Black vegan chefs to know about

Originally published on Medium

Black American food has fallen into several false stereotypes, many of which deem the cuisine as greasy, unhealthy, and deep-fried. Think about southern cuisine and what comes to mind? Fried chicken, gumbo, cornbread, and sweet tea. The association is an unfortunate one. Not only is it false, it ignores the wealth and breadth of African American cuisine, which is just as eclectic and surprising as any other world-class cuisine.

And much like other cuisines, black American cuisine is adapting to the times. These black chefs are not only creative and incredibly talented, they’re also vegan, changing yet another stereotype that black cuisine is all about fried meats.

Below are some of the most interesting, inventive, and outstanding black vegan chefs that are changing the vegan cooking scene.

Shenarri “Greens” Freeman

A vegan since 2017, Chef Shenarri has made quite the name for herself in the culinary world. After years working in the D.C. area, she is currently executive chef at Cadence, a vegan soul food restaurant in New York City, where she resides. Cadence is one of the places to visit in NYC. It’s been featured in the New York Times, Michelin, and been nominated for two James Beard awards.

For Shenarri, eating vegan isn’t the only thing that makes her distinctive. She’s also passionate about healthier alternatives and showing her clientele “a different way of eating.” It’s working. Though New York City is no stranger to innovative chefs, Freeman’s is still largely unique in an area that still stands by their halal stations, NY pizza, and deli meats. As she continues to take the NY dining scene by storm, clientele are sure to come back for her exquisite vegan eats.

Bryant Terry

Bryant Terry’s resume puts many others’ to shame. An author, speaker, activist, musician, chef, and sustainable food advocate, Terry is one of the most active vegan proponents alive. He’s authored an impressive six books inspired by his passion for vegetables and plant-based eating and African-American cuisine. His passion for healthier eating practices seemingly knows no bounds.

But describing Bryant as a chef does an injustice to his other work. His true work is to change the future of food, working especially toward food justice and making healthy food available to everyone, not just the privileged. To that end, Bryant served as chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. The position involved creating programs that aimed toward food equity, giving everyone a chance at healthier eating. His work is also highly educational in nature, teaching about the benefits of organic eating.

Ayindé Howell

For Ayindé Howell, vegan eating has been his life. A lifelong plant-based eater, Howell opened his first vegan restaurant at the impressive age 20. In addition to making veganism a lifestyle, he also sees vegan meals as becoming their own cuisine, one that’s rapidly becoming one of the most fun and creative. His cookbook The Lusty Vegan proves this point and shows off Howell’s ingenuity in the kitchen.

Nowadays, Howell is more well-known for his performing career, which is also thriving (in fact, it was in his restaurant that he also performed for his clientele). But vegan eating is still central to his being. He still creates videos on his Youtube platform for those interested in some terrific vegan recipes.

Babette Davis

When I first saw a picture of Babette Davis, I thought she was forty years old. She’s gorgeous, fit, and always smiling. And believe it or not, she’s actually 72 years old. If this doesn’t sell vegan eating, then I’m out of ideas!

Babette’s journey to veganism didn’t happen until she was in her 40’s. By then, many aspects of her lifestyle weren’t working well: a former drug addict, she didn’t eat especially well, causing her body all kinds of distress, and she wasn’t big on exercising. That all changed when she met her husband Ron, who showed her the power of a home cooked vegan meal, as well as the benefits of an active lifestyle. After they married, they opened a vegan restaurant in California called Stuff I Eat.

Babette also serves as an activist in the vegan food arena, promoting general wellness starting with better food (mostly plants). It’s a field she was born to come into. Her personal story has inspired many others and changed how we think about aging. She’s also blessed with a bubbly, infectious personality, one many take a liking to immediately.

Aisha “Pinky” Cole

No list of black vegan clefs is complete without mentioning Pinky. On her LinkedIn profile, she writes “My name is Pinky Cole and I flip burgers for a living.” Though true, Pinky is so much more. She’s the owner of The Slutty Vegan, a vegan burger restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia where she’s based (though there are now several locations in the U.S.), and one of the biggest proponents of eating plant-based.

Pinky started by selling burgers via orders off Instagram. It was a popular enough idea, she decided to go all in on a food truck, which later became a restaurant that’s fast becoming popular across the nation. At the center of Pinky’s work is providing plant-based options to a community where hypertension, obesity, and high cholesterol are common ailments, many of which stem from eating meat.

What perhaps is most astonishing is just how popular she’s made vegan burgers. No longer do vegan burgers look like uninteresting patties of unknown mushy ingredients. Pinky makes plant-based sexy! Get ready instead for ‘Dancehall Queen’, made with a plant-based burger and plantains, vegan cheese, and Slut sauce. Add some Potat-Heaux sweet potato fries on the side with blackberry mayo sauce. It doesn’t get much better now, does it?

Lemel Durrah

It’s one thing to serve vegan food in an area where diversity and healthy ingredients are prioritized. It’s another thing entirely to offer vegan foods to a community where fast food is the norm. But if anyone can do it, it’s Lemel Durrah. After leaving corporate work, Durrah started a catering business called Compton Vegan, offering plant-based options to communities that rarely see such menu items in their daily diets. The meals are designed to be comforting, but healthy and entirely plant-based. He hopes that slowly but surely he’ll persuade the community to eat plant-based.

Lemel’s work shows just how passionate he is about his community. For him, food is a means by which to change how Compton residents eat and engage with the planet at large. His community garden also speaks to this goal. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what Lemel does next.

Tabitha Brown

You may recognize Tabitha from her popular TikTok account where she shares her vegan recipes as well as her terrific sense of humor. It’s wildly popular, and led her to also start broadcasting on Facebook live, publish two bestselling books, finally landing her a gig with the Food Network as the host and executive producer of the plant-based competition show It’s CompliPlated. Oh! And she also has a Youtube channel.

Tabitha is a force to be reckoned with, one with a fierce passion for vegan eating and good humor. She switched to a vegan diet largely to help her deal with chronic illness and fatigue, a story that’s resonated with many of her followers. She’s also an uplifting personality, and frequently talks about perseverance, being your authentic self, and carving out your own path in life.

Simply put, Tabitha Brown is pure fun! It’s people like her that make vegan eating not only palatable, but enjoyable and worth trying, even for non-vegan enthusiasts.