Local restaurants participating in Reno Vegan Chef Challenge

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Restaurants in Reno are once again going head to head, this time for the Reno Vegan Chef Challenge.

Participating restaurants include:

• Homegrown Gastropub
• Great Full Gardens
• Cherry Bomb Catering
• Rolled Mountain Creamery
• Wild River Grille
• R Town Pizza
• Sup
• Thali
• Smith & River
• Cafe Capello
• Liberty Food & Wine Exchange
• The Grill at Quail Corners
• Coffee N’ Comics
• Pasta Fresca
• Vuture Food
• Batch Cupcakery
• The Club at Rancharrah
• The Fix Food Truck
• Noble Pie Parlor
• Buenos Grill

This is the second year of the event. The first happened in 2019, but Covid put a pause on the event. Now it’s back and organizers couldn’t be more excited to introduce the community to different kinds of vegan foods.

“Our goal is to reach people who aren’t necessarily thinking about a vegan diet and show them that plant-based foods can be incredibly amazing and tasty too,” said Sail Horton, Organizer of the Reno Vegan Chef Challenge. “People who love eating at Sup or eating at these restaurants who normally don’t eat a vegan diet, if they happen to notice the special and give it a try and find that they like a vegan dish that they maybe otherwise wouldn’t have tried, I think that’s a huge win too.”

Sup is one of the businesses participating. They’re offering three unique foods: A tahini chick pea wrap, vegan yellow curry, and soy riso taco salad. Kasey Christensen, the owner of Sup, says she loves participating in the challenge because it encourages local restaurants to be creative with vegan foods. We also made her pick her favorite food of the three they’re offering.

“I love the Chick Pea Wrap,” said Christensen. “It kind of reminds me of a tuna salad wrap, which I love Tuna. But again, it’s all really tasty. Everybody’s been loving the curry though. Yellow curry seams to be the biggest hit.”

At Cafe Capello, another participating business, they’re offering a caprese salad, teriyaki sandwich, and oatnog. One of the coffee shop’s owners, Brendan Capello, says they’ve gotten some great feedback on them.

“So far it’s been pretty good,” said Capello. “I think most people are just excited to have the option to have more vegan options. To be able to go to different restaurants and see. So we have really had a good response.”

The challenge ends on January 31, so there’s still plenty of time to check out some of these restaurants. You can vote for your favorite here.

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