Skip to main content
What do Canadians think of when they think of Portland’s food?
If they’ve watched Evolving Vegan, the Canadian food documentary series covering advances in global vegan cuisine, they’d know about plant-based rabbit dumplings, comfort food at bars, and gnarly hamburgers nestled throughout the Rose City.
“We found the epicenter of the plant-based food scene to be radically diverse in terms of ethnicity, flavor, style and cuisine,” Mena Massoud, Evolving Vegan’s host and producer, tells WW. “I think [Portland] is one of the best vegan cities in the world.”
Evolving Vegan opened to American viewers when it debuted on Peacock in May. Portland appears on the first season’s second episode. Massoud—perhaps best known for his work in the title role of Disney’s live-action Aladdin film—visits chefs Jewan Manuel of Plant Based Papi, Cyrus Ichiza of Jade Rabbit, and Thuy Pham of Mama Đút. The show documents a time capsule of Portland’s vegan luminaries at varying points in their careers as they navigated the world’s post-pandemic reopening.
“It was a very proud time to be a plant-based chef in Portland,” Manuel says.
A whole new world has opened for the chefs since 2023. Manuel was at the downtown Portland vegan restaurant Fortune inside Sentinel hotel, but is now at Dame on Northeast Killingsworth Street. Jade Rabbit was called Ichiza’s Kitchen at the time, and was located at the now-shuttered Aimsir Distilling Company. It’s now a seven-member collective on Southeast Belmont Street. Pham has long since pivoted from the restaurant world, but her Buckman neighborhood restaurant is fondly documented. Collective Oregon Eateries Bar & Food Carts stands, including Gnarlys, Broken Rice and Mama’s Peruvian Bowls, are also highlighted.
“The food is vibrant and innovative,” Massoud says during the episode. “There’s a risk-taking, almost avant-garde, punk-rock approach to cooking here.”
Manuel and Pham started their careers as neighbors on Southeast Morrison Street by the now-closed queer bar Crush. Morrison was an early location for Plant Based Papi, while Mama Đút moved to Northeast Alberta Street before permanently closing in 2023. Mama Đút’s Buckman location seen on Evolving Vegan was also featured on the Netflix series Street Food USA.
Manuel focuses more on Dame and private clients these days, but remembers fondly his time with Pham, who now works with the nonprofit Growing Gardens as she gears up to publish a cookbook, tentatively scheduled for spring 2027. “She’s a good friend of mine,” he says. “Watching her transition to make Mama Đút to where it was, was a beautiful thing.”
Ichiza, meanwhile, opened Jade Rabbit’s Belmont location in January after an acrimonious split from Aimsir and its owners. But the vegan dim sum restaurant, famous for its bunny-shaped dumplings, has bounced back since the start of this year.
“It is the most business I’ve had in any of my iterations,” Ichiza says of Jade Rabbit’s new location. He used to pierce ears and other body parts out of a dorm room on Belmont across from the restaurant. “It was kind of full circle in a sense of being on Belmont, loving the street, loving the neighborhood, loving the community.”
The food cart Gnarlys, which is now a resident pop-up at the inner Southeast Portland bar Swan Dive, hosted Gnarfest during the episode. Gnarfest saw different food carts make a special plant-based dish, with Gnarlys owner Chris Hudson leading a tour of CORE’s food carts and feeding Massoud his cart’s Dang Burger ($12). Broken Rice is still there, but Mama’s Peruvian Bowls is temporarily closed as owner Chelsea Smith fundraises for a new food trailer and to cover business expenses.
While eating his way around Portland, Massoud visited OTA Tofu, which is the country’s oldest tofu company. He also went hunting for chanterelle and lobster mushrooms with forager Elan Hagens in a secret location near the Oregon Coast. Offscreen, he also soaked up plenty of nature through forest runs.
“That was definitely a highlight of my trip,” Massoud says. “Portland’s nature, I think, is such an understated part of living in Portland.”
Portland is unique among Evolving Vegan’s episodes. Massoud sits down with the local chefs at the end of the episode, a tradition that didn’t catch on later in the series. Ichiza cooked mapo tofu for the group, which Manuel says was “fantastic.”
“That’s what it’s all about,” Massoud says. “People coming together over delicious food and drink. That’s something I’ll never forget.” Massoud hopes Evolving Vegan can be a cathartic viewing experience throughout the restaurant industry’s infamously high turnover rate as the series cements the legacies of the chefs onscreen. Manuel, for his part, sees that for Pham in particular.
“She was able to align with her truest self and transition out of Mama Đút into something that’s even greater,” Manuel says. “Some of these things aren’t meant to last forever. They’re just meant to put us in a position to learn some things and keep growing. And I’m really proud of her.”
SEE IT: Evolving Vegan streams on Peacock.
