Chef Ron has more than 25 years of experience in the culinary world. While in Los Angeles, he was personally asked to cater the weddings of celebrities Josh Brolin and Diane Lane, and also cooked for Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Britney Spears and Jessica Lange, among others.

Chef Ron’s hearty vegan Super Mineral Broth is prepared in small batches and contains no preservatives. The broth offers all the health benefits and nutrition of bone broth with none of the bones.

“We created a mineral broth using 100 percent clean, sustainable, locally sourced, plant-based ingredients,” said Chef Ron Stewart. “We continue to carry this pioneering philosophy throughout every aspect of our business. We exist to enrich our community’s health and wellness through nourishing, delicious, plant-based food.”

Sipping broth has immense benefits that include reducing inflammation, fostering gut health and facilitating liver function. It’s long been assumed that those benefits are only achieved through bone broth, but that isn’t true anymore. “You can reap all of the amazing benefits of a sipping broth without the harm animal products have on the environment,” Chef Ron said.

FMM: For twenty years you have been fortunate enough to travel the globe. What led you to become a chef.? Share your influences while traveling.

Since I was a child, I have wanted to be a chef. I watched Julia Child’s and the Galloping Gourmet and was mesmerized. This may sound a bit cliché, but my first influence was my grandmother. She was from the South (Arkansas), and every meal was from scratch, super delicious, and made with love. I used to spend summers with her and my grandpa, and we would pick produce from their garden, gather fresh eggs from the hen house and quail pen, and I learned how to butcher rabbits, chickens, and goats when I was about seven years old. I have a picture of myself and Daw (my grandmother) baking a cake when I was two, and I was wearing a chef hat.

Traveling and experiencing different cultures blew my mind from the start. My first experience as a future chef away from my home in Santa Barbara, California was when I moved to Hyde Park, New York to attend the Culinary Institute of America. The differences in restaurant culture and cuisines were dramatic. I knew then that I needed to keep experiencing different cultures to fully understand the craft.

After I finished school, I was fortunate enough to secure an apprenticeship at a white linen Italian restaurant in The Hague, Holland. Coming fresh out of a prestigious culinary school and having completed a two-year apprenticeship at a 5-star hotel in California, I thought I was the man. I wasn’t. Europe had its own rules, and I didn’t know them. It took a while to get used to the new cuts of meat, the different available products coming in (live snails, eels from the North Sea, etc.), and the hierarchy in the kitchen. I needed to learn fast and earn respect. Oh, and no-one spoke English. It was the best time of my life.

Over the years I have lived and worked in New York, The Caribbean, Cabo San Lucas, Santa Barbara, Beverly Hills, and Portland, Oregon. All of which have given me some fantastic perspectives and added to my cooking style. I have also had way too much fun doing it.

FMM: Tell us about your passion for plant-based cooking. 

As I get older, I have an increasing desire to cook and eat healthy food without sacrificing rich, delicious meals. Being trained in classic French cuisine, I have had to really turn a corner to be able to prepare beautiful dishes without the butter, cream, rich meats, and the most difficult for me……cheese. 

The main thing that I have learned regarding sticking to your meal plan is that it all begins at the grocery store or your local framer’s market. If you only buy healthy, vegan ingredients, it becomes so much easier to cook plant-based meals at home. There is no temptation to add cheese if you don’t have any in your refrigerator.

I also see the meat industry and the absolute horrors that animals are subjected to, for what? We can eat fantastic meals and leave those little guys alone!

FMM: You gained a reputation with Hollywood’s A-listers. Who have you enjoyed working with over the years? 

I had the pleasure of being invited to cater for Josh Brolin and Diane Lane’s star-studded wedding, as well as cooking for Barbara Streisand, Tony Bennett, Brittney Spears, Jessica Lange, and Kathy Bates to name a few. My favorite client of all was the beautiful Betty Jane Rhodes, an actor and singer from the golden age of Hollywood. I was her private Chef in her home in Beverly Hills and we would sit and eat together as she shared stories of Howard Hughes, Shirley Temple, and countless other names of Hollywood royalty. She was a beautiful soul.

FMM: Share your story about your friend who was undergoing chemotherapy and the connection with your plant-based broth. 

A family friend was diagnosed with cancer, and while undergoing chemotherapy, she lost her appetite and subsequently had low energy. Her dietician told her about the benefits of sipping high quality bone broth. Being a vegan, she reached out and asked if I could help. After a ton of research and help from my wife (who has a master’s degree in Biotechnology from the Food Institute in Kiev, Ukraine), I developed a broth using sweet potatoes, kombu seaweed, and various other mineral rich vegetables. She loved it. It is easy to drink, and just a couple of cups a day kept her energy levels up. I then realized that while there are some decent recipes available, there are very few premium plant-based sipping broths available on the market, so I decided to make it available to everyone.

FMM: Your broth was created with love also with your wife Natalie. Tell us more.

My wife has a scientific approach to nutrition and a great passion for healing through foods. With her background in biotechnology, and my background in culturally diverse ingredients and cuisines, we have been able to develop beautiful plant-based foods that are tasty, and health driven. We truly want people to be healthy and happy.

FMM: What are the health benefits? 

Each of the ingredients in our mineral broth are intentionally included to maximize the nutritional benefits. Vegetables and minerals are rich with powerful nutrients our bodies crave. Sipping broth has immense benefits, which include reducing inflammation, fostering gut health, and facilitating liver function. It’s long been assumed that those benefits are only achieved through bone broth, but that isn’t true anymore.

Below you will find a summary of the health benefits from all the thoughtfully included ingredients in our broth. 

• Carrots are anti-inflammatory. Research shows that eating only one rich in vitamin A carrot per day promotes lung health and could reduce lung cancer risk by half. An abundance of beta-carotene accounts for the lovely orange color of carrots. Beta-carotene prevents mouth, throat, lung, stomach, breast, intestinal, bladder, and prostate cancers.
• Onions are antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. Onions, specifically shallots, have been helpful in animal studies for attacking leukemia. Onion extract likewise displayed anti-tumor elements, perhaps because it aids in quickly cleansing carcinogens from the body.
• Celery is anti-inflammatory. Celery has a phytochemical referred to as coumarin, which aids white blood cells and inhibits free radicals from harming cells, thus reducing mutations that can cause cells to turn out to be cancerous. Also, acetylenic compounds in celery are able to halt the development of tumor cells.
• Potatoes are an antioxidant and possibly an antiangiogenesis agent. In potatoes, vitamin B6 seems to regulate the triggering of a tumor-repression gene. Furthermore, potatoes can have a general purifying effect with phytochemicals that search for cancer-producing free radicals.
• Sweet Potatoes and Yams are antioxidants that help regulate blood sugar. The incredible orange yellows of yams and sweet potatoes show they are rich in cancer-fighting vitamin C and beta-carotene. At one time, a few medical professionals thought wild yams were a substitute for hormone replacement therapy because of their supposed power to affect estrogen levels. Current research proves there is no connection between yams and estrogen levels.
• Garlic is antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory. A garlic mixture called allicin gives this vegetable its pungent odor and cancer-protective power. Allicin is a potent antibacterial and antiviral agent that keeps carcinogens from modifying healthy colon cells. It’s the perfect inclusion in our vegetable broth. 
• Parsley is a digestion aid, an appetite stimulant, an NF-kB regulator, and an anti-inflammatory. The oils in parsley, such as myristicin, have robust anti-tumor properties, particularly concerning lung tumors. Parsley moreover appears to deactivate carcinogens such as benzopyrenes in fried foods, charcoal grill smoke, and cigarette smoke.
• Kombu has anti-toxins. Sea vegetables like kombu are rich in chlorophyllins, which connect to carcinogens in the digestive system of animals, possibly limiting their effect. Kombu, too, has lignans, and so do edamame and barley. Breast and endometrial cancer risk in postmenopausal women may slightly lessen by lignans.
• Black Pepper is a digestion aid, antibacterial, and NF-kB regulator. When eating black pepper, the taste buds are signaled to send a message to the stomach to generate hydrochloric acid to aid digestion. Piperine is contained in peppercorns. This alkaloid improves the body’s capacity to incorporate cancer-fighting nutrients, which include beta-carotene, curcumin, and selenium.
• Allspice/Allspice Berries are a digestion aid and antimicrobial. Allspice is great if you feel bloated or gassy because it eases indigestion and relieves discomfort, particularly in the small intestine.
• Bay Leaf is a digestion aid. Bay leaves alleviate abdominal spasms and gas. Likewise, they calm and relax the digestive system.
• Sea Salt is an appetite stimulant, and it contains many vital minerals, including calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Sea salt differs from table salt in that table salt has added iodine and is generally stripped of minerals.
• Turmeric is another anti-inflammatory plant that boosts immune health. Turmeric has also proven quite effective at reducing pain – particularly joint pain, due to the curcumin present in the plant. These benefits are why we opted to create a turmeric vegetable broth in addition to our original mineral broth. 
• Ginger is an anti-inflammatory antioxidant. Thanks to the phenolic compounds, ginger has long been used to treat pain, inflammation, and to improve immunity. Ginger also has the ability to soothe an upset stomach by decreasing nausea. 

FMM: You are also a Culinary Consultant. Tell us about your work. 

I consult for food service and food manufacturing operations mostly. I have been hired to assist with many different issues, but I generally focus on identifying inefficiencies and increasing profitability through avenues such as employee turnover, menu engineering, food and workplace safety, and growth and expansion. I consult for companies ranging from local mom and pops to nationally and internationally recognized brands. Over the years working in restaurants the greatest fulfillment for me has been the development of teams and individuals, and this is just an extension of that. 

FMM: What can we expect to see from you in 2023? 

We are planning to launch some exciting new plant-based products in 2023, as well as expand our retail sales with multiple reputable supermarket chains and launch our e-commerce store in Spring. I have a seven-year-old so I will be playing lots of baseball, soccer, and basketball, and my favorite sport of all – stepping on Legos while barefoot.

We Exist to enrich our community’s health and wellness through nourishing, delicious, plant-based food.

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