- My transition to becoming vegan.

I didn't read a book.

I didn't watch a documentary, nothing changed me.

I would literally just eat food and realize that certain moment, like this is not for me.

And I threw it out.

(soft music) But when I started educating myself on vegan food a lot of it isn't traditionally healthy to be quite honest.

These are my king oyster mushroom scallops.

I started becoming passionate about making things that were non-processed.

What I do is I cut them in half and score them like normal scallops are.

How can I figure out how to make this from scratch?

And since then it's become like my art.

There's a lack of texture that happens when vegan cooking comes around.

I wanted to be able to fill that void.

I get excited to be like, I got this new thing I created, just came straight out of my mind and I get to serve that to the public.

And a lot of people have been very responsive with that.

I want to make good tasting vegan food.

Like I'm passionate about making this real vegetables and real plants.

When you come taste the food, you'll be like vegan or not.

It's just good tasting food.

My name is Jewan Manuel, AKA Plant Based Papi.

And this is Expressions in Black.

Ah.

Nope.

Go get it.

I used to work a corporate job down in LA and I had to wake up to be there like five o'clock in the morning you know, I got used to waking up earlier than that like three to work out and shower.

So I'm a morning person.

Loved it, man.

I moved around Portland, moved to Southeast first but I'm happy right here, man.

I've had opportunities to move to the Pearl and other places in Portland but I just thought it was important not to go anywhere else.

I'm all about that sense of community especially in a black community.

I like the people around here.

I like to be local.

I like to say what's up to everybody.

I'll always do that.

That's how I was raised.

I was born and raised in Flint, Michigan.

My grandparents they actually owned a Mom and Pop shop called Harden's Grocery.

And I was able to see that day-to-day connection that they were able to make.

My grandmother used to always say that the countertop was her pulpit for her to talk to people and help people because they wanted to see that community built up.

You know, the older I get the more I understand how important that is.

I would come visit periodically to Portland and I realized how much it was like the Midwest and how much I missed just being a part of a community.

So I'm dedicating myself that once I moved here I need to start doing something that represents me as a man and just start working for myself.

Literally this little area is where I started my whole food career.

I went to FedEx Kinko's and got a sign for like $30.

Put it in front of the table.

And I had like my little food warmers and like a pancake griddle.

Plant Based Papi tacos, all vegan, all organic tacos.

- [Man] Why tacos?

- Everybody loves tacos, man.

My whole motivation was like how can I sit here and connect with people?

I'm smiling.

I'm laughing.

I'm giving out free tacos half the time.

You know, I was just wanting to be a part of something.

Eventually like the lines will start or people will start coming here waiting for me to be here before I arrived.

And that idea just got me clicking.

You know.

At that time I started paying attention to marketing and what matters.

That started my creativity, to get excited to get off ideas.

And one of those ideas is a truffle mac and cheese taco.

As random as it sounds.

It got my momentum built up in the city.

And then I started connecting the dots, getting mentors asking real questions about the restaurant industry of how to build a business.

So my menu changes Tuesdays is always Mexican American taco Tuesdays.

Saturdays is always seafood that I use a bunch of different vegetables to imitate, you know lobster rolls or crab cakes.

This weekend we have a scallop lemon butter pasta that we have on our menu.

One of the great places about having my own space now is I'm able to work on the menu and I'll bring something and then I'll take it off for a while.

But then I'll get a couple people saying will you please bring this thing back?

And that's the true joy of like ownership.

I don't have anyone telling me I got to put out what they have, I can do my own thing.

This is Thuy Phahm that owns Mama Dút foods.

We sort of came up at the same time.

Plant Based Papi is not about food.

It's about ownership and representation.

It's super dope to be able to build with someone come up at the same time especially as people of color that want to be owners.

You know, the idea is to buy this block, you know we're dead set on focusing on that.

I got to see people in my family be owners and be able to support their community.

And I am on a mission right now to do that myself.

- Having Jewan next door to me was a no brainer honestly, it's like we uplift each other.

There's no competition because the more owners that we have who look like us in this space, the more allies we have.

- I'm inspired by stories of struggle to success.

I think the great thing that we have as human beings is the ability to create whatever we want out of this life.

And I'll never forget the belief that people have had in me, in my past.

And I carry that with me.

When I'm going through difficult times or hard times I'll take a moment to pause and realize that such and such sacrificed and believed that I will be successful.

I need to go ahead and take on this responsibility to do better.

- I've worked in customer service and in the food industry all my life since I was 14 years old.

And I don't think I've ever seen as much excitement as I do since working here.

- People come in from like Seattle, Canada, New York.

Cause people love it - What builds it up even more is the fact that people started lining up and you can see them out the window sometimes just 15 minutes before.

But sometimes people do it an hour before.

I think people don't normalize black people sometimes.

And I think that's what drives black creativity is the fact that we've been marginalized so much, that we can make the most out of absolutely nothing.

I want to be represented equally and to be seen as not just a black business, but it is a black business.

I'm a dark skinned man in my community, fulfilling purpose with positivity.

It inspires me to know that if I continue to do this hopefully one day I'll be able to pass that information on so people can be able to grow even more.

(funky music)