We had the good fortune of connecting with Chef Lucy Sunflower and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chef Lucy, why did you pursue a creative career?
In my family book smarts are revered the most. Art across the spectrum isn’t something they ever got overly excited about. While art and culture are a part of societal life, becoming an artist is always seen as a fruitless endeavor. My passion and natural gift for food wasn’t encouraged. I was taught the traditional road to success: good grades and college.

It’s the image of the “starving artist”. I’ve always had interests in many subjects, and math and English composition came easy but never kept me interested.

When I told my parents I was majoring in Art and not English they were not exactly excited. Being a Fine Arts major with a concentration in Surealism and Expressionist wasn’t something they even understood.

I began to use art theory when I was developing my culinary creations. The white of a canvas was the same as a white plate and beautiful dish. I’d found a way to combine my zero waste, survivalist culinary interest with the bright colors of Art.

I perused an artistic career because I had to be true to myself. I had to blindly walk into a world very few people stay in. And it’s definitely been hard. You learn to be flexible and open minded very quickly. You learn to respect your personal journey and you learn it’s truly a gift to create art everyday

What should our readers know about your business?
Growing up in DC you’re aware of how different your environment is. One of the best views of the Capital is from one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. The irony never escaped me. A view of freedom that most of the residents never experience.

Food jungles aren’t uncommon in the area I grew up. Most neighborhoods have the bare minimum of supplies: a corner store or bodega, a lot of liquor stores, and small shops with processed foods. Most people only think fresh produce is for the rich. Colorful foods don’t exist in those neighborhoods. But everything is beige and fried.

I decided very young to be a catalyst of change. To show my community that you don’t have to go broke to eat good. I started teaching about survivalism which included: foraging, edible plants, dehydration and gardening. It couldn’t stop there. I made the choice to only cook vegan food. And then I took it one step further and specialized in soy free and gluten free foods.

I realized my community was dying due to curable conditions. And it didn’t feel good as a Chef to think about feeding them more food that would systematically stunt them. So I chose my specialties with my community in mind. And haven’t looked back.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Being in Las Vegas you can expect a little bit of everything. There’s some really cool things to see on the strip. My favorite thing to do is give my friends architecture tours. Most of the hotels have a theme or cool events. The Cosmopolitan is inspired by Alice in Wonderland. And throughout the hotel you’ll see pieces of art and design that lead you down the rabbit hole.
Area 15 is an amazing interactive museum that you can spend all day exploring.
If I want to get away from the strip I’ll go to the Arts District and check out the new exhibits.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There’s a lot of people who have had a nice word or a hug for me while on this journey. I truly am thankful to be constantly supported. I definitely owe a huge thanks to my friends and family for constantly pushing me to be authentically myself.

Website: Lostvegastea.com

Instagram: http://www.Instagram/cheffeedmeflowers

Youtube: @Airfriedanime

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