A Taste of Grassfed Smackdown 2026
SWGLA and Edible New Mexico present, A Taste of Grassfed Smackdown 2026!
We are so excited to introduce the Taste of Grassfed taking place on March 22nd at The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing. A Taste of Grassfed Smackdown is an exciting culinary event that celebrates the flavors and benefits of grass-fed beef, bringing together chefs, food lovers, and sustainable food advocates for a one-of-a-kind tasting experience. The event features a competitive cook-off where top local chefs prepare innovative dishes using premium grass-fed beef, highlighting its rich, natural taste and nutritional benefits. Attendees not only get to sample a wide variety of delicious dishes but also learn about sustainable farming practices and the importance of supporting grass-fed producers. The event is an opportunity to savor high-quality, responsibly sourced food while enjoying the camaraderie of fellow food enthusiasts and the expertise of chefs dedicated to showcasing the best of local, grass-fed ingredients.
Seven local chefs will be paired with seven local producers to make delicious grassfed creations and you can vote for your favorite! Each chef will prepare a small portion of their recipe for each guest to try. Join us and enjoy the incredible cuisine while learning how to support your local, sustainable ranchers.
The Ranches
Raised in New Mexico and Finished in Leedey, Oklahoma
Dry Creek Meats is a family-owned and operated ranch committed to raising premium, grass-finished beef with integrity and care. Our cattle are rotationally grazed on native pastures with no antibiotics or added hormones, resulting in healthier land, healthier animals, and exceptional-quality beef. We focus on intentional genetics, primarily Angus-based, and harvest our cattle at the right maturity to ensure optimal tenderness and flavor. Each animal is then dry-aged for 28 days, enhancing consistency, tenderness, and depth of flavor. Through regenerative ranching practices, we steward the land for future generations while delivering clean, nutrient-dense beef. We take pride in offering beef you can trust—raised the right way from pasture to plate.
Website: www.drycreekmeats.com
Ranches in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado
We’re a collective of small, multi-generation grass fed beef ranches located in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. The land means everything to us. It’s where our families live, work, and raise cattle the way it’s been done for generations. We ranch with care, honesty, and respect for what feeds us. We work with the seasons, with the sun and the soil, always trying to leave the land better than we found it. Together, we raise 100% USA grass-fed beef the way it’s meant to be; slow, clean, and natural.
No shortcuts, no big factories or machinery. Just open pastures, beautiful skies, and animals treated right. The slow-growing native grasses of the Southwest give our beef a rich, honest flavor that reminds us where it comes from. No chemicals. No hormones. Just real beef raised with care and pride.
When you choose Sweet Grass, you’re helping small ranching families keep a way of life alive; one built on hard work, community, and respect for the land. From our pastures to your table, thank you for being part of our story.
Website: sweetgrasscoop.com
Navajo Nation, Arizona
We are proud to be a mutton producer, with KAE Ranch raising pasture-raised sheep on the beautiful Navajo Nation. We carefully process our mutton and lamb at a USDA-approved facility and are delighted to bring fresh, wholesome meat to the Navajo People through open markets across the Navajo Nation. Our ranch is located in Seba Dalkai, nestled in the southwest region of the Navajo Nation.
Website: www.kaeranch.com
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Wagon Mound, New Mexico
Sol Ranch offers grassfed and finished beef from cattle raised their entire lives on native grassland in northeastern New Mexico. Emily Cornell, a lifelong rancher and owner of Sol Ranch, practices humane livestock handling, managed grazing, and range restoration. Sol Ranch quality dry-aged beef is available in bulk for wholesale and directly to consumers and is delivered throughout northern New Mexico. You can also find Sol Ranch beef at various grocery stores, restaurants, CSAs, and schools.
Navajo Nation, Arizona
Laughing Goat Fine Meats is a ranching operation built on the principles of soil health. Based in Northeastern Arizona, pasture raising and pasture finishing chivo (goat), lamb, and beef.
Sile, New Mexico
We’re first-generation farmers and ranchers, building our dream from the ground up here at Sile Pastures. We farm regeneratively because we believe great food starts with healthy soil. Our animals graze on open pastures, and we’re proud to provide wholesome, nutrient-dense food for our community while caring for the land for future generations.
Website: www.silepastures.com
Out of frustration with the lack of markets for lamb in New Mexico, Chantal Orosco and Debra Jameson formed New Mexico Hair Sheep Producers, LLC in August 2024. We are structured as a non-profit organization, working to maximize sheep farming profits for the hair sheep producers throughout New Mexico. We are focused on hair sheep due to the lack of lanolin in the wool, which causes the “gamey” flavor in sheep meat. Hair sheep have a very delicate, mild flavor.
The Chefs
Mañana Taco in Albuquerque
Mañana Taco is the result of our deep love for breakfast tacos, chile peppers, sunny mornings, and laid-back afternoons. With a commitment to quality, we craft homemade tortillas filled with organic eggs, responsibly-sourced meats, and fresh vegetables.
Manko, Santa Clara Pueblo
Manko is a Native American fusion food truck owned by Chef Ray Naranjo. With the use of modern and ancestral cooking techniques, he pushes the limits of what is known, unknown, and forgotten about the Indigenous food culture of North America.
VM Coffee and Cafe, Albuquerque
For over a decade, VM Coffee has been on a mission to bring the world’s finest specialty coffee to your cup. What began as a passion project has grown into a thriving business, dedicated to sourcing, roasting, and delivering exceptional coffee from the most celebrated regions around the globe. In addition to their coffee, they offer exceptional, under-the-radar food in their cafe.
Chef Yolanda Torres is at the helm in VM’s kitchen. Though originally from Lubbock, Texas, she spent much of her youth in Albuquerque. After training at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, she worked alongside celebrated chefs in both New York City and New Orleans, where she spent almost a decade before returning to Albuquerque.
NM ChileJang / Pocha Y Pan
Kyle Key, owner of NM ChileJang, is a modern-day devotee to old-world practices. One of only two retail producers of cottage-style gochujang in the United States, Kyle draws his inspiration from growing up eating diverse Asian cuisines in his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, and from the local flavors of New Mexico. Kyle’s gochujang paste is made with hot NM-grown red chile, rice, barley malt, rice syrup, fermented soybean powder, and salt, lovingly combined over eighteen hours and then fermented for ninety days. Pocha Y Pan is Kyle’s pop-up concept, launched last fall, with events in the Albuquerque area.
At Noah’s Table, we believe that food is more than just a meal—it’s an experience meant to be shared and savored. As a small, family-owned business based in Valencia County, we bring the warmth of home-cooked flavors with the elegance of a personal chef experience. Our passion for fresh, high-quality ingredients and made-from-scratch homestyle cooking sets us apart.
Ardovino’s Desert Crossing & Roadside Inn, Sunland Park, New Mexico
Ardovino’s Desert Crossing is committed to offering the freshest ingredients while prioritizing resource sustainability in our community. We are proud to support local, family-owned farms whenever possible. Many of our suppliers are also vendors at our Farmers’ Market, and many of our ingredients are grown right on the property.
An iconic Santa Fe restaurant for over 40 years, Santacafé blends old-world elegance with contemporary American cuisine, featuring exquisitely locally sourced ingredients and one of the city’s best outdoor dining patios, all set within a beloved historic home. Purchased in 2019 by restaurateur Quinn Stephenson of Coyote Café fame, the restaurant continues to be a cornerstone of Santa Fe’s dining scene. Executive Chef Dale Kester began his culinary journey in Taos under mentor Joseph Wrede before refining his craft in Houston and rising to Junior Sous Chef at New York City’s two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Daniel, returning to New Mexico in 2019 to lead Santacafé’s kitchen with excellence.
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