Makini Howell | |
---|---|
Culinary career | |
Cooking style | Vegan fine dining |
Current restaurant(s)
| |
Website |
plumbistro |
Makini Howell is a vegan chef and restaurateur in Seattle, Washington. Her flagship restaurant, Plum Bistro, is a vegan fine-dining restaurant in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Howell was raised vegan. [1] Her parents have since the 1990s owned vegan sandwich shops and sold vegan sandwiches through co-ops in the region, and Howell grew up working in her family's sandwich shops. [1] [2]: 64
Howell worked in New York City as a graphic designer and a clothing designer, including for Jay-Z's Rocawear, then moved back to the Northwest to pursue a renewed interest in the culinary world. [1] [3]
She opened Plum Bistro in 2009. [4] In 2013 Howell published Plum. [5] In 2014 she appeared on the Queen Latifah Show. [1] In 2015 Stevie Wonder hired her as personal chef during his yearlong, 44-city Songs In The Key Of Life tour. [1] [6] In addition to Plum Bistro, Howell also operates a catering company, food truck Plum Burgers, casual eatery Plum Pantry in Seattle Center’s Armory, and dessert shop Sugar Plum. [1] According to vegan lifestyle magazine Laika, Plum Burgers, which launched in 2013, was the first vegan burger food truck in the United States. [3]
Howell supported Seattle's 2012 required paid sick leave law and 2015 $15 minimum wage hike. [7] [8] She spoke at the 2014 White House Summit on Working Families about her support of the minimum wage increase. [7]
In 2019 Julia Moskin and John Eligon, writing in the New York Times, named her to their list of "16 Black Chefs Changing Food in America". [9] In 2017 Tasting Table named Plum Bistro one of the eight best vegan restaurants in the U.S and called them "the OG of Pacific Northwestern vegan dining." [4] James Beard award-winning food writer Karen Page featured Howell in her Kitchen Creativity (2017). [1]
Page and fellow Beard winner Andrew Dornenburg featured Howell in their Vegetarian Flavor Bible (2014). [1] [10]
Makini Howell | |
---|---|
Culinary career | |
Cooking style | Vegan fine dining |
Current restaurant(s)
| |
Website |
plumbistro |
Makini Howell is a vegan chef and restaurateur in Seattle, Washington. Her flagship restaurant, Plum Bistro, is a vegan fine-dining restaurant in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Howell was raised vegan. [1] Her parents have since the 1990s owned vegan sandwich shops and sold vegan sandwiches through co-ops in the region, and Howell grew up working in her family's sandwich shops. [1] [2]: 64
Howell worked in New York City as a graphic designer and a clothing designer, including for Jay-Z's Rocawear, then moved back to the Northwest to pursue a renewed interest in the culinary world. [1] [3]
She opened Plum Bistro in 2009. [4] In 2013 Howell published Plum. [5] In 2014 she appeared on the Queen Latifah Show. [1] In 2015 Stevie Wonder hired her as personal chef during his yearlong, 44-city Songs In The Key Of Life tour. [1] [6] In addition to Plum Bistro, Howell also operates a catering company, food truck Plum Burgers, casual eatery Plum Pantry in Seattle Center’s Armory, and dessert shop Sugar Plum. [1] According to vegan lifestyle magazine Laika, Plum Burgers, which launched in 2013, was the first vegan burger food truck in the United States. [3]
Howell supported Seattle's 2012 required paid sick leave law and 2015 $15 minimum wage hike. [7] [8] She spoke at the 2014 White House Summit on Working Families about her support of the minimum wage increase. [7]
In 2019 Julia Moskin and John Eligon, writing in the New York Times, named her to their list of "16 Black Chefs Changing Food in America". [9] In 2017 Tasting Table named Plum Bistro one of the eight best vegan restaurants in the U.S and called them "the OG of Pacific Northwestern vegan dining." [4] James Beard award-winning food writer Karen Page featured Howell in her Kitchen Creativity (2017). [1]
Page and fellow Beard winner Andrew Dornenburg featured Howell in their Vegetarian Flavor Bible (2014). [1] [10]