Omari McQueen, an 11-year old entrepreneur from London, England, is considered to be the youngest award-winning vegan chef in the country. He is also one of the youngest restaurateurs in the world, as he has recently become the founder and CEO of his own plant-based restaurant called Dipalicious.
Omari was just 8-years old when he started his career as a vegan chef on his own YouTube channel. For his first video, he filmed himself creating a vegan pizza. He thought it lacked some flavor, so he decided to make his own dip he called the Carribean Kick.
Since then, he started making vegan dips, seasoning, snacks, and juice packs for sale. He also wanted to spread his passion for vegan cooking so he hosts workshops for children at his home.
Moving forward
Omari says his next step is to launch his first vegan pop-up restaurant in Boxpark, Croydon in the United Kingdom. The pop-up restaurant is slated to run for a week and will serve his plant-based specialties.
Omari has already won several awards including the TruLittle Hero Award for being the Entrepreneur Hero under twelve 2018 by Cause4Children Ltd., the Compassionate Kids award in recognition of his entrepreneurial flair to help animals, as well as the Proud and Gifted Award for being a vegan chef and a youth empowerment speaker encouraging other children to become entrepreneurs. He has also been featured on BBC Radio, ITV News, among others.
A real passion for cooking
The young entrepreneur is very passionate about cooking. His mother comments, “Omari has always had a passion for cooking but he started learning to cook meals from the age of seven after I became ill with hemiplegic migraines his father and I started to teach Omari and his older brother Laquarn how to cook meals to help me when I was unable to stand and his dad was working late.”
She continues, “Omari has gone from strength to strength and practices different cooking skills and meals daily. He researches the benefits of everything he cooks, and works out the benefits of what he eats.”
For more information about Dipalicious or to order his vegan dips online, visit www.dipalicious.co.uk or follow him on Instagram @dipaliciousltd
