This taco might change your mind about artificial intelligence.
Dallas staple Velvet Taco is debuting a taco this week whose recipe was created through Chat GPT. The taco, available July 12-25, is part of the restaurant's "Weekly Taco Feature."
Chef Venecia Willis, Velvet Taco's director of culinary, began using Chat GPT to help her build a presentation for a tasting class. It ended up with her feeding the program with Velvet Taco ingredients and asking it to create new tacos.
"It spit out four different tacos," Willis said. "And so the next step for us was sitting down and tasting them."
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Velvet Taco's new Chat G-P-Taco
At their Velvet Taco innovation sessions, a team of chefs taste Weekly Taco Features for the upcoming quarter. This time, they were tasting some of Chat GPT's creations.
"What was important to me and our team was we weren't going to manipulate the taco beyond the data going into Chat GPT," Willis said. "So we created this 'Chat GPTaco' and the rest is history."
The taco features flank steak, shrimp, red chile aioli, chimichurri, grilled onion, queso fresco and crispy potatoes on a corn tortilla.
Some ingredients it returned didn't work well, Willis said. One featured crispy tofu, red coconut curry and pineapple. The language model also took a liking to sliced jalapenos, adding it to a few of its recipes, Willis said.
"I had my phone in my hand and I started inputting the ingredients that we already had made. I categorized them with three tortilla options, all the proteins, the bases, the sauce, even down to the garnish," said Willis.
The future of cooking just might come from embracing AI, Willis said. Velvet Taco creates 52 Weekly Taco Features a year, with a new taco recipe each week. They remain in a constant state of new menu items, often with many of the same ingredients.
It allows us to be creative. It's definitely special to our brand and wouldn't be Velvet Taco without the 'WTF.'
Velvet Taco Chef Venecia Willis
"I don't think it's going to replace anything," Willis said. "It could come up with a flavor combination that could be really unique and enjoyable and you just never thought of it."
You can join Chat GPT in creating a taco with Velvet Taco's newest contest. People have a chance to submit their own Weekly Taco Features in a new contest.
People can submit their own taco creations on the company's website. The winner will receive a private session with a chef at a Velvet Taco location, win a $250 Velvet Taco gift card and a spot on the "WTF" menu from Oct. 4 through Oct. 10.
