The world-famous TV host awarded the money to San Diego’s vegan food truck – Rollin’ Roots.

World-famous chef and restaurateur Guy Fieri has awarded $25,000 to a San Diego vegan restaurant owner as part of Guy’s Restaurant Reboot presented by LendingTree on 12 June.

The reboot program is part of Fieri’s partnership with the California Restaurant Foundation (CRF), a non-profit that invests in and empowers California’s restaurants and its workforce.

It will provide guidance and inspiration to the next generation of restaurant owners as well as bottom-line financial support to help winners “embody the promising future of the restaurant industry and use the funds to help kickstart their dreams of owning a restaurant.”

Avonte Hartsfield, owner of vegan food truck – Rollin’ Roots – received the funding along with four other beneficiaries.

The money will help Hartsfield set up his first brick and mortar space for a full-fledged restaurant.

‘Stepping stone’

“I’m honored to receive this opportunity from Guy Fieri and LendingTree and can’t wait to use the funds to expand into a brick-and-mortar restaurant and retain staff members during these times,” Hartsfield said.

“This is a definite stepping stone towards reaching my lifelong goal of owning a thriving restaurant and I can’t express how grateful I am to Guy and LendingTree for their generosity.”

Rollin’ Roots

Hartsfield, who has been working in the restaurant industry since he was 14, launched Rollin’ Roots in 2019.

He started making vegan food to serve at local farmers’ markets after deciding he wanted to transition to a less meat diet and couldn’t find tasty meatless options.

While he originally planned to open a restaurant last year, the pandemic forced him to transition his business model to a food truck.

Rollin Roots parked at 8040 Armour Street in Kearny Mesa offers comfort foods like loaded fries and sandwiches with deep-fried “shrimp” and Buffalo “chicken” that are entirely vegan.

The menu does not feature any soy-based meat substitutes because Hartsfield says it contains a lot of allergens, and eating processed meat alternatives daily is just as harmful as eating meat every day.

• Read: Vegan footballer Chris Smalling invests six-figure sum in vegan meat giant Heura

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