Randy Graham

One of Ojai’s most beloved community members, whose vegetarian recipes have been published in a variety of local newspapers and magazines, Randy Graham tells me how, despite having been a passionate cook his whole life, his reinvention as Chef Randy came somehow unexpected.

Chef Randy at the Lavender Inn. Photo by Emma Larkan

RANDY Graham chuckles as he tells me how his reinvention as Chef Randy came about: “I submitted some recipes to the Ojai Valley News and when they were published, there I was on the page as Chef Randy.” Indeed he is an unlikely candidate for the title, having never been to culinary school or run a restaurant kitchen. But that’s the beauty of Chef Randy: He doesn’t take himself too seriously and cooking isn’t about titles or achievements for him – it’s simply the love of his life. 

THE VALLEY VEGETARIAN

Known as the Valley Vegetarian, Randy has contributed to a vast number of local newspapers and magazines and has self-published eight different recipe collections in his Ojai Valley cookbook series. He’s a beloved member of the Ojai community, who cooks and caters events and teaches a variety of cooking classes. His culinary ethos is simple: to create fresh and healthy vegetarian dishes that taste great. “I would describe my cooking as vegetarian comfort food,” he explains. “I like to make things like a seven-layer vegetable lasagne with a homemade Marinara sauce and three different types of cheese and serve it with crusty bread fresh out of the oven and a salad with a simple vinaigrette. Everyone digs in at the table and it’s just so good. That’s my kind of stuff.”

When I meet Randy at his home in central Ojai, where he lives with his wife Robin and their dog Cooper (neither of whom, Randy insists, are vegetarians), he welcomes me with open arms. Although tall and imposing, he is warm and gentle, with kind eyes and a genuine smile. We settle down outside on the porch and talk over herbal tea and homemade grilled cheese sandwiches with Harry & David apple cherry chutney. “Oh I do love this chutney,” Randy enthuses as he cranks on the grill. “It really elevates a simple grilled cheese sandwich to something just a little bit more special.” And he’s right, it’s delicious.

Chef Randy’s grilled cheese sandwich with apple cherry chutney.

A YOUNG FOODIE

Born in 1950, Randy grew up in Hayward in the Bay Area, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco. His love affair with cooking and taking care of people started at an early age, when he would “fix dinner” for his mother around age 13. “Mom would get home late from work, having been on her feet all day, so I would cook dinner for her and my brother,” he recalls. “I would make simple things like hot dogs, enchiladas, pizza and meatloaf. My mom really appreciated it.”

Randy went on to attend UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley and graduated with a degree in political science, before moving to graduate school in San Diego to complete a masters in public administration and writing his thesis on child nutrition programs. It was here that he became a vegetarian. “I worked on campus in one of the libraries and the two people I worked with were both vegetarians,” he explains. “One day they asked me: ‘Why do you eat meat?’” His friends went on to tell him both about the ethical implications and health benefits of a vegetarian diet and Randy took their advice to heart. “Both my grandfather and father had been obese and both died of heart attacks at a fairly young age so my friends made a lot of sense in what they were saying,” he recounts. “I’d been a starving student for years, mainly living on a meat-free diet anyway so that day in August 1975 I became a vegetarian cold turkey.” Randy never looked back. “When I do something, I commit to it,” he insists. “But I actually really liked it. I got to explore different ways of cooking and I enjoyed making things that were fresh and healthy and that people liked. It became a way of life for me.”

Chef Randy’s Eggs in Purgatory

GOING VEGGIE

But being a vegetarian during the 1970s wasn’t always easy. Randy recalls a trip to Los Angeles, where, hungry and sick of eating salad, he visited a pizza restaurant, where the only meat-free option was a cheese pizza. Desperate for something fresh, he asked the manager to make him a vegetable pizza. “So he went to the salad bar and to my horror piled a whole lot of lettuce onto the pizza base and put it in the oven,” Randy laughs. “When he served it to me he was so proud of what he’d done that I couldn’t possibly complain and I was so hungry, I ate it all. But it was nasty!” The experience deeply influenced Randy’s cooking. “It’s made me really listen to people and understand their needs and wants when it comes to food.”

Randy went on to work for the State and local governments in the Sacramento area for more than 30 years, where he worked his way up to senior manager at the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). While he enjoyed his work, Randy always loved cooking more. “I would sit in the auditorium for these long monthly board meetings secretly writing down recipes, menus and shopping lists for what I wanted to cook for my friends over the weekend. I liked my work but my passion was always cooking.” 

Chef Randy in the kitchen at the Lavender Inn. Photo by Emma Larkan

COMING TO OJAI

When Randy took an early retirement in 2008 he and Robin decided to leave Placer County and move to Ojai. “We lived in a city called Roseville, which was incredibly conservative,” he explains. “The one thing I really missed living there was cultural diversity and community. When we came to Ojai it was like heaven.” After initially working with a number of local non-profit organizations but not making any money, Randy fully immersed himself in his passion of food. He launched his own website, Valley Vegetarian featuring stories and recipes, which led to his first cookbook Ojai Valley Vegetarian Cookbook and he soon began contributing to countless local publications in Ojai, Ventura, Carpinteria and Santa Barbara. His warm and fuzzy personality coupled with his unpretentious approach to food and cooking proved a huge hit among the local community and it wasn’t long before he was cooking for private dinners, catering for events and teaching a popular series of cookery classes at the Lavender Inn’s Ojai Culinary School.

And then came Covid-19. “It really put an end to everything I was doing in the community,” Randy says and for the first time during our conversation he looks sad. “I can’t get out and see the people I would usually see. I can’t hug anyone or even shake a person’s hand. I used to cook for some of the older people in my neighborhood and just make some really nutritious meals for them but now I’m hesitant to even offer to share food with people. It’s really impacted me a lot.”

But being the eternal optimist Randy quickly adds that he’s kept himself busy, penning yet another cookbook during the pandemic, called Ojai Valley Quarantine Cookbook, marking his ninth book in total. It includes recipes such as parmesan pull-apart bread, crispy herb smashed potatoes, grilled portobello tacos and chimichurri tofu kabobs. “Most of these new recipes are comfort food, plain and simple, and seem fitting for the time,” Randy says. And he couldn't be more on point. Because for Randy cooking isn’t just about what’s on the plate, for him it’s about making people feel good.

RANDY’S COOKBOOKS

Randy Graham’s Ojai Valley cookbook series includes Ojai Valley Vegetarian, Ojai Valley Vegan, the Ojai Valley Gluten Free, Ojai Valley Make-Ahead, the Ojai Valley Slow Cooker, the Ojai Valley Instant Pot, and The Ojai Valley Quarantine cookbooks as well as the standalone book So You’ve Inherited A Vegetarian… Now What? All his books are available on amazon.com and his Chef Randy recipe column appears in the Ojai Monthly magazine as well as the Carpinteria Coastal View News.

Article Published June 2021