Namaste, my name is Babita Shrestha. I am a plant-based chef, photographer, graphic designer and filmmaker. My cooking journey started nearly 25 years ago in my grandfather’s kitchen in Kalaiya, Bara. I moved to Kathmandu, at the age of 12 where I was traditionally trained to cook by my mother. As the oldest child of the family, it was my responsibility to cook and it quickly grew into a true passion of mine.

In 2016, I decided to live a vegan lifestyle as much as possible. After that I became even more passionate about cooking delicious and healthy plant-based meals for myself & my friends. I let my creativity blossom, curating my own unique vegan recipes for dinner parties. This led me to educate and promote fresh nutritious dishes with classes, pop-up street food vending, selling my products to other restaurants, private cheffing, and catering.

My journey of life has taken me from a small village of Terai region in Nepal to Ancient Metropolitan Temple City of Kathmandu. Then, as a domestic helper in Hong Kong and a Fine Arts student in Minnesota. Later, as an entrepreneur I started Vegan Nepal in Lexington, Kentucky in 2017. After I got married in 2019, my husband and I decided to moved to Nepal in 2020 to finish my first cookbook “Plant-based Himalaya” and enjoy life near Annapurna Mountain.