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On a Sunday evening in mid-May, two chefs collaborated on “The Future of the Creamery,” a five-course tasting event at Long Count, an all-vegan wine bar and restaurant in New York City’s East Village. Forty years apart in age, both chefs have towering reputations — one as a pioneer and the other as a rising star reshaping the field.
Miyoko Schinner (left) and Haley Duren (right)
Miyoko Schinner, 68, helped define vegan food for decades. Food and Wine magazine called the former TV host, founder of the Bay Area farm sanctuary Rancho Compasión and the author of six cookbooks a “revolutionary force in the world of animal-free food.”
Haley Duren, 28 and the executive chef at Long Count, is known for her farm-to-table approach and her passion for the fermented foods (aged vinegar, fermented kimchi, preserved citrus) that give her dishes their unique complexity. She was named one of Time Out’s Best Young Chefs in New York City.
Vegan food traditions long predate both Duren and Schinner, but their collaboration shows that modern plant-based cooking has techniques worthy of being inherited, adapted, and passed down through generations.
The dinner was a sensation. By the time I booked my reservation, the only seats available were for the last service, beginning at 10pm. But even at that late hour on a Sunday night, stepping into Long Count felt like stepping into the crowd at a rock concert. The diners were eager for the chance to experience two eras of vegan cuisine on one plate — even if it meant having to plan their day around it.
Speaking from behind the bar, Schinner joked about the tenacity of the diners willing to come out at any hour. “I know that many of you are tired,” she said “and yet you came out at 10 o’clock. This is remarkable. I mean, are you Italian?”
The dishes displayed Duren’s expertise in aged ingredients and Schinner’s Japanese heritage. Standouts included the tempura shiitake and the dessert, a strawberry dish playing on mango sticky rice. Duren, who described spending hours sourcing produce and texting farmers directly about what would be available that week, swapped out-of-season mangos for an incredibly sweet crop of New Jersey strawberries that perfectly complemented the rice and black sesame praline. But my favorite dish was the first one, a cheese board featuring sesame focaccia crostini, easter egg radishes, saffron agave and two truffle soft cheeses, developed by Schinner but prepared by Duren.
Sticky Rice: neches sweet rice, strawberries, black sesame praline
Tempura Shiitake Stuffed with Tofu: fresh tofu, umeboshi, hijiki slaw
Miyoko’s Reggie The Goat and French Style: truffle soft cheeses; sesame focaccia crostini, easter egg radishes, saffron agave
Both chefs wandered the dining room. Duren, in charge of the kitchen, explained each dish to the diners — not just what was on the plate, but why it was there. Schinner had more freedom to pause for long conversations with the evening’s patrons. From the rapturous faces at each table, it was clear how excited people were to have the ear of the legendary chef.
I had the chance to talk to Schinner and Duren about how the dinner came together, what they wanted to learn from each other, and their thoughts on the future of vegan cuisine.
A few days before the event, Duren told me, she hosted another dinner at the nearby Avant Garden. And, the day before, she helped cater a vegan pizza popup. It was a very busy week, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. “Miyoko is a pillar and pioneer to vegan cuisine.” Despite everything, she said, “I knew I just had to do it.”
Schinner was just as delighted by the chance to work with a chef 40 years her junior. “You know, I don’t have Haley’s skill set,” she told me. “Her ability, at her age, to command a staff and run a kitchen and get food out on time is, to me, remarkable.” Schinner was also impressed by Long Count. In a Facebook post about the event, she described Long Count as “all about how good things age well — wine, food, and even people.”
Schinner sent Duren a few cheese recipes from her latest cookbook, The Vegan Creamery. The complexity and sensitivity of the ingredients left Duren reeling. “I’ve been holding my breath for three days now because I’ve been so scared of how these were gonna turn out,” Duren said in an Instagram story. “It’s like baking a cake for Martha Stewart.”
But in spite of her decades helping define vegan cuisine, Schinner said she was “still a novice” when it comes to exploring the possibilities of plant-based cooking. Duren acknowledged her own insecurities. “When you look at someone my age, there’s just a lot of doubt. Can you handle this? Do you know how to do this?”
Schinner, hearing this, touched Duren on the shoulder. “I still have that too, just so you know. Serious imposter syndrome.”
Duren’s anxiety wasn’t just about cooking for “The Queen of Vegan Cheese.” Both chefs believe preserving older food traditions is essential to the future of vegan cuisine, but Duren felt the weight of techniques developed over decades being entrusted to a new generation of vegan chefs.
“I just think we need to slow down in how we’re making our food,” said Duren. “We’ve lost so much of our traditional food systems.”
Schinner concurred. “My crusade is to rediscover what we already have, to nod to history, to indigenous knowledge, ancient wisdom. There is this path to the future that stems from the past.” And she saw the dinner as a powerful act of community-building. “As vegans, none of the most important things we can do is to bring the act of love from cooking to others, to our community, to our friends, to our neighbors.”
Stepping out into a still-warm night, I thought about the ways The Future of the Creamery reflected both chefs’ intentions and collaboration. The dishes were prepared with the freshest vegetables and newest ideas alongside rich, seasoned ingredients and ancient techniques. And the diners were taking it slow, savoring the experience of togetherness, the intimate space allowing them to invite strangers into conversation.
The dinner was a success. Not in spite of the age difference between the two chefs, but because of it. It was a celebration of the traditions that survive when people willingly pass them on and willingly receive them. Knowledge moved in both directions that night, from pioneer to rising star and from rising star to pioneer.
Duncan Magidson has been a vegan for more than 10 years. He is the Director of Digital Communications & Engagement at CoGenerate, a national nonprofit connecting generations to solve problems and bridge divides.