Chef Nina Curtis, MBA has had a long and distinguished career as an executive chef and gastronomic visionary, and has been recognized for two decades as a leader and trailblazer in the plant-based culinary movement.  She is currently the Director and Executive Chef for the Adventist Health Roseville Vitaliz Café and Culinary Arts department.  She is the former Executive Chef, and Chief Nutrition Officer for daily meal subscription services, of The Ranch at Live Oak, Malibu, and her past clients include the Marriot Group, Hilton Hotels, Baxters, Manhattan Beach, the El Caballo in Oakland, Pure Food and Wine in New York and the Springs Restaurant and Wine Bar in Los Angeles.  An MBA graduate of Pepperdine University, she also trained at Living Light Culinary Institute, the Trinity School of Natural Health and the Natural Gourmet Culinary Institute, and she received a Certificate in Plant-based Nutrition from T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and eCornell.

Chef Nina claimed the extraordinary designation as "America's Top Hospital Chef" by winning the 2019 national Health Care Culinary Contest / Reimagining Hospital Food, under sponsorship of Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth, Menus of Change, The Culinary Institute of America and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  She was also the Head Chef and inspirational force for the James Beard Foundation’s celebrated 2018 International Women’s Day dinner, “Women and the Future of Food”, a vegan feast bringing together eminent female chefs from six countries.  She has also served as Vice President of the international trade organization Women Chefs and Restaurateurs.

Chef Nina has said "I am passionate about cooking 'food to live for'!" and "I think of myself as an artist and the plate is my canvas and plant-based foods are the many different color paints I have to work with”.  She loves cooking delicious and vibrant plant based food, and she has presented lectures and demonstrations on health, nutrition and whole foods all around the world, so it is no surprise that what she enjoys most would seem to be fusions of Thai, Senegalese, Mediterranean and Mexican cuisines.  She has developed wellness training programs, has set up kitchen operations and has worked closely in conjunction with culinary master gardeners, to develop seasonal and gorgeous garden-to-table recipes that are essential to having a delicious plant strong culinary experience.

Chef Nina is an accomplished culinary professional who's also deeply committed to the full range of higher values we all should embrace....  food as medicine, good nutrition as a human right, our collective responsibility for planetary sustainability, championing the voices of women and people of color in all endeavors....  as well as plant-based eating.  She is a member of the board of directors of our nonprofit Plant-based Prevention Of Disease, Inc.