(PUEBLO, Colo.) — When it’s time to dine in downtown Pueblo, one spot stands out in that it caters to most cravings. Inside the Fuel and Iron Food Hall, various specialty cuisines await, each prepared by skilled chefs busy crafting their own distinctive dishes to satisfy customers.

Connie Taggart, a first-time visitor, decided to explore the food hall on Wednesday with her daughter, where they sampled bites from various vendors, enjoying the different options available.

“It’s just overall, it’s a beautiful building, I love the industrial look,” Taggart said. “The lunch I had today and the lunch my daughter had, we had food from two different vendors in here, excellent, really excellent food and we’ll definitely come back.”

The Fuel and Iron Food Hall has a wide variety of cuisines which customers can choose from.

One of newer additions inside is The Cutting Board, a standout among the rest for its unique use of ingredients—every is entirely plant-based.

“We just, we really want to provide a healthy alternative for the people of Pueblo,” said Co-Owner of The Cutting Board, Jennifer Dedmon. “We visited one time, and it was hard to find anything that was plant-based at that time in Pueblo and so we thought someone should open a restaurant.”

A distinctive feature of the new addition to the food hall is that all dishes are entirely plant-based.

In a matter of minutes, Dedmon and Chad Hankins would come to the realization they could turn that vision into a reality and open the first plant-based restaurant in the Steel City.

“We’re really excited that we get to be the first plant-based restaurant here in Pueblo,” Dedmon said. “I think that it’s something that we can really showcase the culinary aspects of a plant-based diet and that it’s just good food. It doesn’t have to be anything that’s scripted, it can be very free flowing, it’s a great lifestyle to try.”

On Wednesday morning, Hankins created one of the dishes to showcase the fresh ingredients that define their cuisine.

Hankins is no stranger to the city, as he grew up in Pueblo and is enthusiastic about introducing this fresh and distinctive cuisine to his hometown. Regardless of whether customers are vegetarian, vegan, or neither, he hopes they’ll find something delightful to enjoy on the menu.

“We’re not really out here to be like the Holy Church of Vegans or try to convert anybody,” Hankins said. “Just this is the food we like, this is what we do. We don’t care what you had for lunch, if you come see us for dinner, we just like to make good food for everybody.”

As they prepare their cutting boards to serve the city with an expected opening of March 22, this duo is not a newcomer to the culinary scene. With a smile, Hankins recalled his background in the restaurant industry, particularly how he gained recognition for his skill in preparing plant-based dishes.

“Whenever I got into restaurants, that was always kind of my focus anyway, back when nobody really cared or was doing it,” Hankins said. “If we had, somebody who was like, ‘Oh, we got a vegetarian in, give it to Chad, he’ll figure it out,’ and so it just kind of grew from there.”

The Cutting Board is getting ready to serve the southern Colorado community with an expected opening on March 22.

While there is a wide variety of dishes to choose from, Dedmon did confess to having a favorite order.

“My favorite thing on our menu is going to be the Super Bowl. It is a black bean southwest curry with coconut milk, mangoes, avocado and topped with cilantro.”

The owners are also on a mission to extend their expertise in plant-based cuisine to southern Colorado youth, eager to share their knowledge and skills with the next generation.

Dishes like this one will soon be available to order starting on March 22.

“Another thing that we’re doing, we got a mentorship program we’re working on with CASA for foster kids, like kids aging out of foster care,” Hankins said. “Those are two [of our] favorite things, we love cooking, and we love teaching people stuff.”

They’re also working toward the goal of opening a permanent restaurant space in downtown Pueblo, with construction currently underway. For details on supporting the business, click here.

“We have that building, it’s right down the street, it’s three blocks down on Union,” Hankins said. “It’s under construction right now, gas lines, pipes, it’s an older building, so it’s taken some time.”