Post navigation

Prev: (09/25/19) | Next: (09/25/19)

Vegan sweet shop Sugar Plum has closed on 15th Ave E

(Image: Sugar Plum)

A still new project from a longtime presence in Seattle vegan food and drink has exited 15th Ave E. Vegan sweet shop Sugar Plum closed unexpectedly earlier this month with a paper sign on the door and everything moved out in an overnight shuttering.

Owner Makini Howell confirmed the closure with CHS and said Sugar Plum would be moving but did not provide further details. Her website says Sugar Plum sweets are now available at the 12th Ave complex where her popular Plum Bistro is located.

Howell, one of a small group of Black business owners in the Capitol Hill food and drink community, debuted the new vegan sweets concept in 2015 in the 15th Ave E space her family has done business in since the Hillside Quickie Cafe opened there in 2005. The vegan concept shifted over the years including some time as the Sage Cafe before Howell rolled out Sugar Plum four years ago. “I want it to be an exciting spot to come have a treat. Imagine amazing, big chocolate chip cookies,” Howell told us about her plans which also included vegan bars, brownies, donuts, sweets, soft-serve and more.

But while other plant-based sweet treat players emerged and drew long lines like Frankie and Jo’s, Sugar Plum seemed to struggle on 15th. The sweet shop was on trend but never really caught its rhythm with Howell also kept busy during a stint as a touring chef for Plum fan Stevie Wonder and expanding her 12th Ave offerings when she took over a former steakhouse restaurant to make room for her Plum Chopped vegan salad and sandwich concept and expanded space for her growing catering business.

Meanwhile, in 2018, Full Tilt ice cream moved in on the same block.

In addition to Sugar Plum, Howell also created the “streatery” in front of the shop under the city’s parklet program. Designed by Graham Baba architects and constructed by Weld and Glue, it features a garden design by Bevington Floral. The hybrid streateries combine a parklet concept with traditional sidewalk patios to create small seating and deck areas for customers in sections of the streetside typically reserved for parking. They are paid for and maintained by sponsoring businesses. We’ll now get to see what happens when a new commercial tenant moves in.

But more importantly, the closure marks the end of a longtime presence on the street. Howell has hosted 4th of July vegan barbecues at the location through the years and the various concepts in what has grown into a Hilltop tradition. Howell’s exit from the shop apparently now brings the barbecues and her 15 years on 15th Ave E to an end.

 

PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.

 

 
Subscribe and support CHS Contributors -- $1/$5/$10 per month

9 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
FormerHillite
FormerHillite
4 years ago

Hear Cafe Solstice is closing too.

UncleVinny
UncleVinny
4 years ago

Bring back Zootie’s sandwiches, please. They were amaaaazing!

UncleVinny
UncleVinny
4 years ago
Reply to  UncleVinny

I just spent 20 minutes trying to find the history of this spot. I think it goes:
Sugar Plum
Plum Cafe
Sage
Hillside Quickie
Zootie’s
….though I’m probably a bit off. Capitol Hill Seattle isn’t old enough to include this ancient history, maybe?

Harrison
Harrison
4 years ago

Bring back the vegan sandwiches!

homohabilis
homohabilis
4 years ago
Reply to  Harrison

gawd, seriously. they were so good. i’ve always thought it was a bonehead mistake converting it over to ice cream or whatever.

Edward Everett
Edward Everett
4 years ago

Hillside Quickies sandwiches were great. A bit on the salty side; but, good. We used to joke that the deer would stand in line for a sandwich.

Bluebird
Bluebird
4 years ago

Sage was my favorite version of that space. Would love to see that come back.

Ariel
4 years ago

Oh man, I’ve been waiting for this to happen. I walk by that space almost daily, and the shop was almost always empty, and the parklet has fallen into disrepair with dead plants and graffiti.

And I know folks loved Hillside Quickies, but friends and I used to joke that it should be called Hilltop Slowies, because we weren’t on the side of the hill, and those sandwiches sometimes took close to 20 minutes to get 🤣

Randy Johnson
Randy Johnson
4 years ago

Having Full Tilt move in next door to a vegan ice cream shop was just mean!