London can you wait?

Food at London Vegan Beer Fest

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The 4th annual London Vegan Beer Fest is racing closer and closer.

For many people, the main attraction is of course the wide range of beers available (list coming soon!) while others take the opportunity to catch up with old friends or even make new ones.

In 2016, I predict a brand new typer of punter at the event. The foodie.

Check out the INCREDIBLE menu that will be served on the day, tell me what you are most looking forward to at the event and buy your cheap online tickets here.

rainbow potato

First up is the extremely irresistible Rainbow Potato stand.

Everything is not only 100% vegan on the mini-deli showcase, it is also 100% gluten-free. You will be able to build your perfect meal by choosing from the options below:

Choose 1 of the following: Baked sweet potato – Pink fir potato – Maris Piper potato

Add 1 of the following: Guacamole – Traditional hummus with extra virgin olive oil – Ranch dressing by Follow Your Heart – Sriracha Vegenaise by Follow Your Heart – Extra virgin olive oil with salt & pepper

Choose a further 4 toppings: Spiced sweetcorn salad (with mango, chilli, coriander & pomegranate) – Spiralised courgettini (with mint, lime, cashew crush & red quinoa) – Beetroot (with basil, balsamic & black quinoa) – Spicy smashed cauliflower (with chickpea, chive & coconut cream) – Zingy ginger carrot salad (with rose petal harissa & pistachio nuts) – Roasted peppers (with garlic, fresh oregano & extra virgin olive oil) – Mozzarella shreds by Follow Your Heart – Cheddar shreds by Follow Your Heart

karma wrap

Next we have Karma Wrap. This stand will be serving warm rolled flour tortilla crammed with delicious ingredients.

Choices?

The Naughty Falafeller – homemade falafel, pickled cucumbers & carrots, hummus, marinated white cabbage, fresh mint, parsley and chilli.

Holy Moley Guacamole – braised black beans, Cheddar shreds by Follow Your Heart, jalapeño, plum vine tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, lime, tortilla chips, spicy guacamole, organic sprouts and red quinoa.

Brunch O’Clock – hot sausage, scrambled VeganEgg by Follow Your Heart, hash brown potato, chestnut mushrooms and brown sauce.

Marrakesh Sesh – roasted aubergines & peppers, garlic, cous cous, hummus, coriander spinach, pickled beets and Mozzarella shreds by Follow Your Heart.

burger bar

You can’t not have a Burger Bar at a beer festival, right?!

Check out the varieties on offer:

Mock duck burger – Royal kombu seaweed pesto, organic sprouts and Chinese cabbage

Smoked tofu burger – Cashew cream, ginger garlic, chilli, fresh coriander and rocket

Falafel burger – Hummus, fresh mint, baby gem lettuce, pickled carrot, sliced plum tomato

Beetroot and quinoa burger – Pickled cucumber, ranch dressing, baby mixed leaves and Cheddar shreds by Follow Your Heart

guilty pleasures

Imagine an FGV event without sweet treats? Yeah, right!

The Guilty Pleasures stand will be home to a stunning chocolate, sweet potato and date brownie as well as an amazing array of cupcakes and sorbets.

fruit stall

Last but not least, we have the Fruit Stall. This is where you will pick up Fruit Kebabs, Chilli roasted pineapple with Duppy Share Rum plus Strawberries with coconut cream.

Wow.

If you were at London Vegan Beer Fest last year, I’m sure you’ll agree this year’s food line up is a vast improvement on our set up in 2015. We now have multiple food stands, professional chefs who are used to cooking huge quantities of fresh food and a pub kitchen that is quickly becoming one of the most vegan-friendly in London.

In addition to all these wonderful vegan food stands outside, the entire pub is turning vegan for the day meaning attendees can order food inside or outside The Old Ship W6 safe in the knowledge that it is all plant-based.

Fine food, cold beer, wine, cider, live music, outdoor setting, beer info talks, river views, pet-friendly, family-friendly, gluten free options for food and drink…. I could go on and on.

Online tickets are just £5 plus 50p booking fee. Click here to book.

Tickets on the day will be £8.

You can RSVP and invite friends over on the Facebook event page.

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Temple of Seitan

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There is a new vegan food business in London that has me more than simply excited. I’m absolutely flipping my wig over this stuff!

Can you see that deep-fried, crunchy glory? Look at it!

Temple of Seitan is a street food endeavour that will turn even the most determined frown upside down.

There isn’t much more to say other than they make fried seitan. In fact, they make the best fried seitan I think I have ever encountered on the planet. I had a basket of the good stuff on Friday at the Just V Show and was so thoroughly blown away that I went back for another on Saturday.

You need to follow Temple of Seitan on Instagram to keep track of all the rad events they will be at in coming months.

I love Temple of Seitan and if you want to be happy, you will make them a part of your life. If you have no interest in being happy, forget I said anything and go back to looking at the slate-grey Victorian sky outside your double glazed window.

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All vegan chocolate afternoon tea

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Oh my!

New-to-London vegan café Buttercream Dreams is hosting an amazing afternoon tea event that you do not want to miss if you are in the capital on July 30, 2016.

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The All Vegan Chocolate Lovers’ Afternoon Tea is priced at £15. There will be four sittings across the afternoon and attendees will be treated to a range of treats plus drink choices all with a distinct chocolate angle.

Telling by how many people have expressed interest via the Facebook event page, I think it’s safe to say this afternoon tea will be booked solid.

You need to email Sales@buttercream-dreams.com or visit the store on Camden Road to book a spot.

Hurry!

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Veggie Pret staying open all summer

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A lot of vegans are happy with the selection of animal-free sandwiches on offer at the Veggie Pret pop up shop in Soho.

News sites have been busy telling the world how well the temporary store front has been doing financially and that the vegan options have been some of the best-selling menu items.

Well, it appears the vegetarian version of Pret a Manger is staying around a little bit longer than originally planned. The company announced today that the Broadwick Street vegetarian shop will be staying open throughout the entire summer.

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If you dig a little further into the Pret website, you will find this page dedicated to the animal welfare policies of the sandwich chain.

Now, my intention isn’t to start a shit storm over this but I find this greenwashing a little tough to swallow. Yes, I believe some people within the company are pushing for better treatment of animals and possibly some of the workers are vegan. But I don’t appreciate a corporation using terms like ‘happy cows, happy milk, moo’ when we all know how milk is produced.

Even if a cow gets to strut about a green field all day, she still needs to be forcibly inseminated to become pregnant on time every time in order to be a lucrative milk producer.

And then there are sections of their website on happy pigs who are deliriously ecstatic before being slaughtered for bacon. Or what about the farm bred fish or line caught tuna? Line caught means being flung onto the deck of a boat and then suffocating.

You can all come at me with ‘we should be grateful for what vegan stuff we get’ and ‘a no meat shop in Soho is incredible’ but I’m from the old-school train of thought that victories are hard won, not handed to us. I’m interested by the shop’s success, but I’m not about to allow the rest of the animal-suffering they engage in go unnoticed.

Pret have made this decision to keep this shop open because vegans are making them money. We get this same ‘know your food’ routine from places like Whole Foods Market and we need to realise that these changes are because campaigners have worked hard for decades, vegans make their consumer voices heard and groups such as The Vegan Society talk non-stop to businesses like Pret. 

Shop with them for their vegan options if you choose, but don’t let greenwashing campaigns like this stop you from asking for more plant-based food and less animal suffering. Say thank you for the vegan stuff if you want but follow it up with a ‘you can do more’.

Use your vegan clout. Pret are obviously taking notice.

Extra note: this is not an attempt to shame people who shop at Pret for their vegan options. I do it sometimes when I am in London. Rather it is a post to acknowledge the latest news regarding the vegetarian pop up while asking people to realise we don’t have to stop saying ‘more vegan’ whenever someone throws a plant-based bone our way.

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Jobs in London

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I truly appreciate the work carried out by Made in Hackney. The food justice charity is all about bringing vegan food knowledge, availability and expertise to people in low income, at risk and hard to reach situations.

If you haven’t heard about the project before, you need to get to their website to read about their outstanding work and book yourself in to one of their cooking classes. The money you pay will help Made in Hackney carry on with their vital support work.

If I have sold you on how fab they are, maybe you would also consider working with the group. There are currently two positions looking to be filled with Made in Hackney.

Here are the brief job descriptions lifted from the website.

1) Project Manager – Programmes

£28,000 pro rota – 28 hours/week (4 days)

This is an exciting role leading the key projects and operations at Made in Hackney. The successful candidate will work directly with two other Project Managers, a Project Coordinator (Public Health) a Finance Manager, a Venue Manager, freelance cookery teachers, apprentices and a large network of volunteers whom deliver Made In Hackney’s varied programme of cookery classes.

The ideal candidate will have experience working in a cross section of the social enterprise, charity and/or public sectors, as well as education and/or community health. They will be an experienced project manager, skilled at multi-tasking and will feel as comfortable presenting to a panel of Public Health professionals as getting stuck in with clearing out the compost bin or solving an IT problem. A detailed understanding of, and passion for the health and environmental issues underpinning Made In Hackney’s food policy (local, seasonal, organic, planet based) and mission is essential. Experience/knowledge of food growing and environmental issues preferred.

The experience of working at Made in Hackney is varied, unique and very rewarding.  There is no ‘typical’ day and we are looking for someone who is flexible to work out of the normal office working hours (for example at weekend market stalls etc.) There is plenty of room for the successful candidate to be creative and bring new ideas for developing existing programmes and activities.

2) Newly created vacancy for a Venue Manager 

£24,000 pro rota – 7 hours/week (1 day)

This is a newly created role responsible for organising the day to day kitchen venue and office space at Made in Hackney in Stoke Newington. The ideal candidate will have experience managing a community venue, project or kitchen, (eg. nursery, restaurant) taking client bookings and working in education and/or community health. They will be experienced project managers, skilled at multi-tasking and will feel as comfortable meeting potential new kitchen hire clients as getting stuck in with clearing out the compost bin or solving an IT problem.

The closing date for applying for these jobs is July 15, 2016. Click here to get more information on applying.

Yay for Made in Hackney!

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Gorgeous vegan cake in London

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UPDATE

It has been brought to my attention that this person supplied these photos to me without explaining they did not take them and that they were not even of vegan food. Follow up post coming soon!

END UPDATE

Oh my Gaga!

There is a new vegan sweet treats company starting up in London and you people have got to take a look at this goodness.

stolen photos

Vegan Sweet Porn is a new pop market stall selling some of the finest-looking cake on the island. Can you even stand looking at that cookie shot glass?

You can follow Vegan Sweet Porn on Twitter and Instagram.

There is also some sort of major, super impressive launch party for these vegan cake heroes on July 10, 2016 so click here to get the lowdown.

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Nanabar

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This is a super interesting idea for raising the profile of a new vegan food business.

Thunderclap.

nanabar

A person named Justin is currently drumming up interest in a new vegan project set to open in London. Justin is planning to launch a frozen banana dessert bar called Nanabar and wants to use social media to get word out about it.

The campaign involves asking people to register a social media account and on July 4, 2016 a message announcing the project will be sent simultaneously from all participating Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts.

It’s a smart way of spreading the news of a new vegan business to hundreds of thousands of people all at once.

Click here to hear from Justin, sign up to help spread the word and be part of a unique promotional event for a new vegan venture.

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For art’s sake

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How about flying your vegan flag proudly while at the same time supporting an amazing art show in London?

Check out these details sent in by Louise:

ANIMUS is an international group show exploring human treatment of other animals, as well as the vegan identity and what it means to see with ‘our’ eyes. The aim is to support animals hidden from the public gaze to be seen. Animals will feature in all works, and provide the overarching theme.

exhibition panel

We’re showing some of the most celebrated vegan artists, like Sue Coe (Graphic Artist/UK & US), Jo-anne McArthur (Photographer/Canada), Roger Olmos (Illustrator/Spain), and Amy Guidry (Surrealist Painter/US) whose painting Mother Nature is the featured image for this campaign and will be an exhibit. Also Philip McCulloch Downs (Painter/UK), Matthew Maran (Photographer/UK), and Jana Schirmer (Digital artist/Germany).

To celebrate this exhibition, we are hosting a magical evening at the Private View at Kabaret @ Karamel on Friday July 29, 2016 with speakers, a party later with DJs, and of course the chance to take in the exhibition itself, and mingle with fellow art lovers.

We’ll also be hosting representatives from our supporters: The Vegan Society, and Vegan Life magazine.

The official opening party for this groundbreaking exhibition – the first by Vegan artists- is entry by INVITATION ONLY – which you get when you contribute £10 (or more) to our crowd-funding campaign. A free glass of wine & nibbles are included! Click here to donate & secure your invitation.

We can’t wait for this exciting event and look forward to meeting you there!

Click here for the Facebook event for the launch party and even if you cannot attend, donate now to help this show happen!

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New vegan café in Camden this week!

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London. You are truly becoming a spoilt brat.

Do you remember reading about the drama vegan café Buttercream  Dreams was experiencing in Croydon. You can read about it here, but the short story is owner Lauren needed new premises and was going to have to leave Croydon and mover her business to central London if she couldn’t find something suitable.

She couldn’t find a venue. Sorry Croydon.

Lauren is now set to open the Camden version of Buttercream Dreams  at 126 Camden Road from Thursday 9th June, 2016. Yes, THIS week!

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Before the café opens just steps away from Camden Road train station this Thursday, I wanted to share some of their tasty food photos with you.

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All of the above photos have been featured on the Buttercream Dreams Facebook page, which you should like NOW!

London, get along to support this new adventure for Lauren in Camden.

Croydon, all is not lost for you either.

Lauren has advised she will continue to keep doing a stall at the Surrey Street Market in Croydon and will keep looking for a suitable shop front. When she can find one, Buttercream Dreams will have two fabulous permanent locations.

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Vegan donut stall comes to London!

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Do you want luscious donuts? Not baked donuts that are kinda OK and almost like the real thing, but rather fried donuts with irresistible frostings, glazes and toppings?

London, you need to get friendly with Peanut Butter Bakery.

Lauren runs this baking business out of her home and has just started trading every Saturday at the legendary Boiler House market on Brick Lane.

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How good do they look?

Like the Peanut Butter Bakery Facebook page to keep up with the latest news and get along to Brick Lane this weekend to buy a few delicious donuts.

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