London can you wait?

Exclusive vegan test kitchen in London

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Ooh, I love an exclusive dining engagement.

Street food superstars SpiceBox are gearing up for some big changes and developments to impress London, but in the meantime they are doing some important recipe development with a residency in Walthamstow.

From Friday September 21 until Sunday October 21, 2018, SpiceBox will be running the SPICEBOX TEST KITCHEN at the Hornbeam Cafe in Walthamstow.

The café is located just south of Walthamstow Central station and you can see the exact spot thanks to Google Maps.

Be sure to follow SpiceBox on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep updated with the test kitchen menus and future developments!

FGV all over London

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In case you have missed the news, Fat Gay Vegan is a London wide concern these days!

I have so much market news and am thrilled to announce that you can now eat and shop in Hackney all weekend long as Hackney Downs Vegan Market becomes a Saturday AND Sunday market.

In addition, I am launching Fat Gay Vegan at Venn Street which is our own weekly Saturday vegan market alongside the traditional Venn Street Market.

This is all kicking off from Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 September, 2018.

You can RSVP to the Facebook events for Hackney Downs Vegan Market and Fat Gay Vegan at Venn Street.

You can see the full trader line up for all markets online here.

Yay for vegan markets! Yay for independent vegan business!

Vegan restaurant gets a new London location

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A short while ago I posted about a new vegan restaurant on Brick Lane called Buffalo.

The food got some great reviews but they shut up shop pretty soon after opening. The location was not suitable for some reason but all is not lost.

I just had word that Buffalo is re-opening in Hackney!

This is what founder Stephen had to say to me:

Buffalo’s re-opening will be early October 2018! We have the lease for 6 months which hopefully will become permanent. The menu is expanding to include our burgers, extended list of homemade sauces and toppings, extra options for fries, and a new tapas menu. We are taking over the space recently used by The Brook Social.

Great news!

You can follow Buffalo on Instagram.

Vegan salon in Hackney

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Hey friends.

Did you know about the vegan hair salon and barber in Hackney Central?

As I noted when I originally shared this photo on my Instagram account, Whip is located directly across from the Temple of Seitan shop on Morning Lane.

Everything the salon uses is vegan including colours, treatments, and shampoos. To get a cheeky look inside the salon, check out my original post on Instagram and click through the images.

You can follow Whip on Instagram.

Yay for vegan hairdressers!

BREAKING NEWS: Hackney Downs in vegan world first

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This news is too exciting to keep to myself any longer.

I am thrilled to announce that Hackney Downs Vegan Market is set to become the world’s first full weekend vegan market.

Yes, that’s right. The market will be trading on Sunday as well as Saturday each week!

Hackney Downs Vegan Market has become known for being the friendliest market in London.

Starting as a one-off Festive market a couple of years ago, the market then experienced runaway success as a monthly market and enjoyed attendee numbers in the thousands. The crowd numbers were so good that we had to make the market a weekly event in order to control crowds.

The demand was certainly there so Hackney Downs Vegan Market became the first weekly vegan market in the UK.

Located at Hackney Downs Studios E8, the market has become well known as a destination for the best vegan street food in London. Many of our traders have used the market to springboard into bigger business ventures and we are proud to support independent traders on their journeys.

The popularity of the market means there is immense interest to trade with us and our waiting list currently holds more than 400 traders.

There is only one way we can start to give more traders an opportunity and that is to expand the market into Sunday. Hackney Downs Vegan Market will be the world’s first full weekend vegan market!

We look forward to welcoming you on September 16, 2018 for the first Sunday version of our market and we hope this gives many more of you a chance to spend time at the world’s most-loved vegan market.

Commencing Saturday 15 and Sunday 16, 2018 Hackney Downs Vegan Market will be a full weekend market, opening from 11am until 5pm on both days.

The market will be open every Saturday and Sunday.

I’m not sure where else you need to be each weekend. Our market has got BOTH days sorted for you with burgers, beer, cakes, cheeses, and so much more. Don’t forget that the Temple of Seitan operated TEMPLE GOODS vegan café is on site at the market and open all weekend with brunch, coffee, tea, and gorgeous baked treats.

Stay tuned for more details and follow me (Fat Gay Vegan) on Instagram. This is where I share trader and food line-ups for the market each Friday ahead of the weekend.

Extra note: my second weekly vegan market taking place in Clapham is commencing on Saturday September 15, 2018. Fat Gay Vegan at Venn Street is a 10-stall market running alongside the original Venn Street Market every Saturday. Read more here.

HUGE vegan croissant giveaway

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Do you like free vegan things?

How about free vegan croissants?!

Get along to Hackney Downs Vegan Market this Saturday September 1, 2018 where I will be giving away 1,000 vegan croissants!

The very friendly Free From Italy have kindly donated a HUGE amount of their Probios vegan croissants for me to give away for free at our market this week.

The croissants are individually wrapped and perfect for an on-the-go snack, to take to work or picnics.

I will be handing out several hundred in both Organic Whole Wheat and Spelt varieties. Even though I have a lot to hand out, please get to the market early as there is no purchase necessary to get them for free and there isn’t really a limit on how many you can take. However, I will probably get a bit annoyed and mouthy if you try and take too many. Be decent about it!

The croissants, which are usually available in Chocolate, Spelt, Wholemeal and Savoury flavours, are normally sold in packs of 5 individually wrapped portions and ready to eat.

If you can’t make it to the market but would like to buy your own vegan croissants, you can do so online at the Free From Italy website and Ocado. You can follow Free From Italy on Instagram.

The line up for the market is sensational, including a first time appearance by legendary vegan bakery Ms. Cupcake. See full details here. We open at 11am until 5pm and are located at E8 2BT.

British Library goes vegan for a day

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The British Library is embracing veganism by offering staff and visitors an exclusively all-vegan food and drinks menu at its Kings Library Café this Thursday (August 30, 2018).

The world’s oldest library is supporting The Vegan Society’s Plate Up for the Planet campaign that encourages people and businesses to take up to a seven-day vegan challenge.

The King’s Library Café, located in the Kings Library, will be serving dishes such as mock chicken katsu curry, Caribbean jerk tofu and pandan panna cotta, as well as hot drinks with soya milk between 10:45am and 5:00pm.

Louise Davies, Head of Campaigns, Policy and Research at The Vegan Society, said: “We are very excited to have such a respected institution as the British Library promoting the environmental benefits of the plant based diet with a vegan offering at its café.

“With the weight of evidence showing that going vegan is the most significant thing an individual can do to reduce impact on the planet, it’s time people and companies alike took action on this issue.

“We need to be far bolder with our food choices if we are to protect our precious planet, and our Plate Up for the Planet campaign encourages people to do just that.”

Chantelle Nicholson, chef and author of vegan recipe book ‘Planted’, will give a free vegan cookery demonstration at 1pm on the day and sign copies of her book.

The Vegan Society will hold a stall by the café, handing out literature and giving out flavoured roasted peas from Brave Foods to people who sign up to their seven-day planet-changing challenge.

You can find the café by the King’s Library, located on the first floor of the British Library.

You can see the exact location of the library thanks to Google Maps.

Vegan ribs feast night

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Gorgeous London event space 10 Cable Street is excited to be collaborating with Lazy Boy Kitchen to give you this fun night of vegan ribs and trimmings.

Gather around a table and tuck into some great food, eat with your hands, get messy and just have fun!

This event is the third outing of the always sold out vegan ribs night and is taking place on September 14, 2018.

The menu looks amazing:

  • Jackfruit Ribs
  • Smoked Homemade BBQ Sauce
  • Mac & Cheese with Bacon Bits
  • BBQ Pitt Beans
  • Cheeze & Jalapeno Corn Bread
  • Whole roasted potatoes
  • Corn on the cob
  • Salads
  • Sharing Dessert

Lazy Boy Kitchen is a London vegan pop-up kitchen creating USA-style plant-based comfort food classics, such as their Mac & Cheeze made with homemade cashew cheeze sauce and Brizket made with a homemade slow cooked BBQ sauce.

Click here to book a ticket for this one night only feast.

Extra news: Lazy Boy Kitchen will also be appearing at Hackney Downs Vegan Market on Saturday September 1, 2018.

London vegan restaurant gets an overhaul

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Loving Hut in Edgware, London has long been a favourite eating destination for people in the capital looking to eat with compassion.

The restaurant (run by followers of the teachings of Supreme Master Ching Hai – Google it if you wanna know) has been serving delicious vegan savoury food for years and favourites include mock meats, noodle dishes, and flavoured rice.

I was planning a trip to Loving Hut Edgware a few days ago when I discovered that it no longer exists, but has been remodelled and renamed.

Zen Buddha still sits at 236 Station Road but has enjoyed a makeover. The restaurant has been polished to look more modern and new booth seating has been added.

The people working in the restaurant are the same and, thankfully, the food is still the same delicious crispy goodness I know and love.

Check out my most recent meal below and see the exact location of Zen Buddha online thanks to Google Maps.

Vegan Italian restaurant in east London

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This news is ALL OVER the vegan Internet, so you might have already heard it.

Antonio’s Kitchen is a brand new vegan Italian restaurant that has opened in Bethnal Green, London.

The food business has been trading at various locations over the past few years, but this restaurant is its first permanent home. It is just a few steps from Cambridge Heath train station and around the corner from The Gallery Cafe.

The menu at Antonio’s is stuffed solid with Italian classics such as piadina flatbread, calzone, and pasta.

You can see the exact location of Antonio’s Vegan Italian Kitchen thanks to Google Maps. Be sure to follow them on Instagram.