Local chef serves up a special Thanksgiving on the eastside



A local chef spent his Thanksgiving, giving back to his community.

For the past 15 years, Chef John Howie has closed his restaurant, Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar, to the public on Thanksgiving, so he can serve underprivileged guests from the eastside.

Hundreds of guests from several eastside service organizations attended today’s dinner.

Seastar says while some diners aren’t able to prepare a meal, some can’t afford to, and some others are just in need of fellowship.

“So, 15 years ago my wife and decided that we were tired of not feeling very thankful at thanksgiving and decided to open up the restaurant to low-income families and give them something special, and so we did that,” said John Howie.  “That first year we did about 200 and now in our 15th year we’re up to about  650 guests  that'll come through here today .”

Chef Howie partners with local vendors to get the supplies donated.

Today they dished out more than 600 pounds of turkey, 500 pounds of potatoes, 90 pounds of cranberry sauce, and countless pies.