A Delicious Decade
Quiet Storm has been cooking up a storm for 10 years
By Nicole Barley | Photography by Cayla Zahoran

Penn Avenue is in the midst of a renaissance. From one end to the next, from Lawrenceville to East Liberty, the street is physically changing, shifting, and evolving. But there are a few constants that remain. Quiet Storm is one of them, located right in the middle on the border of Friendship and Bloomfield, and the ladies behind this vegetarian/vegan restaurant, are celebrating 10 years on the avenue.

Owner Jilly MacDowell acknowledges the joy and the hard work that’s gone into the milestone, which she reached with the partnership of Kitchen and Catering Manager Sheryl Johnson. As she wrote it in her email alerting us to 10 years of Quiet Storm in Pittsburgh, “It’s a tough cuisine in a tough business in a tough neighborhood in a tough economy — but we made it!”

They’ve more than made it, in fact. The self-taught duo has grown a successful, viable business, and “we’re sort of almost just hitting our stride at this point,” MacDowell says.

Johnson has been with MacDowell since day one. The pair first connected online, though reading and commenting on each other’s blogs. They arranged to meet at Gooski’s in Polish Hill, and hit it off right away. “We have the same passion. We have the same intensity and focus and willingness to do whatever needs to be done to get the job done,” Johnson says.

When it came to getting Quiet Storm off the ground, their complementary talents and personalities came into play. “Jilly figured out how to run a great successful business, and I figured out how to run a tiny kitchen,” she says.

That kitchen is still home to the original (“ancient,” as they refer to it) convection oven, in which Johnson roasts her signature Spring Creek tofu, sourced from Spencer, W.Va. It’s been part of the menu since the start, and the effort to work with local purveyors, including Turner Dairy, Frankferd Farms, and Ed’s Beans for their coffee blend, is an integral part of their philosophy and identity.

They’ve recently signed on with Paragon Foods to have more of those local goods delivered right to them — though, their of taken twice weekly trips to farmers’ markets are not totally out of the question. Johnson also incorporates produce that she’s grown at Mayflower Gardens in Larimer into the variety of vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian menu offerings. Instead of sausage, think seitan —that would be a wheat gluten protein.

There is certainly some hesitation that comes with a “tough cuisine” like vegan/ vegetarian food, and I’ve witnessed it firsthand, recently inviting a friend to brunch at Quiet Storm. Upon reviewing the menu, he looked up, and said, “Wait. No meat?”

For those unconvinced they would enjoy breakfast without bacon, my advice to you, and my friend, is this: Try it, you’ll like it or maybe, like me (any obviously many other Pittsburghers), you’ll love it.

The restaurant was not originally owned by MacDowell, but since making it hers, it’s gone through a number of transitions, from a coffeehouse with music to a hot brunch spot, to its current incarnation as an eatery that’s open six days a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the first year of business, the decision was made to install the giant wrap-around window on the front of the building, replacing the brick storefront with the welcoming scene of “people just happily reading, chatting, eating, drinking,” says MacDowell.

As the East End continues to be revitalized, Quiet Storm really is in prime position to serve the hungry masses passing through and living there. “All of a sudden, you have the East Side creeping in this way and Children’s Hospital coming in this way, so on two ends, we have so much development that we’re just sitting here in the middle going, ‘Are you hungry?’” MacDowell says with a laugh.

Johnson agrees and notes that it’s more than just foot traffic that’s increased. Businesses continue to bloom all around them. “Penn Avenue has evolved over time, but I think us being here, a constant, successful business bringing people to the neighborhood, really helped convince these other people that this was the place to be and to try their business,” Johnson says.

Quiet Storm, 5430 Penn Ave., Garfield. 412.661.9355. www.qspgh.com