I have trained and have received certifications as a Raw Foods Culinary Arts Associate Chef and Certified Raw Chef Instructor under Chicago's premier Certified Pro Chef, Mehmet Ak, owner of Cousin's Incredible Vitality Raw Food Restaurant in Chicago. 

After living as a vegetarian for a number of years, my official journey into raw foods as a way of life began when I completed the 2 week live in, hands on, Certified Practitioner in Health and Healing through Nutrition, Exercise and Education program.  This 2 week gateway to transformation into the living foods lifestyle program is the world renown Creative Health Institute (CHI) in Coldwater, Michigan.  View CHI's 2 week program and class activity schedule > HERE

The Creative Health Institute, formerly Dr. Ann Wigmore's Hippocrates Institute of the Midwest has been teaching wellness that works since 1976.  The Raw Living Foods Lifestyle has been taught by a series of visionaries over many past centuries.  Healing with a diet of raw foods is as old as time itself.  And thanks to Dr. Wigmore, the knowledge of living foods still lives today.  Dr. Wigmore is just one of a number of holistic practitioners who kept this vision and knowledge base alive through her own personal experiences.  

Dr. Ann Wigmore used this knowledge to cure herself of colon cancer in the 1950's, and then went on to teach and inspire others for decades at the Hippocrates Institute in Boston and the Creative Health Institute in Michigan, where she taught others to also heal themselves naturally of diseases and illnesses. 

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Master Chef Mehmet Ak

Founder of Cousins IV Raw Foods Restaurant

 Living Foods Instructor and Chef Extraordinaire

     

Chef Mehmet Ak's culinary experience began in Turkey under the supervision of the Turkish culinary master chef Donerci Adem Baba in Izmit, Turkey.  He was 23 when he arrived in Chicago and worked his way up as a dishwasher, pizza maker, line cook, souse chef, and waiter as well as captain in many of Chicago's top restaurants.  He opened his first restaurant called Cousin's Turkish Dining in 1990.  Over the years he created 4 Cousin's restaurants with the same name and same menu.  His restaurant was selected "best non-vegetarian restaurant for vegetarians in Chicago's "New City Magazine."

The legendary Chicago Chef Mehmet Ak recently experienced a full body and mind transformation through a detoxification and raw foods program.  His inspiration and newfound knowledge combined with feeling and looking the best ever in years led to the birth of the new Cousin's concept.

Now Chef Mehmet took his transformation to the next level by expanding his already amazing culinary expertise by converting his restaurant menus into an all raw and live food cuisine, after completing the entire Living Light Institute program for raw foods in California, the premier and most reputable living foods educational program in the world for chefs training.  The classes taught by Chef Ak at his restaurant are designed to assist students in achieving the highest level of competence, even though each person comes into the program with a different level of skill and talent. 

The Raw Gourmets International Culinary Arts Institute Chef Certification is based on a standard of excellence and is highly regarded in the vegetarian, vegan/life food communities.  This three phase training course includes certification courses 1 and 2 as a Raw Culinary Arts Associate Chef and an intensive Instructors training certification.  Visit Cousin's IV  for more information about workshops and fine "RAW foods" dining experience.