Itadaki Zen is a unassuming legend on the London vegan scene.
Not a lot of people know there is a vegan Japanese restaurant just a few minutes walking from Kings Cross Station, but the people who do know are unwavering fans.
Jump on any review site and the comments are almost universally glowing.
You can follow the restaurant on Instagram to stay updated with their food adventures.
But I’m not here today to simply remind you about the legendary vegan restaurant, I’m really here to let you know about a product they are selling that I think you will love.
Itadaki Zen is now selling jars of ramen sauce and you can order for delivery or buy in person!
You can choose from the miso based sauce or the spicy version. I was extremely fortunate to have been sent one of each by the restaurant and I am excited to try.
I adore ramen and I’m happy to have the gruelling broth process taken care of by Itadaki Zen. These sauces look simple to use and are packed solid with tasty ingredients such as ginger, garlic, dates, and sesame oil (plus lots more!).
You can buy these ramen sauces from the Itadaki Zen online shop, or from Natural Natural supermarkets around London.
There is a new low waste store in the Holloway area of London.
Guess what, again?
It is called Kilo.
Guess what for the final time?
They sell frozen pies by Young Vegans and frozen vegan chicken meals by Marli’s Kitchen. Yes, you can buy take home frozen vegan food from two of London’s most-celebrated businesses.
It’s no secret that I adore the food of Arancini Brothers.
The vegan food chain in London are one of the best places to get consistently great (and tasty!) food around the UK capital.
Their arancini-based burgers are exquisite and they serve up what are probably my favourite fries in the country, so I am intrigued by the latest addition to the Arancini Brothers menu.
The kebabs are available at the Kentish Town, Dalston, and Maltby Street locations with delivery of the new items on the apps from next week.
Choose from two flavours: Lemon Herb Chick’n or Spicy Chick’n.
Both are served with paprika fries, fresh cut salad, risotto balls, eggplant sauce, and the special Arancini Brothers mayo. A plate with two skewers is priced at £7.95 while three skewers will set you back £9.45.
Have you ever been hanging out in the Battersea region of London and thought, “Gee, I’d love some What The Pitta food right about now”?
Well, guess what?
What The Pitta has a delivery kitchen that has just opened in Battersea!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDW0CwiJcie/
Opened from Saturday August 1, 2020, the Battersea kitchen from the winner of the Kebab Awards 2020 for Best London Takeaway will be open Monday-Thursday 5pm-10pm and Fri-Sun 12pm-10pm.
The Battersea kitchen from What The Pitta will be delivering exclusively via Deliveroo and the map below shows the delivery radius.
As you can see, large parts of Brixton, Kennington, Vauxhall, Balham, Wandsworth, and Clapham are serviced by the new Battersea kitchen.
Extra note: What The Pitta will be opening in Manchester in January!
2020 has been an indisputably tough year for everyone and nobody knows this better than independent vegan businesses.
And the latest news to back this up?
News broke yesterday of legendary London food hot spot Young Vegans Pie Shop closing in Camden.
Cue a flood of tears.
Young Vegans Pie Shop was the pride of its owners, Carla and Marco.
For anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting these enterprising vegans, Carla and Marco are not just a force of nature when it comes to business but also two of the nicest people on the London vegan scene.
Young Vegans pies were always the star attraction when they appeared at Hackney Downs Vegan Market and their Camden Pie Shop was a magnet for plant-based eaters from all over the planet.
I reached out to Carla to ask for her to clarify exactly why her Pie Shop in Camden Market is closing and she said:
Our Pie Shop in Camden Market was great as it allowed us to learn a lot and grow our brand. But with uncertainty around COVID it makes sense for us to pivot and focus on expanding our online store and to make Young Vegans a household food brand.
As sad as we are for the Young Vegans Pie Shop to disappear, we can celebrate the fact that we can still buy their delicious pies via their online store.
Click here to shop for Young Vegans pies for UK delivery and be sure to follow them on Instagram to stay updated on future plans.
This Saturday 11th July, 2020 between 4pm and 6pm, you can join Made In Hackney for an online vegan cheese making class.
The suggested donation for the class is £20 but any donation amounts will be accepted accepted. All money raised will be used to provide free healthy eating cookery classes for community groups across London.
The class will take place via Zoom with details being provided via email (usually the day before the class).
Let vegan cheese producer Bruna Oliveira show you how to whip up a quick, easy and delicious cheesey dish from 100% plant-based ingredients. You’ll also discover how to create the amazing textures, flavours and health benefits of raw, fermented nut cheese.
In this class you will learn how to make:
A quick, easy and nutritious Vegan Parmesan
A delicious Plant Powered Mac n Cheese
A gorgeous Fermented Almond Ricotta with herbs (ready to eat within 48 hours)
About Bruna
Bruna Oliveira is the founder of London Nut Cheese Co and studied Naturopathy and Naturopathic Nutrition at CNM London in order to pursue her passion for healthy and natural living. Bruna loves creating delicious recipes with the aim of inspiring people to transform their lives through making positive changes in their diet.
Fee: Suggested donation £20 but any donation amounts accepted. All money raised will be used to provide free healthy eating cookery classes for community groups across the capital.
INGREDIENTS LIST
300g ground almonds
300g blanched almonds (or otherwise cashew nuts or sunflower seeds, but bear in mind sunflower seeds have quite a strong flavour)
1 pot nutritional yeast
15g garlic powder (or otherwise fresh garlic to taste)
Sea salt
Dried oregano
Whole grain or gluten free pasta (like penne)
½ head broccoli
½ head cauliflower
200g raw cashew nuts (whole or pieces)
500ml plant based milk
50g tapioca flour (or cornflour)
1 small jar roasted red peppers (or use tomato paste to add flavour)
30ml olive oil
15ml miso paste (optional)
1 lemon
10g mustard powder (or use regular mustard)
10g onion powder
5g smoked paprika
15ml apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
1 clove garlic
1 vegan probiotic capsule (any vegan probiotic capsule with at least 1 billion CFU. If your capsules contain less you can use 2 capsules instead of one).
1/2 bunch parsley (optional)
EQUIPMENT LIST
2 medium bowls
1 small bowl
Blender
Cooking pot (large)
Pyrex dish (large)
Sieve
Muslin cloth/nut milk bag/cheesecloth
Measuring spoons and cups
Click here to discover more info about the class and Made In Hackney.
Will’s Vegan Store is already famous for making and selling cruelty free footwear, as well as ethical clothing.
And they have now introduced their new Grocery Box in order to make good quality, sustainable vegan food available to more people.
⚪All your vegan essentials delivered to your door ⚪Quick & easy delivery to UK & Europe ⚪Simple fair prices – check them out! ⚪Add as many different items as you like (10 items min) ⚪Delivered to you through their plastic free carbon neutral supply chain ⚪Zero food waste, working with local food banks
There are almost 1000 different products to fill your box up with, from the Mr Organic range to sacks of organic British quinoa.
Choose from your favourite brands and discover the new names, co-operatives and farms Will is introducing to you. You can even save your favourite products for easy re-order.
Will’s Vegan Store has ability to deliver parcels across the UK and Europe.
There is free shipping for Blue Light Card holders, just visit their website and search Will’s Vegan Store for your code.
MOTHER launches organic, plastic-free groceries + homemade produce boxes for delivery across East London
Hackney Wick-based MOTHER has continued to serve customers during isolation via a takeaway and collection hatch plus delivery via Deliveroo and UberEats.
To ensure that the local community can enjoy organic, sustainable and ethically-sourced produce at home MOTHER has now launched plastic-free boxes of pantry goods, expanding on the current range available in their zero waste store.
Theessentials box (£35) features organic oats, pasta, lentils, rice, flour, tinned goods such as chickpeas and tomatoes, sourdough, ManiLife peanut butter, homemade pesto, bananas and more.
The deluxe box (£85)features all of the above plus quinoa, chia seeds, cashews, almonds, avocados, kombucha, granola, homemade produce including carrot salmon, plant-based cream cheese, cold pressed juices, brownies and much more.
You can also add acoffee lovers pack (£8.50) of Machina Vox Pop blend and Oatly barista mylk to make the perfect flat white or cappuccino at home.
MOTHER is also working with their vegetable supplier to provideorganic UK-grown veg boxesdirect to customers doors. The boxes feature a range of UK-grown, seasonal vegetables and apples (£12.50 – £20).
Both the coffee lovers pack and veg box can be added to either pantry box for a reduced rate.
All pantry and veg boxes come with recipes written by MOTHER’s head chef Tarryn, showing how best to use store cupboard essentials during isolation.
We want to use this time to help educate people about sourcing seasonally and ethically and how to cook from scratch – for their own health, and the wealth of the planet.
Delivery is available across east London, with the radius expanding if there is demand. More information available online at mother.works.
Vegans. This is your chance to use your compassionate shopping powers for good.
It is emergency time for legendary London vegan bakery, Ms. Cupcake.
As I mentioned a short while ago on my blog, the UK’s first 100% vegan bakery has decided to shut doors forever. If you missed it, you can read my emotional post online here.
Mellissa Morgan and the Ms. Cupcake business have been on the frontline of veganism for a decade and without her efforts, we would have experienced a very different march forward.
Mellissa pushed boundaries as an independent vegan business owner and showed just how much demand there was for plant based foods. Being inundated with vegan food in 2020 is thanks to pioneers just like Ms. Cupcake.
So they are shutting down, but there has been even more devastating news for the bakery and Mellissa just two weeks out from closing date.
The business was booked to appear at the huge Vegan Life Live show in London this weekend (March 14 and 15, 2020) but with last minute notice, the vegan mega show was cancelled due to concerns about large events contributing to the spread of coronavirus.
While this was obviously an extremely tough decision for the show organisers, this has left Mellissa and her vegan bakery holding thousands and thousands of pounds worth of extra stock that was destined to be sold at the show.
Mellissa told me:
We are desperately trying to close on a positive note, but the idea of all of these products going to waste is heart wrenching for the whole team who has been working so hard. Financially, it is quite disastrous for our small business.
Vegans, this is where we need to do one last act of support and compassion for someone who has done so much for us.
Go the the Ms. Cupcake website NOW and up until March 20, 2020 and order delicious vegan cakes and treats to be delivered to your home or office.
You can choose from four categories of sweetness:
Vegan tray bakes
Vegan cookie sandwiches
Vegan brownies
Vegan American-style cookies
Click here NOW to buy one last big bundle of vegan goodies from this legendary vegan business. Help them go out on a high and with a few less bills!
Buy treats for your home, your workplace, a neighbour, a loved one, someone you are trying to expose to veganism, and most importantly for yourself.
If we can join forces to send as much love and cash in the direction of the Ms. Cupcake bakery as possible, we might just be able to help them have a smile on their faces as the doors shut for the final time.
Order from the online store now or before March 20, 2020 for delivery in the UK or for collection in store.
If you can make it along to the shop in Brixton before it closes, please note they have extended their opening times to include Mondays. This means they will be open EVERY SINGLE DAY until March 29, 2020.
Extra note: you can also order a signed copy of the best-selling Ms. Cupcake recipe book. Already got it? Click here to order another. They make great gifts.
