Vallejo foods maker opens city’s 1st vegan-only restaurant

When GW Chew was growing up in Southern Maryland, food was synonymous with a family gathering.

"Food was so important to me because it's cultural," says Chew. "Our families, our best memories and experiences are all represented."

Now Chew — "Chef Chew" to his colleagues and customers — wants to bring the power of all these culinary sentiments to his new restaurant, Better Chew Kitchen, which celebrated its grand opening Sunday at 1745 Sonoma Blvd.

It will be, says its proud chef, the city's first all-vegan restaurant.

With meat lovers on his father's side of the family and vegetarians on his mother's side, Chew has fully experienced the age-old dietary debate. After losing multiple family members to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, Chew decided to become vegan.

His desire for a healthier lifestyle notwithstanding, Chew didn't want to interfere with the taste of the food he grew up eating.

"My family thought I was missing out, so I wanted to recreate the good food, so that I wouldn't lose my culture and my identity,' said Chew. "I began to become a chef and started creating recipes and food products."

In 2007, Chew developed a proprietary process that "became the foundation of our entire company." This process texturizes non-GMO soybeans into a unique texture.

"It makes the "chicken" similar to a striated muscle," said Chew. "It's a very clean product. The ingredients are very simple. It's only like four or five ingredients and recipes. Every ingredient you can pronounce. I learned how to make clean proteins using different techniques that I was able to master over a number of years."

Chew's development of vegan comfort foods has only expanded in variety. Mastering these skills, Chew is ready for Vallejo to be "veganized" — from his Chew steaks of vegan Philadelphia cheese to his "really cool" hand-battered organic vegetable sandwich.

Chew raves about Better Chew's vegan mac and cheese, a new version inspired by his mom's recipe book.

The menu also features collard greens, or what Chew calls "country boy greens," and crispy garlic brussel sprouts, a Chew favorite.

In addition to the restaurant, Chew owns Better Chew frozen vegan comfort foods, available at Whole Foods. Chew's team has manufactured for the past five years in Vallejo, a city he calls the Bay Area's "hidden gem."

The food company was accepted into department store chain Target’s business accelerator program, the retailer announced earlier this month.

Chew is also extremely active in the community. Recently, the Better Chew team taught students at American Canyon High School healthier and affordable food choices.

"Our mission as a company is to democratize access to all people and make it easy for families to eat healthy," said Chew. "We want families to not have any stress when it comes to being able to put something healthy on the plates."