Men on Monday: Executive Vegan Chef Ayinde Howell

How long have you been a vegan? When did you first realize that you had a talent for creating vegan cuisine?

I have the unique position of being a vegan. My parents decided to transition from a meat-based diet to a vegetarian diet with my two older sisters and then to strict veganism with me. My mother tells the story of being in her kitchen and cracking an egg to cook for breakfast and having a visceral reaction and she said that was it. She was vegan from that point on and all throughout her pregnancy with me. I realized that I had a bit of a dormant talent for cooking and working with herbs textures and flavors, It’s probably a dominate gene passed down through the generations actually both my grandfathers were known for being great in the kitchen and on the grill. One had a catering business and the other a chicken shack, so I guess I am the evolution of them. Having the background of growing up in a plant based household I became more inquisitive about different ways to prepare foods and it began to open from there.

Tell us about your road to becoming an executive vegan chef and who you’ve met along the way?

My path started when I was about 13 working my family business – Hillside Quickie’s – first as a sandwich maker, then I moved up to potato salad and prep work. By the time I was 16, I had been going on delivery runs with my mother for three years and started to do them myself as a delivery man and sales rep. Fast forward. I’m 20 and assessed that there was space in the market for a vegan sandwich cafe in Seattle.

Hillside Quickies Vegan Sandwich shop was born. I was the executive chef as well as the busboy, the dishwasher, the accountant etc. It was a small business and I learned the ropes on the job. I was always very involved in the arts community so once I was established my friend who was also a promoter and regular customer began to put my name in the hat of vegan caterers in the city. This lead to my cafe becoming the go-to spot for vegan artists when their respective tours came to Seattle. Where the likes of Saul Williams, blackalicious, Common, Erykah Badu and other vegan artists have all had the famous green room sandwiches. Later after moving to NYC to pursue my own artistic endeavors I landed at Jivamukti. First as a volunteer and yogi then as the recession set in, a 3 day a week line cook then night manager and then executive chef. Jivamukti attracts a wide variety of clientele. Starlets, athletes celebs and we also catered to a higher income bracket. Here I have served everyone from supermodels, starlets like the Olson twins to media moguls like Russell Simmons fellow vegans like Alicia Silverstone, always with my goal of making sure whomever tasted my food it would bring a smile to their face.

There are several celebrities that follow vegan diets: Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, Paul McCartney, Russell Simmons, Carrie Underwood, and Forest Whitaker – who recently slimmed down dramatically. Has vegetarianism become fashionable? Why do you think there is so much interest in it right now?

There has always been a lot of interest in eating better in the artist community. Being an actor myself know that it is a diet that works well with keeping at a target weight. I think the public interest has been piqued due to the way the American food industry has breached the trust of the American people. We are seeing that in grand Hollywood fashion with movies like Food Inc. and Fast Food Nation. It’s no longer just something “those” people do who smell like incense and wear long hemp skirts and have vegan potluck/drum circles.

What are some of the biggest benefits of a vegetarian diet?

The first thing that happens when you start to think about a vegetarian diet is that you start to think more about what you are putting into your body. You start to read labels and realize there are a lot of things you had no idea you were eating. Processed sugar (dextrose) and other chemicals you can’t pronounce as well as processed soy used as protein fillers. All contributing to the soy overload we are experiencing and turning people off from simple things like tofu or soymilk. So once you take the stand [you] say I am going to pay as much attention to what goes in my body as what goes on my body. If I would spend $300 on shoes why would I put 99 cent chicken in my body? It’s a way to do your part to save the planet. The less meat you eat, the less trucks drive it around and the [less] emissions go into the ozone The less methane gases released. The less water is used. The ripple effect of having one vegan meal per day for a week is tremendous.

People often wonder what vegans can eat. Give us a typical meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Well lucky for me I have a tree pretty close to my window so I usually reach out and grab some branches and berries…

Seriously, I had grits and pancakes this morning. I usually have some beans cooked laying around. For lunch I had a nice little salad: my Cuban Black Bean Salad with basil tahini dressing. I usually only have time for two meals in the day and will have something light for dinner but it’s date night so I’m planning on making my delicious enchiladas and a spinach avocado salad tonight. All of these can be found in my forthcoming ecookbook (except the pancakes gotta save something for later).

You are an executive vegan chef, but you’ve ‘got the gift’ in a several creative areas. Give us a complete picture of Ayinde Howell.

Well during my time in Seattle in my own restaurant I met a young man named Mikael Moore. He ran and hosted an open mic night called “Verbal Tea” around the corner from my shop and was very artsy, to paint an accurate picture. I, at the time, was that guy who opened his closet and had all the same color clothes and wore the same thing pretty much everyday. I had started dj’ing at the age of 15 but that was the extent of my creative expression. Shortly after meeting Mikael I was introduced to Seattle’s budding spoken word poetry scene and fell in love with the whole scene. I wrote a three page poem, closed the shop early on the 3rd Friday of that late spring month and accompanied by a couple of my regular customers I went in and shared my piece. To my surprise it was very well received not only by the audience but by the other poets who encouraged me to keep writing. After that I was off! Moonlighting as a poet and writer Mikael and I formed a small collective called the.urban.scribes. I found a new medium that I really enjoyed, film acting however, spoken word performing led to music and I had designs on creating the next Fugees! So after my 12 year run in the family business, I decided to give my all to the artistic career. I am an amalgamation of all those things and today as I sit in my Brooklyn apartment reminiscing I realize that there is no separation. I am all those things and many I have yet to discover.

Where can readers learn more about you, get a copy of (e-cookbook title) and stay tuned to what you’re doing?

For information on me and what I’m up to you can check www.ieatgrass.com. The e-cookbook I Eat Grass is in the editing and testing phase (so exhausting!). It will be available for download by early summer. To keep up with all that follow me on Twitter and Facebook to see if I’m DJ’ing in your hood.