“The choices we make each day around the food we eat directly impacts our health, environment, community and all living beings. ”
ooh cha cha
Founded in 2013 by California natives Mai and Spencer and friends in Taiwan Stella Wu and Sylvia Chi, Ooh Cha Cha is your go-to neighborhood place for simple, real, whole food. Ooh Cha Cha works to create spaces that make the community, people, and planet healthier and stronger.
That’s why they cook from scratch, work with local networks of farmers and commit to supporting and gathering groups and organizations working to create meaningful change in the world.
Meatless Movement recently had an opportunity to find out from Mai and Spencer, who spoke to us about how they founded Ooh Cha Cha, and their hope to inspire radical change about how all of us look at and think about food.
Tell us more about yourselves
We are the two founders of Ooh Cha Cha, Mai and Spencer, we came to Taiwan thirteen years ago to visit and just ended up staying. We opened Ooh Cha Cha 8 years ago and got married 7 years ago. In that time we’ve worked to support the start up and vegan communities in Taiwan. We’ve also started a handful of startup businesses in Taiwan from media platforms to agtech startups.
Through our spaces and food, we want to inspire you to make an impact, big and small, in your life and around you.
OOH CHA CHA
Ooh Cha Cha’s concept is plant based whole food. We aren’t just vegan. We are ingredient and nutrition centric. Every meal at our cafe and restaurant has a full nutritional profile packed with fiber, protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals, and we made it delicious to boot. We don’t use refined ingredients and there is no frying. Our concept is also oriented at being as inclusive as possible.
Ooh Cha Cha’s ultimate goal is to have vegans and non vegans eating as many meals that are plant based as possible.
Taipei’s first plant-based café. Our mission is to provide fresh, whole foods in a delicious way. Our menu is vegan with green smoothies, sandwiches, burgers, rice bowls, and raw desserts. We never use dairy, refined sugars, or refined oils. Each and every dish is simple, real, and whole.
ooh cha cha
We have a cafe just outside Guting MRT and a larger space with games and events next to Technology Building mrt in Da’an, both are named Ooh Cha Cha. Both are cozy and both are intended to be a complete healthy meal, whether you’re stopping in for dinner or hunkering down to have a good time.
We have a commitment to purchase core products (at least 50% of expenses) from independent suppliers local to where the product will be used or where the company operates. We have a commitment to serve at least 75% local and independent clients or customers.
ooh cha cha
The environmental impact of traditional food and beverage business is becoming more and more pronounced. We want to push the idea that you can make an environmental impact with the choices you make everyday. That doesn’t mean you need to eat our food everyday, but it does present a choice for you to replace energy intensive foods like meat everyday and every time you make that decision it helps.
These are small choices with a small impact but the more awareness there is the bigger this movement becomes and the greater the impact is. Lowering our meat intake should have the same popularity as the movement to use more sustainable packaging like straws, it’s just people tend to think more about what they throw away than the actual contents of the packaging. It has way more impact. There’s also a lot of misinformation centered around it. So we’re trying to raise awareness as much as we are trying to operate our small business.
Some of Our Favorites at Ooh Cha Cha
Our sandwiches are a great grab and go whole food. I particularly enjoy is BMLT. It’s a classic sandwich with our own spin on it.
Our sunrise bowl is a large bowl of yum. Made with our tofu scramble, this is one of our quintessential bowls.
The ricotta burger is one of our longest running dishes because it’s just so damn good. I literally eat it every day. We now make it with the Beyond Burger or a local company named Plant Best.
We also make an amazing dessert with whole flour and delicious dark chocolate. It’s a pan cookie that’s as decadent as it looks.
Last is our mac and cheese. It’s just a cheesy classic. Without the cheese of course.
Ooh Cha Cha is listed in Meatless Movement’s Directory. Read more… Ooh Cha Cha
All images courtesy of Mai and Spencer / Ooh Cha Cha
Taipei’s first plant-based café. Our mission is to provide fresh, whole foods in a delicious way.