Stew-pendous! Ithaca Restaurant’s Vegan Peanut Stew Nabs National PETA Award

For Immediate Release:
December 3, 2025

Contact:
Alex Payne 202-483-7382

Stirring up compassion! As temperatures dip and people seek warm comfort foods to get them through the winter, PETA is naming the winners of its Souper Vegan Awards—and Ithaca’s own Asempe Kitchen has made the list. The eatery’s mouthwatering Nkatsi Froyi (peanut stew) features a smooth blend of peanuts, tomato sauce, onion, ginger, curry, garlic, pepper, and Asempe’s special spice blend, served over saffron rice.

“Asempe Kitchen has created a delicious stew that’s kind to animals and provides comfort and warmth in each spoonful,” says PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk. “Every winner on PETA’s awards list shows how easy it is to make a soup-erb stew or soup that leaves animals in peace and keeps everyone feeling nicely nourished.”

Cows develop friendships over time, chickens form complex social structures, and pigs show empathy for other pigs who are happy or distressed—but in today’s meat, egg, and dairy industries, the animals are raised in filthy, crowded conditions, trucked to slaughterhouses through all weather extremes, and violently killed. In addition to sparing nearly 200 animals every year, each person who goes vegan also bolsters their own health, as vegans are less likely to suffer from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.

Asempe Kitchen will receive a framed award certificate from PETA along with bragging rights. Other winners include Half-Peach Bakery & Café in Louisville, KY; Vujee Vegan in Huntsville, AL; and Revolutionary Soup in Charlottesville, VA.

Asempe Kitchen is located at 114 West Green Street in Ithaca and is open  from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Sunday (closed from 3 to 4 p.m) and then opens again from 5 to 9 p.m. on those same days. Asempe Kitchen reaches private and group and Airbnb experiences on Saturdays.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.