New home for London vegan pizza business

Great news for pizza lovers and vegans who like to hang out in Brixton.

Vegan pizza superstars PickyWops are launching their new kitchen takeover on Thursday February 21, 2019 at The Queen’s Head pub in Brixton.

Want better news? PickyWops is hosting a HUGE party on the night to celebrate the launch and you can buy tickets.

Want betterer news? The Queen’s Head is going vegan and staying vegan for good!

The party will start at 7pm and it’s gonna be aperitivo style. Each ticket gives you entrance, a first drink, nibbles of their food and music all night.

Tickets are moving VERY quickly for this opening night party, so be fast and book online.

Moving on from the opening party, the PickyWops kitchen will be open Tuesday through Sunday each week from 6:30pm until 10pm.

The regular menu will include PickyWops pizza as well as pasta, a burger, vegan fish and chips, and a Sunday roast!

Follow PickyWops on Instagram to stay updated on all the latest news. See the exact location of The Queen’s Head thanks to Google Maps.

Violife launches TV adverts

Violife has long been the champion vegan cheese when it comes to mainstream accessibility and reach.

And now they are taking things to the next level by launching a pair of TV adverts for the UK aimed at showing people how simple it can be to use dairy free cheese.

Check out the adverts below.

London restaurant bookings skyrocket with vegan menu

City Spice in Brick Lane has been awarded for their new vegan menu and their business is booming!

City Spice restaurant was recently named London’s Best Vegan Indian Restaurant option at the prestigious Bangladesh Caterers Association Awards.

The awards are considered to be the ‘Oscars’ of the curry-house awards and City Spice was selected as the winner of their category in a vote involving the 12,000 member restaurants of the Bangladesh Caterers Association.

But what is all the fuss about and why is the restaurant being honoured?

City Spice recently launched Brick Lane’s first ever purposefully-vegan menu in a curry house, resulting in a 170% increase in bookings for the restaurant in the two months following the launch.

Yes, that’s correct. A 170% increase. That’s the power of plants, people!

The Michel-Indian inspired vegan menu comprises of 14 dishes and was perfected after the restaurant attended a culinary masterclass with Michelin-star chef Rupert Rowley in Sri Lanka.

Some of the vegan dishes that grabbed my attention include:

  • Palani Potatoes (£9.95)
    Fresh cubed pieces of potatoes are cooked with zesty cumin seeds and curry leaves, to provide a distinct, medium flavour, exemplified by a thick mouth-watering sauce.
  • Shobji Kufta Bhujon (£9.95)
    Lightly spiced mixed vegetable balls cooked in a spicy sauce with mushrooms, baked tomatoes and capsicum. Garnished with spring onions and coriander.
  • Mixed Vegetable Jalfrezi (£8.95)
    Seasonal vegetable cooked with an original recipe with an emphasis on the flavours extracted from fresh green chillies, fried onions and green peppers.
  • Mixed Vegetable Rogan Josh (£8.95)
    With its distinctive tomato flavour, this is the perfect go-to for newcomers to Indian cuisine. Medium spiced, tomatoes make up the base of this delicious dish, being built up with a selection of fine herbs as well as our own secret recipe, to give the Rogan it’s aromatic flavour.

Restaurant manager Abdul Muhaimen, 19, who created the menu, commented:

“Brick Lane is an incredible institution, but every institution needs a kick up the bum once in a while! Palates are changing, and the street needs to catch up.

While we’re delighted to have been recognised by the BCA, that’s just the tip of the iceberg for our family run restaurant. Since its launch we’ve now sold more than a thousand vegan dishes!”.

The restaurant was even recently featured on ITV News to talk about the runaway success of the vegan menu.

This isn’t the first time the restaurant tasted success in the BCAs. In 2017 the East End restaurant won London’s Restaurant of the Year at the Bangladesh Caterers Association Awards, and Best Asian Restaurant at the Asian Curry Awards.

Click here to see the new vegan menu online. You can see the exact location of City Spice thanks to Google Maps.

Customers can try the vegan menu, which also includes vegan wines, by booking a table. Simply visit city-spice.london/contact, dial 020 7247 1012, or email reservations@city-spice.london to secure your dining experience.

Follow City Spice on Facebook.

FGV received a fee to post this news. 10% of this fee has been donated to water security charity Isla Urbana in Mexico City.

New vegan store in Northern England town

Do you live in, or visit, the northern town of Halifax in West Yorkshire?

Great news. You have a brand new independent vegan business to throw your support behind!

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Leaf is a small, independent business situated inside The Piece Hall in Halifax.

It is stocked with plant-based food, groceries, pantry items, toiletries, gifts and zero waste products.

I used to work in Halifax many years ago and it was tough to imagine something like Leaf popping up, so I can’t tell you how thrilled I am for the people of this town.

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Take a moment out of your day to follow Leaf of Halifax on Instagram.

Buy my book AND support a vegan business

My first ever book was published back in January and I’m here to give you two good reasons why you should by it right now.

Well, one of the reasons is just an OK reason while the second idea is the very good reason.

Idea the first: my book is a fabulous Christmas or festive present to give a loved one. Even if you think the person has little chance of switching to a vegan lifestyle, the book is an engaging read packed with funny and touching personal stories.

There are also plenty of arguments for why we can be kinder by choosing veganism, as well as how we can also make choices to challenge racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, and worker exploitation.

Reason the second and the best reason?

You can buy my book directly from the Shoreditch, London cafe Essential Vegan.

It is crucial that we support independent vegan businesses such as this cafe founded and operated by my dear friends Vanessa and Neni. You won’t find two people working harder to put veganism on the map and their food is sensational.

Grab a copy of Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, drink and live like you give a sh!t from the shelves of Essential Vegan for £8.99 and 50% of this money stays with the cafe.

Yep! You can eat some of the best vegan food in the UK, do some Christmas shopping, and ensure that more of your hard-earned cash is staying in your vegan community.

If you aren’t able to get along to Essential Vegan but still would like a copy of my book, you can order online from Amazon, WH Smith, or Foyles. You can also buy the audio version via Audible.

You can follow Essential Vegan on Instagram.

New vegan bakery for London

One of the most popular traders we have ever hosted at Hackney Downs Vegan Market is LuckyLek.

Nora was always drawing large crowds with her exquisite baked goods and her patisserie items were snapped up quickly by eager fans.

Nora and LuckyLek disappeared from our market lineup a while back but for very good reason.

London has a brand new vegan bakery now that Nora has teamed up with her friend Nama. Get ready to visit Nora & Nama: Vegan Bakery & Deli in Camden.

If you can see the photo above, you will see that Nora & Nama have extremely special menu items and expertly-crafted baked goods.

Customers will discover and adore cakes, celebration cakes, finger food, cookies, bread, canapes, pies, tarts, baked goods, starters, spreads, and gluten free options.

The bakery is located in Camden Market (unit 596-598 Camden Lock) and the grand opening celebration is taking place on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 December, 2018.

Click here to RSVP to the Facebook event for the opening weekend, follow Nora & Nama on Facebook and Instagram, and see their official website here.

 

Special vegan Christmas dinner in London

Are you in London during the week before Christmas and are you interested in delicious vegan food?

Get the facts below and book!

Superstar food creators Phung Kay are staging a very special pop up at Craving Coffee Tottenham this year.

They are serving a four-course meal and the menu sounds sensational. Check it out below:

  • Course 1: Hoisin “Duck” and Yam in Netted Roll with juniper berry, cranberry and plum sauce.
  • Course 2: Chickn & Chestnut bao with pickled daikon.
  • Course 3: Pi Pa Tofu & sage stuffing served in a fried potato bird’s nest served with steamed rice in lotus leaf and braised red cabbage and pan fried brussels sprouts.
  • Course 4: Goji berry & Chrysanthemum jelly with lychee ice-cream and black sesame tuile

I am BOWLED OVER by those gorgeous food photos taken by the talented Sara of Shisho Delicious.

Dates for this very special dinner are from the 20th until the 22nd December, 2018. They have added a new sitting on Thursday 20th at 6pm and only a handful of seats remain for Friday 21st at 6pm.

Click here to check for availability and book.

Follow PhungKay on Instagram.

New vegan sweets delivery company

Are you ready for a fabulous and ethical vegan sweets company that will deliver to your home or office?

You got it!

Liberty Vegan Sweets & Gifts is a 100% vegan, family-run enterprise that has spent the past two and a half years exhibiting at vegan festivals and fairs across the UK with Got No Beef Burger Bar and Liberty Vegan Ice Cream & Beverages.

It was at these events that the family behind Liberty Vegan Sweets & Gifts decided to offer vegan pic ‘n’ mix alongside their soft-serve ice cream.

It was a huge lightbulb moment and they decided to plug the huge gap in the market with a fully vegan and ethical sweet store.

They launched their online store of vegan sweet hampers and pic ‘n’ mix boxes in early November 2018 and the response has been fantastic.

Check out some of these photos!

Liberty Vegan Sweets & Gifts try and do the right thing on top of delivering delicious sweets.

They donate 5% of their profits to vegan-friendly charitable causes, their packaging is fully-compostable, recyclable and re-usable, and they offer a range of gluten/soya free options.

These boxes are the perfect gift for a loved one or even yourself!

You should probably head on over to the Liberty Vegan Sweets website where you can get a special 10% off your first order discount with the code ‘Liberty10’.

You can follow Liberty Vegan Sweets on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

UK’s first vegan social centre opens this week

Great news.

The UK’s first vegan social centre is launching this Friday in Sheffield!

Heartcure Collective is the first of its kind in the UK and Europe, converted from and old warehouse in the centre of town.

Set to feature Vibes Food Co cafe and coffee shop, zero waste shop Zero Hero, ethical clothing store Wild Ones, a library, kids area, and more, Heartcure Collective has been in planning and development for two years.

The centre will focus on animal rights, sustainability and the environment. Through hosting workshops, talks, film screenings and events the centre aims to empower people to create change in the world.

Zero Hero will offer a mixture of essential package-free foods, toiletries and additional products to help the community live more sustainably while Wild Ones will stock ethical clothing and accessories including Heartcure Clothing, wallets and purses made from cork, and the highly anticipated Eden Perfumes.

The centre will have a dedicated kids area with a small selection of books and toys.

The library is packed full with books focussing on animal rights, human rights, feminism, anarchism, and sustainability. There is also a computer with software for video and photo editing for community use.

Heartcure Collective is a non-profit community interest company with all profits helping to sustain the centre and will allow them to host low-cost fundraising events for local charities.

If you are in Sheffield, visit Heartcure Collective on or after Friday November 30, 2018. The opening hours are Tuesday to Saturday 9am-10pm and Sunday 10am-8pm.

Follow Heartcure Collective on Instagram and Facebook.

Vegan pop up supper club in Maidstone

Dear Maidstone.

You have a very special event coming up and I think you should book tickets now.

My dear friend Steph of Ponga Foods is an extremely talented vegan (and gluten free!) chef and she is about to launch a series of pop up food events in Maidstone, UK.

The big launch is a glorious meal taking place on Sunday December 2, 2018 at Baskervilles Coffee House.

Look at this menu:

If you have tried Steph’s food in the past, you will know how sensational it is.

If you are a Ponga newbie, this is your chance to be initiated in style.

Click here to read more about the event and book tickets.

Follow Ponga Foods on Facebook and Instagram to get news of upcoming supper clubs.