A veritable tour de force in vegetarian and vegan cooking, Shannon Martinez has been a chef in Melbourne kitchens for over 20 years. She is best known as the owner of Australia's most prolific plant-based business, Smith & Daughters, which resulted in the best-selling books Smith & Daughters: A Cookbook (That Happens to be Vegan), Smith & DELIcious: Food From Our Deli (That Happens to be Vegan), and Vegan With Bite. While Shannon eats meat, she has perfected her vegan repertoire and says this is what makes her food taste so good; she aims to replicate the flavours and textures of meat, rather than serving bland, predictable, vegan fare.