my kitchen, I decided in 2019 to share my best recipes with the world and started this food blog “Don’t Waste Your Taste.” The following year, “Zentrum der Gesundheit” approached me and asked if I would like to host and cook for their YouTube cooking show. During my time with the ZDG team, I learned a lot from the various chefs, photographers, videographers, and from working in recipe development and video production.
At the beginning of winter 2021/22, I decided to live a nomadic life in the sun and started cooking for retreats. In winter, I lived on the Canary Islands, and in summer, in Central Europe. At Purple Valley Tenerife, I worked as a chef for several months during two consecutive winter seasons. This was my first deep insight into the retreat business, and it gave me the opportunity to draw inspiration from different Ashtanga yoga teachers.
I had already trained as an Ashtanga Yoga Innovation (AYI) Inspired yoga teacher in 2020. In 2022, I decided to continue learning and pursue the AYI Advanced certificate.
During the spring and autumn months, I toured Europe as a retreat chef with my mini camper, my blue VW Caddy, which I used for traveling and living. I delighted retreat and festival groups in the Czech Republic, Ibiza, Switzerland, Germany, and Portugal.
In the summer months of 2022 and 2023, I worked as a vegan chef at a vegetarian restaurant on a paradisiacal alternative campsite in Switzerland. There, I was allowed to expand and inspire the vegetarian food offerings with my vegan creations.
Ulm – Stopover or New Home?
Who would have thought that a nomadic soul like mine would make such a long stop in Ulm, in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany? My yoga teacher, Dr. Ronald Steiner, already told me in the summer of 2022 that he and his wife, Dr. Melanie Steiner, were building a new yoga school. Part of the yoga center was to be a vegan café, and they were looking for a chef and café manager. I showed interest, but the completion of the new building seemed far off. However, in October 2023, the time came, and I actually moved to Ulm to work there as the chef and café/kitchen manager of the AYI Café for an indefinite period and to help get the new venture off the ground. So here I am, in my small, sweet apartment in Ulm, writing these lines about how I ended up here.
My Vision
I’ve experienced a lot on my travels, blossomed in different roles, and learned a great deal along the way. But one thing has remained the same—my desire to make vegan cuisine appealing to as many people as possible and to show them how simple, varied, and above all, delicious a plant-based diet can be.
Being able to share my passion for vegan cuisine on my blog, at various retreats and events, and now at the AYI Café is the greatest gift for me. May this enthusiasm also inspire you!
Keep in touch
Would you like to know more about me? Do you have a specific question?
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I love connecting to my audience. For that you can use my contact form or send me a dm on my Instagram.