A love letter to South African soul food through a fine-dining lens.
Veganuary 2026 arrives with a distinctly South African accent and a generous touch of fine dining flair, as award-winning restaurateur and vegan chef Vanessa Jarvis-Findlay officially launches her flagship cookbook, The NEKED Food: Plant-Based Gourmet Edition.
Part cookbook and part personal memoir, the book brings together Vanessa’s South African heritage, her classical technique, and her cheeky sense of humour, resulting in plant-based food that feels at once familiar and sharply original.
“I didn’t write a ‘vegan cookbook’. I wrote a love letter to South African flavour, then dressed it in couture and served it with a wink.” — Vanessa Jarvis-Findlay
What sets The NEKED Food: Plant-Based Gourmet Edition apart is how proudly it wears its roots. The dishes are technically impressive and visually striking, but they begin with South African staples and nostalgic flavour notes that Vanessa pushes into unexpected territory.
It’s thoughtful, heritage-driven cooking with technique, personality and a sense of fun.
Vanessa’s work in food is deeply tied to a personal journey. She is a cancer survivor and nationally recognised advocate for plant-based living, known for the Lady Godiva Freedom Ride, a symbolic and widely covered personal act of healing and sovereignty. This moment, equal parts defiance, humour and reclamation, has become part of her public story and informs her approach to food: bold, personal, and unapologetically original.
Expect bold creations like:
- Toffee Cocktail Tomatoes with Smoked Salt & Thyme
- Sea Salt & Fynbos ‘Honey’ ‘Panna Cotta’ with Kelp Caramel & Rooibos Sand
- Fermented Mealie Mousse with Cashew Cream in Phyllo Nests & Burnt Tomato Dust
- Braaied Mushroom & Black Bean ‘Bunny Chow’ with Tamarind Date Chutney Pearls
- Wild Mushroom & Amarula Cream Pap with Caramelised Shallot Petals & Foraged Herb Oil
These Michelin-star-worthy dishes are elegant, inventive and deeply rooted in a sense of place.
Beyond the food, the book is sure to live beautifully on coffee tables and kitchen counters. Vanessa is not only the author and chef, but also the photographer, styling and shooting every dish herself. The result is a visual style that’s clean, intimate and tasteful.
The writing is equally distinctive, warm, dryly funny in places and unexpectedly vulnerable in others; the tone invites the reader into her kitchen rather than lecturing from a distance.
The book features glowing forewords from some of South Africa’s most respected culinary voices, including Jenny Morris and Justine Drake, who both commend Vanessa’s originality and her refusal to make plant-based cuisine feel apologetic or niche.
About Vanessa Jarvis-Findlay
Vanessa Jarvis-Findlay is a multi–award-winning restaurateur, celebrity vegan chef, author and creative producer. She founded NEKED Food, a 5-star vegan restaurant in Clarens that earned a place among the Top 100 Restaurants in South Africa, in 2023 and 2024, as ranked by the Restaurant Association. The ranking was awarded against more than 35,000 registered restaurants nationwide, and not within a vegan or vegetarian category, but across the entire restaurant landscape.
NEKED Food has also received a number of international and local honours, including:
- Hidden Gem of the Year 2024
- Best Vegan Restaurant Globally (Lux Life Magazine)
Vanessa has appeared as a celebrity chef at The Good Life Show (sponsored by Woolworths), has been the focus of a dedicated episode of Karakters (hosted by Riaan van Heerden) on DStv and Showmax, and is a South African Music Award (SAMA) winner for her work as Executive Music Producer on Impossible Machines by Ard Matthews.
Vanessa has expanded the NEKED Food universe with the launch of a plant-based retreat in Clarens, offering immersive culinary experiences in a slow-living setting. She also released a personal and witty audio-book, giving listeners a candid and entertaining look into her world both on and off the plate.
The NEKED Food: Plant-Based Gourmet Edition is available nationwide from January 2026.
This Veganuary, South Africa doesn’t just go vegan, it goes gourmet.
Early Praise
“Vanessa turns plant-based cooking into art, every plate a statement.”
— Jenny Morris, The Giggling Gourmet
“Proof that vegan cuisine can be luxurious, local, and laugh-out-loud fabulous.”
— Justine Drake, Masterchef Judge, Culinary Director & TV Host
Book Details
Title: The NEKED Food Plant-Based Gourmet Edition – Extraordinary & Delicious Plant-Based Cuisine
Author: Vanessa Jarvis-Findlay
Publisher: NEKED Publishing (South Africa)
Format: Hardback • 208 pages • Full colour • ISBN 978-1-0492-3432-8
Retail Price: R 695
Also available in soft cover R495
Or E book R295
Available now at www.nekedfood.co.za and selected retailers.
