Kitchen Currents: Seattle’s Marjorie Restaurant

For Donna Moodie at the restaurant Marjorie, her climate activism is rooted in the memory of her mother, Marjorie, and is driven by Moodie’s concern for the world her own son is inheriting. Trailing her mom—a warm and generous host—around the kitchen as a young girl in Jamaica and Chicago’s South Side, Moodie went on to start celebrated restaurants doing “scratch” cooking using only the highest quality ingredients, supplied largely by local merchants and farmers.

It is this thread of stewardship that connects her passion for food, community, and family, and also animates her deep commitment to the climate-friendly movement towards electrification at her new restaurant in Seattle’s Central District—a storied Black community and vibrant center of economic and cultural life that is rejuvenating itself there.

Moodie’s story is part of a new video series by the Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC), Kitchen Currents, which features restaurant owners who made a conscious decision to go electric. By highlighting restaurants and Chefluencers leading this effort, along with practical resources, it hopes to give chefs and restaurateurs an on-the-ground view of the opportunities—and challenges—of creating climate-friendly, state-of-the-art electric kitchens.

The video depicts her excitement about being part of this movement, and even with the obstacles they faced, Moodie feels gratified that they challenged themselves by going all electric. “I think it was worth it,” she shared. “I believe there is a real benefit to choosing all-electric construction over gas, which is being increasingly discouraged by climate-concerned municipalities and businesses.”

But she does have advice for those building commercial kitchens that want to go all electric. She encourages restaurateurs to design the kitchen with someone who has a proven track record. Short of a wine bar or snack menu, a vent hood is probably necessary, but this shouldn’t temper the commitment to go all-electric. She stressed understanding which “ventless” appliances actually require ventilation. “We initially worked with an oven that produced bad air quality. It delayed announcing our opening, limited our menu, and required adjustments to our kitchen. We eventually replaced them with Alto-Shaam ovens and added supplemental venting, which improved conditions significantly.”