Eat More Plants in April with the First Annual Santa Barbara Vegan Chef Challenge!

Photo/Design Credit: Emily J. Hara / @grassmaven on Instagram

About a year ago I had the pleasure of meeting Beth Wettstein over coffee. She kindly reached out when I first launched Plant Based Santa Barbara and shared her vision and passion to encourage more plant-centered options in our local Santa Barbara-area restaurants. I was so inspired meeting her and am so happy for her and excited for all of us that she and her team have brought her vision to life with the first annual Santa Barbara Vegan Chef Challenge - and it’s coming up for the entire month of April!!

This is the time to eat out friends! Eighteen of the hippest local restaurants are participating in the challenge from Los Alamos to Santa Barbara and all the way down to Ventura. If you’d love to try new delicious plant-based foods, this is such a wonderful opportunity! If you’re already eating largely plant-based, please hop out to support local restaurants and help show Santa Barbara how much we appreciate having more options on tap. And get ready to vote on your favorites!!

So what is the Santa Barbara Vegan Chef Challenge? Here’s some background, straight from the challenge -

Inspired by the Sacramento Vegan Chef Challenge, Santa Barbara area restaurants are gearing up for the first-ever Vegan Chef Challenge in April. The fun, friendly competition is a month-long event challenging participating chefs to create delicious, savory vegan dishes for all patrons to enjoy. 

“Our goal is to promote awareness of the health benefits of a plant-based lifestyle while encouraging more healthful vegan menu options at local restaurants,” said Beth Wettstein, a vegan since 2010, and the organizer of the Vegan Chef Challenge. “We hope to encourage everyone, not just vegans, to try out a dish.”

To participate, restaurants must agree to provide a complete vegan dining experience. To be considered vegan, ingredients must be free of dairy products, eggs, cheese, butter, meat, fish, poultry, whey, casein, gelatin, and glycerin (unless vegetable-sourced). 

Restaurants are also required to offer at least three new menu items throughout the month that are different from vegan options found on their regular menu and are not available year-round. Oil-free, low-fat, and gluten-free options are also encouraged, but not required. 

“Too often, the vegan option at restaurants is a salad or a veggie burger,” said Wettstein. “We want people to see that going vegan doesn’t mean giving up exciting, flavorful food.” 

Participating restaurants include Satellite, Bibi Ji, Sama Sama Kitchen, Mesa Verde, Khao Keung, Uncorked Wine Tasting and Kitchen, Viva Modern Mexican, Chase Bar & Grill, Bella Vista at The Four Seasons, Opal, Mosto Crudo, Padaro Beach Grill, Black Sheep, Pico at the Los Alamos General Store, The Lark, Les Marchands, Tyger Tyger, and Sea Ranger Seafood Station in Ventura.

Categories include breakfast/brunch, appetizer, soup/salad, main entrée, and dessert. Awards in each category will be based on diner comments, photos, and the dining experiences of the Vegan Chef Challenge organizing team members. Chefs will be recognized at a special ceremony in May. 

To learn how to participate as a guest for this year’s challenge, visit www.theveganchefchallenge.com/santa-barbara. A voting system will be available online at that link starting April 1. 

Members of the Santa Barbara Vegan Chef Challenge organizing committee will not receive compensation from this event. 

About The Vegan Chef Challenge

Vegan Chef Challenge started in Sacramento eight years ago and has since spread to other cities, including Reno, NV; Davis, CA; and Bull City, NC. 

The Vegan Chef Challenge was brought about to not only show the community how amazing vegan food is, but to bring the non-vegan and vegan communities together to share great food. It is also a way to show local restaurants the monetary benefits of offering vegan food on their menus. The competition seeks to encourage chefs, in a fun and exciting way, to push their creativity when creating their menus.

About Vegan Outreach

Founded in 1993, Vegan Outreach is a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Davis, Calif. working to end violence toward animals. Vegan Outreach seeks a future when sentient animals are no longer exploited as commodities.

Vegan Outreach focuses on reaching the people who are motivated enough to make changes now and to provide additional encouragement. By steadily increasing the number of vegans, the organization is laying the groundwork to more quickly reach a tipping point.