PlumaE™s is some of the zestiest, most full-bodied vegan food IaE™ve ever tasted.

HowellaE™s food, with its fried tempeh this and smoked gluten that, takes on the thorniest problem of veganism: finding substitutes for meat, dairy, and eggs. Many vegan cooks co-opt dishes from cuisines with strong vegetarian traditions, and escape comparisons to what might be missing. But HowellaE™s culinary base is Southern cuisine: burgers instead of stir-fries, only one curry, no steamed vegetables with tahini dressing.

Howell and her family are already well known in vegan circles. Plum is MakiniaE™s step up, with higher prices and more complicated dishes. It may just be the dressiest all-vegan restaurant in Seattle.

PlumaE™s BBQ poaE™ boy seems cleaner and less messy than the version at Hillside Quickies; lightly pressed between halves of a seeded baguette are fat chunks of seitan that have soaked up a half-pint or so of tangy-sweet barbecue sauce, with a smattering of Hello Kitty pink pickled red onions on top.

While the Hillside version needs to be eaten over the sink, lest you look like a random victim on Dexter, at Plum, the sandwich never spills out. Plus itaE™s garnished with a mass of sweet-potato fries covered in soy-mayonnaise scribbling.

StellinaaE™s former owners left with their artwork, and Howell hasnaE™t bothered to replace it. Right now sheaE™s keeping the roll-up window open at every possible moment, letting the sun and breeze work their wiles.

Maybe the sandwich just tastes better because of its surroundings. Howell took over Cafe StellinaaE™s space in the Piston & Ring buildingaE”and did nothing to it. Instead, sheaE™s banking on the striking appeal of the raw space, with its concrete walls and poured concrete floors, its slim wood tables, its open kitchen, and its garage-door front window.