By Kathy Stephenson, The Salt Lake Tribune 
March 6, 2012

Salt Lake is famous for skiing, the Great Salt Lake, the Mormon Temple and - hold on to your tofu - vegan dining.

In the March/April issue of VegNews, Utah's capital city was dubbed "The Next Great Vegan City," for the wave of restaurants, food carts, bakeries and general vegan options available for a city our size. Salt Lake City earned the distinction after beating Austin, Texas, in the magazine's first "Vegan City Showdown."

"We were blown away at how vegan friendly it is in Salt Lake," said Colleen Holland, associate publisher of the San Francisco-based magazine. "We weren't expecting it."

In the magazine, now on newsstands, the editors say vegan food options are nothing new. They "literally fall from trees" in coastal cities such as New York City, Portland and Los Angeles. But what's really big news, they said, are the increasing options in unexpected cities, such as Salt Lake City, which is on the "verge of vegan domination."