The Great MOSHIMO Vegan Challenge heats one and two to take place in Brighton

Twelve of Brighton and Sussex's top chefs – many of whom don't normally cook vegan – will go head-to-head at MOSHIMO this winter in two heats of the Great MOSHIMO Vegan Challenge, the city's original plant-based cook-off. Diners taste every dish and vote for the winner, with the top three from each heat going through to a Grand Final in spring 2027.

Heat 1 takes place on Thursday 19 November and Heat 2 on Thursday 10 December at MOSHIMO, Bartholomew Square, Brighton (7pm, doors open 6.30pm). Tickets are £48, with just 120 seats per heat. Last year's event sold out within 24 hours.

The line-up – drawn from Brighton and Sussex restaurants, street-food kitchens and pop-ups – will be revealed later this month.

"This isn't about vegan chefs cooking vegan food – it's about challenging every chef in Brighton to show what they can do with plants. Some of this year's contestants have never cooked a fully vegan menu before. That's exactly the point," says MOSHIMO co-owner Nicholas Rohl.

First held in 2010, the Vegan Challenge was one of the first events to promote plant-based eating as a more sustainable way of eating, and won MOSHIMO PETA's prestigious "Proggy" award.

"When we first set up the Vegan Challenge in 2010, the idea of converting a fish restaurant into a vegan one – albeit for an evening – was pretty radical," says Nicholas. "We certainly didn't believe at the time that the event would presage a movement towards plant-based eating. This was, after all, years before the word 'flexitarian' was coined."

MOSHIMO (then called Moshi Moshi) came up with the Vegan Challenge as it was launching Fishlove, a series of photographic portraits of A-list celebrities with fish that became an impactful campaign against overfishing and helped change EU fishing laws.

"At the time, scientists were saying that if overfishing continued, wild fish stocks would collapse," says Nicholas. "We looked at our menu and began asking ourselves what we would serve if this were to happen, and turned to Brighton's chefs for advice. That's how the Vegan Challenge was born."

MOSHIMO went on to become one of the first restaurants to serve vegan alternative proteins, well before these products became mainstream.

"The Vegan Challenge has played a huge role in informing how we develop our menu, so that we have become one of the best places to eat vegan in Brighton," says Nicholas. "What makes it so special is that it's a truly collaborative event, involving some of the very best chefs in Brighton, who come back year after year, each time creating ever more elaborate and innovative plant-based dishes."

Tickets go on sale on 16th October at https://www.moshimo.co.uk/reservations/vegan-challenge/

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