London vegan café celebrates two years

This blog post is a bit personal and soppy.

I hope you are all OK with me bigging up two of my friends and their fabulous business.

Essential Vegan Café is an all-vegan eatery in Shoreditch, London and today it is celebrating two years of trading.

Essential Vegan is an independent café run by chef Vanessa Almeida and her husband Neni.

I got to know Vanessa and Neni several years ago through the vegan scene in London. They would both come along to events I hosted and it wasn’t long until we counted on each other as friends, not just vegan comrades.

Vanessa and Neni work as hard as anyone I’ve ever met in the vegan community, if not harder.

I have seen them pull all-nighters, often multiple nights in a row, in order to prepare for large scale vegan festivals such as VegFestUK. At the first ever Hackney Downs Vegan Market Vanessa was swamped by customers and sold out of everything instantly, resulting in her actually RUNNING home to bake more cakes for attendees while Neni stayed at the stall and chatted with customers.

Their shed/hatch window takeaway stall in the now-defunct PUMP foodcourt in East London was crucial in pushing vegan food forward in the capital. Vanessa and Neni worked tirelessly to make delicious seitan burgers and succulent cheesecakes to keep the hungry crowds satisfied.

Essential Vegan also became famous around this time for their gourmet plant-based cheeses.

Vanessa has invested thousands of hours in order to perfect her handcrafted artisan cheeses. If you consider yourself a vegan cheese fan, you owe it to yourself to get along to Essential Vegan to buy a few of Vanessa’s creations.

As Essential Vegan Café turns two years old, it is also important to recognise how Vanessa has helped put Brazilian food on the London map. As a chef, she is a pioneer in the UK.

Vanessa and Neni relocated from Brazil to London many years ago and it was a dream of theirs to feed traditional dishes from back home to the population of their new home. They have realised this dream with Essential Vegan Café.

Feijoada is one of their specialties and I promise you will struggle to find a weekend brunch as delicious as this anywhere else in London.

I haven’t even touched on the rest of the sensational menu which includes cake, cassava chips, Brazilian cheese balls, seitan wings, salad, quiche, and casserole.

Congratulations to Vanessa and Neni for two years of Essential Vegan Café. I’m truly inspired by your determination, work ethic, and commitment to improving outcomes for animals.

See the exact location of Essential Vegan Café thanks to Google Maps (just a few skips from Shoreditch High Street Station).

See the Essential Vegan Café menu online.

Follow Essential Vegan on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

5 online UK vegan shops you should support

I understand that I rattle on endlessly about the importance of supporting independent vegan businesses, but like anything worth saying it is worth saying until you can’t say it any longer.

With that unstoppable determination in mind, I want to share my list of the top 5 online UK vegan shops that you could be supporting right now.

It includes a mix of groceries, cheese, clothing, wine, footwear, and baked treats.

Shopping online with these businesses keeps money in the pockets of vegan and independently-owned operations, allowing them to offer work to other vegans.

These businesses support other independent traders. Your money spent with these people keeps money in local UK communities, more so than if you shop with huge chain stores.

Are you ready for my list?

The Vegan Kind Supermarket is grocery heaven for online plant-based consumers. Of course the shop grew from the runaway success of their monthly subscription boxes, but the online shop has become an unstoppable force all of its own.

Click here to shop with The Vegan Kind Supermarket. They offer 15% off your first order!

Follow The Vegan Kind Supermarket on Instagram.

The Third Estate is not just the physical vegan boutique in London. Angela and James also operate an online version of their ethical shop. These people care about every aspect of doing the right thing by animals, people, and the planet so expect fairtrade and zero sweatshop goods. Select from a range of gorgeous boots, dress shoes, sneakers, sandals, handbags, belts, backpacks, clothing, and seasonal trinkets and candles.

Click here to shop with The Third Estate. Be sure to check out the online sale section.

Follow The Third Estate on Instagram.

Ms Cupcake is a world-famous, pioneering vegan bakery based south of the River Thames in Brixton, London but did you know they also deliver a selection of their treats all around the UK? Choose from tray bakes, cookie sandwiches, muffins, brownies, branded merchandise, and even the Ms Cupcake recipe book!

Click here to shop with Ms Cupcake. Look for seasonal items available for a limited time.

Follow Ms Cupcake on Instagram.

La Fauxmagerie is a 100% vegan gourmet cheese deli in East London. If you are a cheese lover, this place is your dream come true. If you don’t have a lot of spare time for vegan cheese shopping in that part of the city or you live at the other end of the country, why not shop for their gourmet cheeses online?

Click here to shop with La Fauxmagerie. Spend over £100 for free shipping. It’s easier to do than you think with such a huge range! Perfect for special occasions.

Follow La Fauxmagerie on Instagram.

Vegan Wine Box is THE online place to shop for home delivery wine that is all guaranteed to be vegan. Their selection of mixed cases is perfect for adventurous drinkers. The company has a strong focus on sustainable wines and you won’t get cheap, nasty vino in any of your deliveries. You can order a one-off box or subscribe for monthly deliveries.

Click here to shop with Vegan Wine Box. Look out for the Prosecco and rosé boxes!

Follow Vegan Wine Box on Instagram.

Have I missed your favourite online UK vegan retailer? Tell me in the comments.

Deluxe vegan sweet treat box

First, a warning.

Every single time I post about Convectionery, they sell out. Like, in record time.

So if you like what you are about to read, you need to order instantly or it will be gone.

Convectionery has launched a deluxe box in the UK which includes a sample of every glorious thing the company makes including vegan versions of Kit Kats, Jammie Dodgers, Peanut Butter Cups, and Wagon Wheels.

The deluxe box from Convectionery costs £20 and includes:

1x peanut butter cup
1 x Vego chocolate cup
Rocky Road bites
2 x Jammie Dodgers
2 x Kit Kat
1 x Wagon Wheel
2 x White Kit Kat
2 x peanut butter Kit Kat
1 x white peanut butter cup
1 x white Vego cup
1 x white Wagon Wheel
2 x white chocolate covered Oreos
2 x chocolate covered Oreos

That is one impressive box!

Click here to order a box (or two) for yourself right now. This blog post went live on August 14, 2019 and I’ve been told it will only be available for 7 days or until it sells out.

You can follow Convectionery on Instagram.

Vegan pork scratchings

Pork scratchings are a VERY particular product.

Put the animal cruelty aside for a second and some people just don’t like the salty crunchy things at all, while some people adore the traditional pub snack.

For people who were fans of pork scratchings after a few pints in the pub, there is great news.

Two passionate pork scratching fanatics have taken it upon themselves to create a vegan version of this divisive snack.

And they are running a Kickstarter campaign to get the compassionate version into pubs around the UK.

The founders of Vegan Pig said:

We never dreamed we would end up with a product that not only tasted so great, but was so similar to a pork scratching in both texture and in taste.

We’ve overcome challenge after challenge, but now, our next step is getting Vegan Pig into production.

We’re asking the Kickstarter community for £5200. This money will help us scale up our production and get our pig snacks out into the world – as well as helping us meet the minimum orders required to use 100% recyclable packaging.

Once we begin to produce them, we’ll be able to go from pub to pub to sell this delicious snack – so you can all give them a go yourself, with a nice cold pint.

If you check out their Kickstarter page right now, you’ll see they have already broken through that fundraising target!

It seems vegan pork scratchings are an in demand product.

You still have a week remaining to get behind this project and of course some of the reward levels include your own packets of Vegan Pig pork scratchings when the first retail packs are produced.

Click here to read more and pledge and follow Vegan Pig on Instagram.

Nuneaton Vegan Fair this weekend!

Get excited!

The Nuneaton Vegan Fair is taking place in the Warwickshire town this Saturday August 3, 2019.

The following description of the event is from the organisers and it sounds fab.

The Nuneaton Vegan Fair will feature 30 stalls selling a wide range of vegan products including delicious cake, chocolate, cheese, cosmetics, clothing, recipe books, and a selection of hot food.

FREE entry. All welcome.

STALLHOLDERS

Caterers
Got No Beef Burger Bar
Sheila’s Kitchen
Vegan Joe’s
U-Juice

Cakes & Confectionery
SOOKS Ltd
Sweetest Things
Trishul Raw Chocolate
Totally Vegan
Lakeside Ethical Treats

Vegan Cheese
Soul Cheeze
The Naturally Vegan Food Company

Other Food Stalls
Venitin FOODS
Butterbelle
Vork pie
Natures Finest Juices
Tropical Paradise Preserves

Cosmetics & Toiletries
Iuvo Skincare Ltd
Clean&Natural
Bohemian Chic Minerals Vegan Cosmetics
Organik Orangutan
IT’s Cruelty Free

Clothing
Viva La Vegan
WEAR YOUR VOICE

Jewellery
Agharta Jewellery
Luna Tree Jewellery

Animal Campaigns & Awareness
Leicester Vegans
West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs

The Nuneaton Vegan Fair will run between 10:30am an 4:00pm. You can see the exact location thanks to Google Maps.

Save Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary

The following message was shared on the Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary Facebook page:

It is with much sadness and regret that I must advise that we have hit the end of the road.

Fiona’s mission to rescue as many animals as possible and to promote the cruelty free lifestyle in her unique and awe inspiring way of the past 25 years looks like it is over.

We are so grateful to all our supporters who have helped us with the feed bills over the years, but tragically the level of support is simply not enough for us to continue on. Despite Fiona’s incredible athletic achievements gained in the face of chronic disability, she remains relatively unknown/supported within the vegan community and virtually unknown in the wider community – the UK’s most accomplished athlete that no-one has ever heard of.

We had hoped that her film, Running for Good, would reach a wide audience, but despite our & the producers best efforts this has not happened – frustratingly everyone who has seen it has been blown away by Fiona’s accomplishments and many of those have gone on to donate to the sanctuary, but again the numbers are painfully low and not just enough to make the difference we needed to make the animal sanctuary work.

We had hoped that as promised during filming, Fiona’s inclusion in the Game Changers movie would bring her name and work to the 10m+ audience that will see this film and that this would save the sanctuary, but having been edited out from the final cut, this now will not happen leaving poor Fiona to reside in relative obscurity.

The running costs of the farm site have escalated beyond our initial expectations as the amount of work required to turn it into the sanctuary for animals that we wanted it to be is colossal – we thought we had completed the fencing having fenced what was absolutely necessary, we had hoped that the original fencing in some of the fields combined with dense natural hedging would be enough to keep the animals in, but the cattle have tested the fencing in several places resulting in them getting out a few days ago – net result is that we have to spend around a further £19k on 1000m of additional fencing – Funds we simply do not have.

We are behind some £20k on feed bills & as we head towards the end of the summer, we have done the math & we just can’t carry on.

We have 350 loyal supporters to whom we are very grateful & we have personally put everything we have into keeping going these past few years, but we have nothing left to put in.

In the meantime we will clearly keep caring for the animals in our care, but if we can’t find additional supporters and raise significant funding in the next few days, then it’s over.

I can’t even begin to explain how crushed Fiona is. These events have destroyed her totally.

Please don’t let this happen to her and the rescues.

If you can donate or set up a monthly direct debit it would be so appreciated.

Click here to donate or set up a monthly donation.

Gorgeous vegan Indian cuisine in Sheffield

One of the most-loved places for vegans and fans of Indian cuisine to eat in Sheffield is Ajanta’s Vegetarian, a recently-opened restaurant on Abbeydale Road.

Located in the old BurgerLols spot (yep, they shut down a while back), Ajanta’s is bringing affordable and irresistible Punjabi recipes to the Sheffield masses with a 100% vegan menu.

The menu is truly world class. Check it out below:

Mains

  • Dal £5 – slowly cooked lentils in a secret blend of spices
  • Chana masala £5 – a classic Punjabi chickpea dish packed with flavour
  • Aloo £5 – spiced potato and toasted cumin seeds
  • Peppers & ‘chicken’ £6 – vegan ‘chicken’ pieces and peppers fried in paprika and garlic
  • Sabji £6 – Fresh seasonal vegetables gently cooked with aromatic spices

Sides

  • Basmati rice £2 – matured over two years for a beautiful fragrance and flavour
  • Jeera rice £2.50 – Basmati rice with toasted cumin seeds
  • Naan bread £1.50 – soft and fluffy, perfect for mopping up the last mouthful
  • Mixed salad £2 – dressed with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and lemon juice
  • Vegan yoghurt £1.50

Snacks

  • Samosa £3 – golden pastry stuffed with spiced potato and peas (x2)
  • Golgappa £3 – crisp puri balls filled with chickpeas, potato, and tamarind sauce
  • Poppadom 50p

Thali

Traditional Thali trays come with a selection of dishes served with mango chutney and lime.

  • £7.99 Thali – chana, dal, aloo, ‘chicken’ & peppers, basmati rice
  • £6.99 Thali – chana, dal, aloo, naan, basmati rice

What are you waiting for?!

Follow Anjata’s Vegetarian on Instagram and Facebook, and see the exact location of the restaurant thanks to Google Maps.

Vegan festival with a greener approach

Veelyfe is set to be a London music festival with a difference.

Not only does Veelyfe feature a fabulous musical line up (including Radio 1 and 4 DJ Claira Hermet, Melody Kane, House of Grae, and Rachael Anson) but it has a big aim of creating a ‘greener’ feel to the traditional festival.

Everything from the UK’s largest solar panelled staging to the eco toilets and biodegradable cups will make this a cleaner and more environmentally festival.

All of the food will be 100% vegan as well. Oh, yes. You read that correctly. ALL of the food is plant-based, and so are the drinks on site.

This new London festival – at the only urban beach location – is looking to change the industry and shine a light on the need for mainstream festivals to think about the environment and be more responsible in their approach.

Veelyfe is taking place in east London on Saturday July 27, 2019.

Click here to read more about Veelyfe and buy tickets.

You can also follow Veelyfe on Instagram.

Order vegan fudge online: UK

Lucky Cat Fudge is a 100% vegan fudge business based in Brighton. You need to know this information!

Lucky Cat doesn’t use any refined sugar, palm oil or E numbers in the production of their fudge, just pure and natural ingredients!

The company has a little shop in the Brighton Open Market and supply their fudge to many shops independent stores, including Infinity Foods.

Lucky Cat Fudge products will soon be available from The Vegan Kind, but if you can’t wait you can also order online at their website.

Use the website to see a full list of stockists and follow Lucky Cat on Instagram.

Vegan cafe in Norfolk market town

The market town of Harleston in Norfolk has a new vegan café and it looks sensational!

Hungry Cat Vegan Cafe is a brand new vegan café/deli in Harleston and they are bringing vibrant, colourful, and delicious food to the local population.

The irresistible menu contains wraps, burgers, toasties, panini, smoothies, teas, coffees, cakes as well as take home treats such as cheeses, meats, chocolates, sour cream, cooking cream and whipping cream.

Visitors can fill up on alcoholic drinks including wines and beers in addition to unique super food lattes.

The café is making a name for itself thanks to its savoury plates including scrambled tofu on toast, mushrooms on toast, and the stunning mezze platters. The specials board showcases a rotating menu with standouts including beetroot salad with hummus, pasta, vegetable bake, lasagne, and sweet potato with lentil bake… and don’t forget the sausage rolls and pies.


Of course everything is 100% vegan.

Razz from Hungry Cat sent me some details to make it easier for you to visit:

OPENING TIMES – Tuesday until Friday 9am – 4:30pm. Saturday 9am – 4pm. Sunday 9am – 3pm. Closed on Mondays.

PARKING AND LOCATION – Harleston has a lot of free parking, the closest to the café is at the East of England Co-op supermarket behind them. Take the first road on the left after the café and drive directly into the East of England Co-op. You will only have a two minute walk to the cafe. Hungry Cat is at 25 The Thoroughfare, Harleston IP20 9AS. Click here to see the exact location thanks to Google Maps.

You can follow Hungry Cat on Facebook and Instagram.