Quick Take
More than two dozen restaurants countywide are debuting new plant-based dishes as part of April’s inaugural Santa Cruz Vegan Chef Challenge. The event, organized by Vegan Outreach, aims to expand vegan options and encourage broader interest in plant-based eating, with a winning restaurant to be announced in May.
This month, the owners of Ibiza in downtown Santa Cruz added two plant-based items to the restaurant’s menu: a falafel wrap stuffed with its popular Hippie Salad, and strawberry matcha affogato made with tahini soft-serve ice cream.
The modern Mediterranean breakfast and lunch spot is one of 27 food businesses throughout Santa Cruz County participating in the inaugural Santa Cruz Vegan Chef Challenge throughout April. The event asks participating businesses to add new plant-based items to the menu, and invites diners to review their favorite meals online. In early May, the event will announce the winning restaurant. The items are available to all visitors during normal business hours.
Nonprofit organization Vegan Outreach created the national event, which is taking place in Santa Cruz County for the first time. The goal is to encourage chefs and diners to try plant-based foods and to promote a diet free of animal products, according to a media release.
Participating restaurants from Davenport and Felton to Corralitos are putting forward creative takes on plant-based meals, from pizzas with turmeric carrot sauce, broccolini and eggplant at Girasol Pizza in Scotts Valley, a sushi roll with vegan shrimp, seared shiitake and pesto ($19.15) at The Buzz Sushi in Santa Cruz, and a spring succotash with heirloom beans and asparagus ($24) at Circle & Square Bistro in Corralitos. Diners can view the menus online.
Some of the restaurants, such as The Grove Cafe and Bakery in Felton, are already known for plant-based options, but others, such as Caruso’s Tuscan Cuisine in Capitola, are expanding their choices with multiple dishes.
Ibiza already offers vegan wraps, salads and drinks on its regular menu, so owners Elan and Brett Emerson said participating in the event felt like a natural fit. They created the Falafel Hippie Pita Sandwich ($13) as a portable mashup of their two top-selling items – which already happen to be vegan – and hope the promotion will attract new faces to their restaurant.
The couple also recently made the decision to be more inclusive to all of their guests by not charging more for alternative milks. “Ultimately, when we strip decisions down,” Elan Emerson said, “it always ends up being about making sure that the most people can enjoy our food.”
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