Vegan Festival Debuts in Austin, Promotes Plant-Based Eating Habits
By Sofia Estrada Ferrufino
Reporting Texas
Tara Notvest photographs Chef Heartburn’s mole confit tacos on Oct. 26, 2025 during the SEED Food and Wine Festival Texas Taco Throwdown. Sofia Estrada Ferrufino/Reporting Texas
SEED Food and Wine Festival promoted conscious eating in Austin this October, spotlighting local plant-based businesses and chefs.
The weeklong vegan festival took place from Oct. 21-26 across Austin, featuring a variety of events, including a short film premiere and a 5K race. Founded in Miami in 2013, the event came to Texas after Tara Notvest, a longtime attendee, moved to Austin and realized its unconventional character and healthy lifestyle would be a good fit. Founders Alison Burgos and Michelle Gaber agreed to work with Notvest, allowing her to run the festival in Austin.
“I’ve been working on this, making it beautiful and amazing to keep the heart of SEED Miami and give it a Texas twist,” Notvest said.
She did just that, transforming the Vegan Burger Contest into the Texas Taco Throwdown, a highlight of the event. Notvest wanted to promote local Austin businesses and chefs who focus on plant-based living. The chefs used local produce to create their tacos and compete for the Critics’ Choice Award and People’s Choice Award.
The judge panel for the Critics’ Choice Award consisted of three judges: Chef Courtney Lindsay from Mo Brunch + Brews, Kelly Shin from Mr. Greens and Chris Rios from Vegan Nom.
While attendees made their rounds picking their favorite taco, the judges concluded that Veracruz All Natural served the best of the night. The taco was made with mushroom carnitas, cauliflower, red onion, carrot escabeche, cilantro green salsa and habanero popcorn salsa on a nixtamal tortilla.
But the people spoke and voted for Vegan Byy Nature. Chef Thandisizwe Jackson-Nisan hailed all the way from Minnesota, and served a vegan queso birria taco made with housemade mock duck barbacoa, navy bean, queso chihuahua and salsa verde.
“We’re happy to win, but we also love the camaraderie,” Jackson-Nisan said. “It feels really good, especially after traveling from Minnesota.”
Notvest said she wanted to uplift local Austin businesses with SEED. Along with the chefs, the event also featured a Siete Foods booth with free samples and a Dante’s marshmallow bar.
“I think that it gave me a chance to get in front of other people so that they can see my skills and taste my food,” Chef Martin Eason, also known as Chef Heartburn, said.
The event was lively with chefs enjoying exposure to their food and attendees taking over the dance floor after eating their tacos. The attendees also bonded over conscious eating and look forward to the future.
Staci Abelow, an attendee, said she lived in Miami and, like Notvest, attended SEED every year. When she saw it was coming to Austin, she knew she had to be there.
“It needs to be the future. It’s the best option we have for the climate,” Abelow said. “It’s the healthiest option for ourselves, and we need to care about the animals.”
SEED Austin hopes to carry the legacy of SEED Miami, inspiring, entertaining and educating the community to celebrate the benefits of plant-based living, sustainability and wellness.
“I hope that for one night, they got to really enjoy themselves in a really healthy, conscious way,” Notvest said.