Meet the Chef

Hiranth Jaysinghe (COO/ Executive Chef/Partner) is the heart and soul of Plant Junkie. He was born and raised in Sri Lanka, where food is a major part of the culture and heritage. Hiranth graduated from “The Natural Gourmet Institute for Food & Healing” now a part of ICE Institute of Culinary Education, one of the most well-known plant-based cooking schools in NYC. He continued on there for more than 7 years as an instructor in their Chef’s Training Program. He has been a professional chef for over 20 years since within various restaurants concepts and configurations (as executive chef, and chef/owner), and in private homes as a personal chef. He has worked with renowned chefs David Burke & Richard Leach, of Park Avenue Café in NYC, as well as Erik Tucker, the Executive Chef at Millennium in San Francisco. His personal chef client list is packed with confidential high-profile celebrity names, billionaire businessmen, high-ranking politicians, and royalty. He has cooked for Bill Gates at his client’s private home. He lives and practices a vegan lifestyle and believes that being able to show love through food is one of life’s greatest gifts. His overall love and desire to create beautiful and delicious food is apparent in his cuisine. The fusion of Asian flavors and traditional American comfort food enables him to create dishes that are not only delicious but esthetically pleasing to the eye and palate. Reinventing these dishes and flavors as 100% Plant-Based, is not only a talent but a true passion.

Meet the Expert

Nat Milner (CEO/Partner) Nat grew up within his uncle’s Artie Cutler’s NYC restaurant empire. Working summers and school breaks in the restaurants and office, he learned the business from the ground up. In 2002 Nat formally rejoined the team, now named “The Alicart Restaurant Group”as Director of Special Projects. Here he formalized his experience, as he developed operational standards and training programs used for Carmine’s expansion to Atlantic City, Bahamas, Rhode Island, Washington DC, and Las Vegas. He was a key player in the build-out, training, and openings of these restaurants and assisted in bringing them to profitability. In 2006 he leveraged Alicart’s resources to independently open Gabriela’s Restaurant, which he owned and operated as CEO for the next 12 years. He developed Elizabeth’s Neighborhood Table in 2013 and Gabriela’s Taqueria in 2014,  where he began to build relationships and transition his business toward quick-service food halls. In 2019 Plant Junkie was launched.

Nat traveled extensively through central Asia in the early 90’s, lived in Steamboat Colorado, and settled in Juneau Alaska for over 10 years where he met his wife and started their family. Working as a wilderness guide and fisherman he cemented his love for the outdoors and became a champion for the environment. Serving plant based foods completely aligns with Nat’s values of conservation and he sees it as a natural progression.

Nat has an MS in Economics from Union College, an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a Master Certificate in Restaurant and Hospitality Management from Cornell University. He has acted as a judge for multiple years at the NY World Wine and Spirit Competition. Nat is a twelve-year member of the NYC Chapter of the Entrepreneur Organization and has sat on the board for the past 4 years.