Manchester will host a Vegan Chef Challenge
Throughout May, restaurants across Manchester will compete to produce the best plant-based dishes.
Vegan Outreach (veganoutreach.org), a dietary advocacy group, helps cities across the country to organize month-long challenges in which restaurants add vegan dishes to their menus and compete with each other to create the most popular ones. In a given year approximately 20 cities participate in Vegan Chef Challenges. This year Manchester is one of them.
Joan O’Brien, the president of the New Hampshire Animal Rights League (nhanimalrights.org), is the organizer of the Manchester competition.
“This will be the inaugural challenge for Manchester,” she said. “This is a national campaign and different cities participate. They choose a month [to hold the event in] and they approach restaurants and chefs in their city and ask them to come up with up to three new vegan dishes for that month and to feature them in the restaurant. And then diners are invited to come out [and order them]. Veg-curious people are invited to come out, as well as people who normally eat that way, and try the dishes, and vote on their favorites. Chefs are able to win awards for things like Best Entree or Best Dessert, and diners can actually win awards as well, for the most restaurants visited, that kind of thing.” There will be an award ceremony in June.
O’Brien said many types of restaurants will participate in the Challenge. According to the event’s webpage, participating restaurants include Stark Brewing Co., The Farm Bar & Grille, Vallarta Tequila Bar, 900 Degrees Pizzeria, Stash Box, Industry East Bar, Piccola Italia Ristorante & Martini Bar, Campo Enoteca, SubZero Ice Cream, KS Kitchen, Board and Brews, The Potato Concept and 110 Grill.
“We’re approaching everybody from the fine restaurants down to the sandwich shops,” O’Brien said. “It’s a wide net that we’re throwing, and we’re finding a lot of interest. For some, May is a busy month for restaurants. Some are understaffed and they just said they can’t take it on, but we’re finding a lot of interest from others.”
O’Brien said the goal of May’s Challenge is not to raise money or convince anybody to change their diet.
“It’s just about awareness,” she said. “The immediate challenge here is just to get more plant-based options out there. This isn’t a challenge for vegans; it’s really for omnivores who might be looking to reduce how much meat they eat. It shows people that [vegan foods are] not just tofu and salads. Vegan food is just as delicious as non-vegan food. And if you want to eat, if you want someone to make delicious food, who do you ask? You ask a chef, right? The chefs [in this challenge] are going to be showcasing some things that are really delicious.”
The Vegan Chef Challenge will provide an excellent demonstration for restaurant owners to see that there is real demand for plant-based dishes, O’Brien said.
“When we come to Manchester, to go to the Palace for a show or something, we ask ourselves where we should eat. We’re looking forward to having more [vegan dining] options in Manchester. Also, many vegans have something called the Vegan Veto. When a group is choosing a place to go out to eat, if there’s nothing vegan, they get to veto the restaurant.”
O’Brien said Manchester’s changing population makes it a good city for this challenge.
“Younger people are coming in,” she said, “more people who are thinking about what they eat. They want fresh, plant-based foods. So I think we’re on the right track.”
Manchester’s Vegas Chef Challenge
Manchester’s Vegan Chef Challenge will take place throughout May. For details and a list of participating restaurants, visit veganchefchallenge.org/manchester.
Featured photo: A winning dish by Frothy Monkey in the Knoxville Vegan Chef Challenge (photo credit – Heather Mount)