Chef Adam Ostrofsky conjures up diabolical recipes and food events, which champion “outsider” identities and push back against Satanic Panic conspiracies.
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nstead of having a catchphrase like “Bam!,” The Satanic Chef–also known as Adam Ostrofsky–begins each episode of his web cooking show by burning The Holy Bible. Sometimes, he’ll tear out pages and fling them into the flames of his wok. If he’s feeling particularly devilish, the chef might dice up scorched verses with his The Satanic Temple membership card, and snort them up his nose.
Ostrofsky is the official cook of The Satanic Temple (TST), the federally recognized nontheistic religion founded by Lucien Greaves and Malcolm Jarry. Sporting long jet-black hair and arms covered in tattoos, The Satanic Chef is known for conjuring up demonic food events at TST’s Salem headquarters–including a Devil’s Dinner with blindfolded rituals and tarot-themed cocktails.
“I use shock value when creating food to liberate us from religious indoctrination,” Ostrofsky explains. However, there’s much more to Satanic cooking than microwaving Bibles (which he does on a TST TV episode, before teaching viewers how to make charred broccolini). As a chef and a Satanist, Ostrofsky has dedicated his life to affirming those who fall outside of conventional norms and advocating for social causes in a spirit of benevolence.
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The Path to Satanism and Cooking
Ostrofsky’s road to becoming The Satanic Chef began in Needham, Massachusetts, where his classmates labeled him a misfit because of his learning disabilities. “Kids in junior high beat me senseless daily for a while,” he recalls.
As an escape from such ostracism, Ostrofsky turned to books and pop culture. He was drawn to topics considered forbidden fruit by mainstream society, including tales of the devil and the paranormal. He cites Anton LaVey’s The Satanic Bible and Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha among the most influential works for him, saying, “I found Siddhartha’s journey of individuality to be reminiscent of Satanism–that you should be yourself and not a conformist.”
Inspired by his mother, who is a trained cook, Ostrofsky began creating his own recipes at age 12. Teenage kitchen jobs led to an internship at Ming Tsai’s Blue Ginger, which he claims changed his life. He went on to graduate from California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and cook at several prestigious establishments, including Boston’s Tavern Road.
Reading Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential was a defining moment for the young chef, as Ostrofsky related to the concept of cooks as punk-rock outsiders who banded together. “To me, Bourdain was portraying the idea of Satan in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. In the restaurant world, we are treated like rebels, much like Lucifer is in fiction.” With these formative experiences, his two life passions naturally merged under the moniker of The Satanic Chef.
The Genesis of The Satanic Temple
In 2006, Ostrofsky made a friend on Myspace named Lucien Greaves. He came upon a profile dedicated to The Process Church of the Final Judgment–a religious group founded in 1966 that spoke of the balance between Luciferian and Christian ideals–and messaged Greaves, who was the page’s “Top Friend.” The two rapidly connected through their interest in Satanism, and when Ostrofsky returned to Boston, he passed his comrade his phone number. “Lucien called me in the first 30 minutes. I remember I pulled my little flip phone out and answered. We met up, got sloppy drunk, and the rest is history.”
Six years later, Greaves became the co-founder and spokesperson of The Satanic Temple. Ostrofsky has been a core part of the atheist organization since its inception, participating in TST’s ingenious campaigns to uphold the separation of church and state. These include advocating placement of a goat-headed Baphomet statue next to a Ten Commandments monument on Arkansas Capitol Grounds, to ensure the equal representation of minority religions. TST also fights to protect reproductive rights, such as by asserting that their “Satanic Ritual Abortions” make members exempt from state laws that hinder access to safe termination of pregnancy.
“A lot of people think we sacrifice babies and drink their blood,” says Ostrofsky. “I have never met a Satanist like that.” On the contrary, The Satanic Chef’s personal mission synchronizes with TST’s nonviolent actions to protect marginalized groups and oppose injustice.
Devilish Dinners and Pizzagate
The Satanic Temple’s grassroots activism has gained increasing support over the years, and they are now a tax-exempt church with over 300,000 members and dozens of worldwide congregations. In 2016, TST opened an official headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts–in a former Victorian funeral parlor–and Ostrofsky began catering its food events. He created menus around themes near and dear to Satanists, such as a tea party for a scholarly debate on theocracy and moral panics. “I used local and seasonal ingredients, and did small sandwiches,” he remembers.
In 2018, Ostrofsky held an elaborate soiree called “The Devil’s Dinner Party,” where he decorated TST’s media room with a long black table, crimson candelabras, and handmade name cards. In collaboration with author and “weaver of spells” Shiva Honey, he covered the guests’ eyes and invited them to taste the first course while blindfolded. Ostrovsky served a multi-course dinner with dishes rich in symbolism, including a blood-red “sacrificial beet hummus.” He paired each plate with wines, and cocktails infused with herbal elixirs and incense. The night ended with a destruction ritual and burlesque performance by Szandora LaVey.
Among The Satanic Chef’s most meaningful events have been his “Pizzagate Pop-Ups,” a nod to a 2016 conspiracy theory that falsely accused a pizzeria of harboring a child trafficking ring run by a “Satanic cabal of elites.” Ostrofsky’s menu included flatbreads with “sacrificed lamb ragu,” and small plates like “spicy Goetia meatballs.” His pop-ups brought awareness to the ongoing Satanic Panic allegations that have no basis in reality, yet wreak havoc on the lives of those wrongfully accused.
A Satanic Chef’s Work Is Never Done
Although the pandemic has halted in-person events, Ostrofsky continues to connect online with his fellow nonconformists. He’s active on social media and hosts a popular web cooking show called The Satanic Chef on The Satanic Temple TV. “We touch on the historical aspects of Satanism and dark art that I own, combined with culinary technique,” Ostrofsky says. In each episode, he demonstrates an original recipe step-by-step–always with a dash of decadence, whether it be blood dripping from his lips or flame-seared scriptures. The Chef also teaches live cooking demos on The Satanic Temple’s Virtual Headquarters. Guests from around the world interact with him in real-time, while he whips up dishes in his kitchen filled with pentagrams.
The Satanic Chef will soon release his long-awaited cookbook entitled Black Arches. “It’s got over 40 recipes and stories that are shocking, reactive, and entertaining,” he says. “It isn’t going to be suitable for anyone who’s squeamish about Satanism.” Ostrofsky is also penning a memoir about his life prior to TST, which will dive into themes of addiction and narcissistic abuse.
As The Satanic Temple continues to expand, its Chef will keep on sharing his love of cooking and Satanism. Ostrofsky is determined to support society’s outcasts and shed light on mental health struggles, which he says tend to be overlooked by the restaurant community. “The Satanic Temple has given me a purpose in life,” he says. “When I see people joining and participating, it gives me self-worth.”