McKenzie Dokter "MJ"

About

McKenzie Dokter is a chef and educator whose culinary path has been anything but conventional. Her training is deeply rooted in physically immersive experiences—she didn’t just study food, she lived it. From working on a vegetable farm and helping run a CSA in the Midwest, to refining wild Alaskan salmon oil to fund a life-changing journey to Namibia, McKenzie’s culinary education has always started at the source.

In Namibia, she lived rurally in a mud hut, cooking over open fire and working in maize fields and open-air markets. There, she contributed to an orphans and vulnerable children’s program, helping establish sustainable garden and food systems. These early experiences shaped her understanding of food as more than nourishment—it became a tool for empowerment, community, and healing.

Back in the States, she trained under a traditional cheesemaker and worked as a sous chef at a true farm-to-table French-Italian restaurant, where raw milk, fresh butcher cases, and seasonal vegetables were the norm. She later took her expertise to the oyster capital of the world, where her seasonal restaurant gained recognition from coastal Chefs and became a hub for local vegetable growers eager to get their produce on the menu.

McKenzie’s plant-based journey began during pregnancy with her first daughter, when a shift in diet brought unexpected energy and mental clarity. What started as a personal change became a professional calling—opening a world of new flavors, techniques, and ways to gather people around the table through nourishing, animal-free meals.

For the past decade, she has dedicated herself to the craft of plant-based cooking, blending foundational techniques with global influence and local connection. Her work is grounded in cultural respect, curiosity, and a relentless passion for knowing your food—where it comes from, how it grows, and what it can do to bring people together.