Ten chefs in the Midtown and downtown area have agreed to take on the Vegan Chef Challenge starting Saturday. Throughout the month of October, each restaurant will feature special vegan items including soups, appetizers, entrées and desserts.

Cafe Capricho, 58 Degrees, Bombay Bar and Grill, Tower Bridge Bistro and Michelangelo’s are just a few of the participating restaurants.

Restaurant guests who order these specialty dishes will be asked to go online and vote for their favorite dishes. Those who vote will be entered in a drawing to win prizes. Diners who visit all 10 participating restaurants will be asked to score their overall favorites in each category and will be entered into a drawing with even larger prizes.

Each restaurant will be competing in categories for best appetizer, soup, main entrée, dessert, most creative and best presentation.

“There will also be a ‘Vegan Favorites’ and a ‘Heart Healthy’ category but these are special categories based on vegan voting participation and some of our local vegan nutrition/health-focused experts,” wrote Bethany Davis, an event organizer for the Sacramento Vegan Society who is in partnership with California Vegan Restaurants.

Each of the dishes at all10 restaurants have been specially crafted and prepared by the restaurants’ chefs.

Vegan cuisine contains absolutely no animal products so chefs have had to challenge themselves to think outside the box and get creative with their dishes.

The participating restaurants include:

1. Aioli Bodega Española: 1800 L St.

Image by: Alex Arnold Photography Image by: Alex Arnold Photography Image by: Alex Arnold Photography Aioli has a menu packed with Spanish/Basque items and Executive Chef Hernandez Pablo said the restaurant will remain consistent with those flavors in its new vegan fall menu. Serving vegan items is no new task for Pablo; he said he has been making vegan dishes for many years and is confident in his ability to cook with only vegan ingredients.

Chef Pablo is offering more than a dozen vegan options for this fall.

“I am most excited about serving the veggie paella,” said Chef Pablo.

Aioli is serving everything from Gazpacho – a classic Spanish cold tomato soup with cucumber, celery, red onion, cilantro and mint – to Pan Catala con garbanzo y higos, a Spanish-style bruschetta with garbanzo bean purée and caramelized black figs.

2. 58 Degrees: 1217 18th St.

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58 Degrees is a wine bar and restaurant with a menu that includes dishes from around the world that pair well with its wines. The new vegan dishes are “Asian-inspired and bring new flavors to the restaurant,” said Executive Chef F.J Villalobos. “We are looking at this as an opportunity to challenge ourselves,” he added.

58 Degrees has never served Asian-flavored dishes before and with a sparkle in his eye, chef Villaloboslooked inspired as he talked about the upcoming challenge. He said the restaurant’s wine experts are working to see how they can best showcase the ingredients’ flavors and pair the dishes with wine from their wine collection.

“We are serving a pho for the soup, a trio of mushrooms as an appetizer, smoked tofu served with seaweed rice with Korean BBQ flavors for an entrée and for dessert we are making caramelized banana plantains, peanut butter gelato and chocolate mousse,” Chef Villalobos said.

3. Capitol Garage: 1500 K St.

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Capitol Garage has an American menu that incorporates local and seasonal ingredients. The new vegan menu remains consistent with the restaurant’s traditional flavors, though the new vegan menu items will allow the restaurant to exhibit more creativity.

“Being vegan helps me have an edge in the competition. I know what flavors pair really well,” said Raphael Kendall, sous chef at Capitol Garage. He said that he makes vegan food for his family everyday and is excited to show people that vegan food can be delicious and also offer a well-balanced meal.

Capitol Garage is serving a black eyed pea hummus, Southwest barley risotto and a coconut chai chocolate cake for the competition. A variety of vegan truffles will also be served.

4. Tower Bridge Bistro: 100 Capitol Mall

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The Tower Bistro serves a California-Tuscan cuisine and will expand the palate for the challenge to incorporate new flavors and explore new options.

According to California Vegan Restaurants’ website, Executive Chef Clay Purcell will be serving roasted pumpkin soup with zucchini ribbons and parsley oil, cous cous and vegetable “chili” with housemade harissa sauce, cilantro and pita chips; and buckwheat blini’s with raspberry coulis and chocolate dipping sauce.

5. Hot Italian: 1627 16th St.

Image by: Hot Italian

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Hot Italian is a pizza and panini bar and Italian vegan food is on the menu for the competition. Chef Fabrizio Cercatore will be serving mixed olives from both Italy and California as an appetizer, a house specialty pizza with the option of Daiya cheese, and sorbet for dessert, according to the California Vegan Restaurants’ website.

6. Cafe Capricho: 3269 Folsom Blvd.

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Cafe Capricho has a menu full of home-style Mexican dishes. For the competition, Marina Winchester, owner of Cafe Capricho, will incorporate many different cultures into her vegan menu, according to the California Vegan Restaurants’ website.

7. Michelangelo’s: 1725 I St.

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Michelangelo’s is a classic family owned Italian restuarant. Jaqueline & Lauren Barton are mother and daughter and combine to make a dynamic team. The two chefs will approach the Vegan Chef Challenge as an opportunity to take classic Italian dishes and recreate them for vegans and vegetarians to enjoy, according to the California Vegan Restaurants’ website.

8. Bombay Bar and Grill: 1315 21st St.

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Bombay Bar and Grill specializes in North Indian Cuisine and for the competition, Chef Sanjeev Singh Sanjeev will remain consistent with the flavors he incorporates into the dishes, according to California Vegan Restaurants’ website. The menu at Bombay Bar and Grill already has many vegetarian options but there are new dishes that will be added for the Vegan Chef Challenge.

9. KRU: 2516 J St.

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Kru serves contemporary Japanese cuisine. For the competition Chef Billy Ngo will try to maintain the flavors and texture of his regular menu items while making sure that the dishes are delicious, according to California Vegan Restaurants website.

10. Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe: 2315 K St.

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The Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe is an honorary participant and partner in the competition. The cafe specializes in making a variety of vegan dishes.Chefs Melissa Sugar, Antwan LaShay and Marshall Massa created a menu that spans from paninis and vegan burgers to sandwiches and tacos. The cafe has a vegan bakery where vegan sweets are available. The Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe will continue serving their vegan menu items for the competition.

Vegan food inspired by places around the world will be prepared in Sacramento this October. When diners vote online for what dishes they liked best they will be asked to report if they “liked it”, “loved it” or if the dish they tried was “over the top”, according to Davis.

To place your vote or learn more about the Vegan Chef Challenge, visit California Vegan Restaurants’ website here.