New Vegan Restaurant Celebrates African Heritage

Vegan restaurant The GruB Factory opened last month in Baltimore, MD. The restaurant is the food advocacy extension of Pan Afrikan Liberation Movement (PLM), a human-rights organization founded by activist Imhotep Fatiu in 1995. The restaurant serves a collection of dishes developed by Hurani Ame and Heru Meritef—who hosted local dinner parties under the name H20 since 2011. Decorated with sculptures and paintings that celebrate African heritage, the restaurant’s menu is comprised of hearty breakfast offerings such as pancakes, French toast, tofu scrambles and lunch dishes including shrimp salad, curry “chick’n,” and eggless salad sandwiches. “We want to provide our people with quality vegan food and ultimately create a chain of Grub Factories,” Fatiu told media outlet Afro. Ame and Meritef’s vegan take on mac n’ cheese (also on the menu) won first place in both 2016 and 2017 at Baltimore’s annual Vegan Mac n’ Cheese Smackdown competition.