Chef Matthew Kenney Closes Oklahoma City's Only Vegan Restaurant

Celeb vegan chef and raw food enthusiast Matthew Kenney (a '94 Food & Wine Best New Chef) closed his Oklahoma City restaurant (and consistent heatmap resident) Tamazul earlier this month. It was the city's one and only vegan restaurant.

Kenney currently operates restaurants in Los Angeles, Maine, Mexico, and Miami and was a co-founder of New York's mecca for raw food, Pure Food & Wine (before splitting with his partner and ex-girlfriend and making a couple of other NY attempts). However the path of his Oklahoma City project has been rocky and paved with chef shuffles, partnership splits, concept shifts, and renovations.

According to The Oklahomian, Kenney didn't just leave behind hungry vegans in his wake; he also left behind $13,000 in past-due rent, and the shopping center that houses the restaurant is trying to collect. The restaurant also allegedly owes almost $25k in back taxes to the IRS.