London vegan news, reviews & events
You London vegans are so greedy.
You are not satisfied with being able to eat vegan fish and chips in multiple locations. Having a vegan beer festival doesn’t seem to quieten you. Two huge monthly parties in the shape of London Vegan Drinks and London Vegan Potluck leave you wanting more events. More vegan cake companies than you can keep track of isn’t enough.
OK. Let’s see if this scratches that vegan itch.
Announcing a vegan art competition!
Here is a treat for you that requires very little reading. This post is super heavy with photos from my visit to the Natural and Organic Products Europe show that took place over the weekend at London Olympia.
It took me almost five hours to see everything and I was overwhelmed by the huge number of vegan companies and products on display.
The photos below don’t even come close to detailing the full range of cruelty-free goods at the event. I decided to include some of my favourites as well as brand new products showcased.
Is there anything that catches your attention?
My giant Mexican dinner party taking place in east London is just a few weeks away. UNA CITA is a 50 person, 3 course party featuring Mexican pop music, visuals on a big screen and a welcome cocktail that will impress.
May 9, 2014 is going to be a day for the vegan eating history books.
I popped over to the venue tonight (The Gallery Cafe in Bethnal Green) for a test run of the main dish and is was nothing short of spectacular. Check it out below.
The plate features three corn tortillas filled with mouthwatering ingredients and a mound of chipotle rice in the centre. I literally pounced on my plate.
**Ingredients are supplied in part by Cool Chile Co. Follow them on Twitter where they will be giving away a pair of tickets to this event**
The three vegan tacos feature:
Everyone on the testing team tonight was blown away by the combination of flavours. This plate will be served after a starter of esquites and before a serving of hot, sweet churros with dipping chocolate. I will post photos of the other dishes as we workshop them over the next fortnight.
Buy your tickets for this special event NOW.
Follow The Gallery Cafe on Twitter.
Have you heard the one about the vegetarian food stall on Leather Lane called Killer Tomato? Sorry, there isn’t a punchline as this is no joke.
Get to Leather Lane.
UPDATE As of late 2014, Killer Tomato now serves meat. Read more here*
Do you like a hot sandwich stuffed with hearty filling and smothered in spicy sauce. Yes? Here you go, then. Killer Tomato food stall has got what you want. Owner/operator Matt serves up Mexican inspired, meat free handhelds during the working week on this bustling market street and if you ask him nicely, he will point out his vegan options.
I fell in love with his Drowned Sandwich during my visit. The baguette featured fresh avocado, delectable refried beans with chipotle, crunchy radish and lashings of chile de arbol sauce. Nobody in the UK does a vegan sandwich anywhere near this quality. I would eat it everyday.
It’s a shame the entire menu isn’t vegan (change the record FGV, huh?). Matt’s food is so incredibly tasty and inventive, I seriously doubt anyone would miss the cheese included in some of the sandwiches and salads.
Follow Killer Tomato on Twitter for news of the rotating menu and feel free to ask Matt what vegan items he is serving. He told me he adores interacting with customers and answering questions about his food.
Now drool.
I have been writing this blog for several years and during that time I have always tried to stay on topic. Topic being food and overeating, of course.
But every now and then I like to slip in a little slice of information that means something to my heart and brain, as opposed to my belly.
If you love music and are impressed by other people who devote their lives to music, then you need to get your good self to Camden to check out a brand new store devoted to collectible vinyl. Vinyl Boutique Camden is the creation of UK rockabilly pioneers and legends, Lyn and Boz Boorer.
Lyn and Boz know everything there is to know about rockabilly, psychobilly, neobilly and everything in between and outside the genres. I would feel happy saying what they don’t know about the scene is not worth knowing.
Boz also enjoys a much-celebrated and adored musical relationship with Morrissey, collaborating on some of his finest solo material and heading up stage antics as band leader, guitarist and backing vocalist.
I dropped by the new store in Camden Village Market (shop 231) yesterday to see how things were shaping up. Lyn and Boz were both hard at work putting the finishing touches to their store, while the signage was due to go up ahead of the grand opening this weekend. Mayor of Camden Jonathon Simpson is due to cut the ribbon across the front door at 1pm on Sunday (April 13, 2014) but the Boorers are keen to get proceedings moving faster than that and will feature live music outside the shop throughout the day.
Get down to Vinyl Boutique Camden this weekend and expand your knowledge of good music. You couldn’t ask for finer teachers than Lyn and Boz.
I have been racking my feeble brain for a witty or whimsical way in which to announce this epic news, but I have been reduced to a quivering mess and can no longer think. I’m going to just have to come straight out and say the facts.
The best vegan cakes and desserts in the whole of Europe are now available in London.
If you have been loitering around these parts of the Internet for a few years, you should be able to recall this mammoth post I wrote about irresistible vegan cakes in Barcelona created by the magical company known as Lujuria Vegana.
Their cakes are absolutely peerless in Europe. I am a super fan.
Imagine then my sheer delight/shock/convulsions of hysteria when I was confronted by masses of Lujuria Vegana desserts sitting in the chilled fridges of the brand new Whole Foods Market location in Fulham. I almost fell over.
The range in Whole Foods is staggering in size. You can see by the photos below that I was completely unable to control myself and bought many varieties. I was overcome by a cake buying frenzy.
As far as I can tell, this particular Whole Foods Market is the ONLY place in the UK selling these gluten free and vegan desserts. I had heard whispers of them making inroads over here but this is the first time I have seen them on a store shelf.
Check out my photos (yes, I bought ALL cakes featured). Get to Fulham. Buy many cakes. Be happy.
Follow Lujuria Vegana on Twitter.
It’s Tuesday. Don’t pretend you have anything interesting on. Luckily for you and your early week malady, I have news that will inspire you to leave behind EastEnders as you scuttle into the London night.
There is an incredibly inexpensive vegan supper club taking place in Dalston.
Here is the lowdown.
Vortex Downstairs Café is hosting a pop-up vegan night with guest chef Kate Abildgaard. Kate usually works at the Wild Food Café in Covent Garden but has decided to showcase her food preparation skills slightly further afield for one night only.
Wanna know what is on the vegan menu for tonight?
The pop up dining event runs from 7pm and you will need to phone 020 7923 9532 to make a booking. Oh, I almost forgot about price.
The three course vegan meal will set you back only £12. Yes. You are reading correctly.
Support vegan events. Eat cheaply. Get out of the house!
Chips. Fries. Pommes frites. Papas fritas. Frieten. Whatever name you give to it, sliced potato cooked in scalding oil and dusted with salt is my favourite food of all time. I can’t get enough of it. No seriously, I cannot get enough of it in London.
I need your help.
Where can I buy freshly cooked chips that are vegan in the capital? I don’t want fries that have been reconstituted with lard. I am not interested in thick cut chips that have been fried in the same oil as fish. Please don’t tell me about potato that is covered in chicken-flavoured salt as soon as it comes out of the basket.
I need more vegan chips in my life.
Here are some photos of my favourite chips and fries in the UK. I will be eternally grateful to anyone who can point me in the direction of any London cafes, shops, restaurants or market stalls that will do right by me and potato.
Suggestions below!
Is it completely unrealistic of me to expect something vegan to eat in a vegetarian cafe? I know I’m not going to get full run of the menu but I should be able to eat at least one item, right?
People, meet Orchard Vegetarian Kitchen.
During the week just passed, I agreed to have a business meeting at Orchard on Sicilian Avenue in Holborn. I had never heard of the location even though it is just around the corner from where I have been hosting London Vegan Potluck for more than two years.
Even though the few people I asked about Orchard told me it wasn’t much good for vegans, I approached with an optimistic spring in my step. When I reached the front door and started to read the menu, my spirits deflated.
Can you remember a time when finding vegan cake in London was a struggle? Now it seems you can’t walk down the street without tripping over a piece of dairy-free sponge or accidentally eating half a dozen cupcakes. OK, that last one might be just me… and you can take out ‘accidentally’.
It seems the more cake vendors we get in the capital, the more up-and-coming bakers are inspired to get in on the act. It’s a fabulous win/win situation for fat, gay vegans and other cake aficionados.
The latest cake maker to catch my attention is the super friendly Kirsty of Garden of Vegan. Kirsty is a home baker turned business person looking to impress London with her cruelty-free cakes. She generously hand delivered a bag of her goods for me to sample and asked me to let you all know about her new business.
Here is what Kirsty had to say about getting your hands on some vegan cake:
“We began as wholesale but in an ideal world we want people to order directly from us. We are working on an online order form, but at the moment if people want to order they just email us at gofvegan@gmail.com or contact us via Facebook or Twitter and they can request a menu. Once they decide on what they want, they send us an email, we send them an invoice and they can pay on delivery.”
Kirsty also assured me she is proactively searching for cafes to sell her cakes. If you are a cafe owner or have a local hangout that could benefit from vegan cake, get in touch with Garden of Vegan.
Check out some of their creations below.