Harry “Coach” Mills joined Heavy Restaurant Group as Sous Chef of Purple Café and Wine Bar in Seattle in June of 2006.  A Seattle native, Mills graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle’s School of Culinary Arts, where he later taught for 7 years. Previous stops also include Sous Chef positions at Le Provençale in Kirkland, and Restaurant Geneva in Seattle.

Harry was an integral part of Seattle’s opening team, and spent a short time as interim head chef before being promoted to Executive Chef of Purple Café, Lot No. 3 and Cast Iron Studios in Bellevue. In January of 2013, Mills returned to Purple Café Seattle as Executive Chef.

Mills grew up eating Italian food and has always been fascinated by its simplicity, timelessness and ingredient-driven process.  Mills now brings that approach and style to his cooking at Purple Café and Wine Bar.  Mostly, the food at Purple Café is driven by wine, and Mills looks to the vast number of wine-producing countries of the world to inspire his menu.

Mills is almost equally passionate about wine, especially how it pairs with food.  Part of the daily process at Purple Café involves studying and pairing wine and food, and in November of 2013 Mills received his Level I Introductory Certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers.  He plans on taking the Level II exam in 2014 to earn the additional credential of becoming a Certified Sommelier.