London can you wait?

London vegan business celebrates 5 years!

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Bow down.

The revolutionary, trailblazing and pioneering Ms Cupcake vegan bakery in Brixton, London is celebrating its five year anniversary tomorrow (FGV was at the grand opening back in 2011).

Can you even imagine the energy, dedication and hard work required to not only keep a London business open for five years, but to make it thrive? Mellissa Morgan has succeeded and thrived by committing herself to her business wholeheartedly.

To truly understand how hard Mellissa has worked, take a moment to reflect on your own life during the past five years. You will have endured hardships, stress, possibly health concerns, the daily grind of general life and countless other confronting situations.

Now add to this the running of an independent business with your own money, being responsible for the livelihood of a dozen or so people, writing and promoting books, launching your products into a nationwide retail chain as well as being seen as one of the driving forces behind the UK vegan movement.

I’m worn out just typing it.

I was going to ask you all nicely, but have decided to be a bit more direct. Go to Twitter and Facebook to congratulate Mellissa and the Ms Cupcake team for five amazing years, as well as thank them for their tireless dedication to improving outcomes for animals and for kickstarting UK veganism like no one else was able to manage.

ms-cupcake

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Clothing-optional vegan pop-up in London this weekend!

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Post by:

josh panel

Well here’s something you don’t see very often.

This Saturday and Sunday there is a pop-up sauna in South Tottenham with vegan food provided by The Magic Cauldron and the Facebook page for the event says that swimwear is optional! Housed in a converted horse trailer, the sauna is open to all interested people and towels can be hired for £3. Interested yet? If not, then let me tell you about the food.

The Magic Cauldron will be at the pop-up event providing 100% vegan food. Here’s the flyer for the event:

magiccauldronflyer

It all looks and sounds divine:

  • Baked turmeric falafel
  • Red Cabbage Vietnamese Rolls
  • Sweet potato, carrot & courgette fritters
  • Creamy roasted red pepper curry & rice
  • Roasted beetroot & fennel hot lentil salad

So if you’ve always fancied getting your kit off and getting stuck into some tasty vegan food, then this weekend could be right up your alley!

Like The Magic Cauldron on Facebook.

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Boat race and baked potato

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If for some reason you find yourself caught up in the drama of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race this weekend (Sunday 27 March, 2016), you must ensure you take the time to stop in at the Old Ship W6 pub.

I’ve written about how vegan-friendly this pub is previously and the boat race weekend is going to be no exception.

Check out this GORGEOUS baked potato menu that will be available on the day.

potato

Can you see the deliciousness on that menu? Have you been astounded by that unicorn potato riding a rainbow? Did you notice that the menu is 100% vegan? This is all too much!

I would definitely opt for a baked sweet potato with olive oil, smoked tofu, beetroot and spicy sweetcorn salad. How lovely would that be?

How would you combine the ingredients listed above to create your dream potato?

Follow the Old Ship W6 on Twitter.

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London, you are losing awesome vegan food

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Oh no!

Vegan friendly pub kitchen Phil T’s in Camden in closing in a few days. You have just one week to get there and sample some of their outrageously-tasty savoury goodness.

This is the announcement made by the kitchen on their Instagram page:

It is with great regret that we have to announce that Phil T’s at the Black Heart will be closing with our last day being Saturday the 26th of March. Phil has a big new project that will be taking up most of his time and though we wanted to keep the kitchen going we have been unable to find the right person to run it for us. So even though it was a hard decision we have decided that instead of letting the quality of the food and service suffer it’s time to bow out. Thanks to all of you who have come in and supported us and enjoyed our food. Hopefully it’s not the last you’ve heard of Phil T’s but in the meantime we’ll let you know about Phil’s new project once it’s up and running.

Now there’s only one thing left to do and that’s for Phil to get back into the kitchen for the last week and dish out all your favourites and a few daily specials! So if you want to have one last taste of Gourmet Trash Food at its best then you’ve got eight days to eat your fill. Hope we’ll see you there! (Opening Times: 2pm-10pm today, 12pm-10pm Sunday 20th, 3pm-10pm Mon 21st-Thurs 24th, 12pm-10pm Fri 25th-Sat 26th)

Vegan crab cakesBuffalo cauliflower wings with blue cheese dip

Get on it, people.

Crab cakes, buffalo cauliflower wings and more: done vegan and done well until this Saturday and then it’s GONE.

Follow Phil T’s over on Instagram in case they pop again in the future.

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Do you need a vegan job?

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Do you need a vegan job?

courgette+and+corn+fritters

The legendary vegan restaurant in north London called Manna has some jobs on offer.

  • trainee front of house supervisor
  • part-time waiting staff

If you want to know what these jobs entail, you need to contact manage@mannaV.com for more info and to apply.

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They got the message: eggs are not plant based

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A few days ago I wrote about a brand new vegetarian restaurant opening in Notting Hill that was championing the fact that their menu was totally plant-based.

The problem with this statement was that when you got over to their Instagram page, the kitchen staff were busy posting photos of dishes containing chicken eggs.

A bunch of vegans (me included) posted some comments asking what gives with calling eggs a plant-based food.

The Instagram account started deleting its eggy photos and today I noticed they have changed their description to 90% plant-based.

farmacyuk instagram
Now only 90% plant-based

That’s right. ‘Totally plant-based’ belongs to us vegans. Don’t be putting it over the door of a restaurant serving eggs.

Original post about Farmacy here.

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Hottest new vegan burgers in London!

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Post by:

josh panel

A couple of weeks ago I saw something on Twitter about a new veggie burger pop-up at Brick Lane. I reached out to Hot Boyz Veggie Burgers and discovered that they are 100% vegan. Their food looks delicious – check out some pics from their social media channels:

The Hot Boyz are in Town! If your around come down!! Brick Lane Upmarket #vegan #vegetarian #foodies #foods #foodie #foodporn

A photo posted by Hot Boyz Veggie Burger Joint (@hotboyzvburger) on


Hot Boyz Veggie Burgers will be at the Sunday Upmarket in Brick Lane this Sunday from 10am-5pm. Go along, check out their burgers and report back!

Like Hot Boyz on Facebook or follow on Twitter and Instagram.

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Plant based with eggs?

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Much excitement was experienced when I got this photo tweeted at me this morning:


Wow. A plant based bar and restaurant opening this month in London. I was giddy with joy.

Giddy until I went over the the Instagram page of Farmacy.

Their definition of plant based is slightly different to mine in that it seems to include eggs. Eggs aren’t event close to plants, right?

I have commented below one of the Farmacy Instagram posts to ask if they are using ‘real’ eggs. I suppose there is a very slim chance that they have created a plant based food stuff that looks exactly like chicken egg when cooked, but I’m not hopeful.

So it seems you have ANOTHER almost vegan eatery to add to your list, London. Farmacy is set to be located on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill.

Click here to follow Farmacy on Instagram. Scroll past the egg photos, of course.

Extra note: here is a link explaining why we shouldn’t eat eggs, even eggs from rescued birds in backyards.

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InSpiral has a new name

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Remember this post about InSpiral Lounge of Camden maybe closing? Well, it did.

InSpiral as a wholesale food business still exists, making excellent kales chips and raw cakes, but the canal-side café serving food with extremely mixed results is gone.

In its place?

It sounds like exactly the same thing, just with a different name. Now called Campbell’s Canal Café, reports on social media suggest not much has changed with the place. Some of the same staff, still serving cow milk. Mixed reviews on the food.

If you are interested in finding out more about the new incarnation of InSpiral Lounge, you can like the new Facebook page.

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Vegan ice cream shop in London!

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London, I know I haven’t been the kindest to you when it comes to celebrating your vegan credentials. I’ve said you are behind the times. I’ve moaned about your lack of plant-based eateries. I’ve jetted off to all manner of glamorous locations in order to have my compassionate consumer needs met.

And now you do this. I feel so guilty, like I didn’t believe in you.

On Wednesday March 2, 2016 you are getting your very own 100% vegan ice cream, froyo and shake shop right in the middle of Soho. Can you handle this news?!

Yorica! is a revelation. This Wardour Street space is set to serve decadent ice cream flavours, mountains of toppings, frozen yoghurt tubs and some of the most outrageous shakes you will see anywhere. The toppings include gummy bears, marshmallows, cookies and sprinkles.

Every single thing served by Yorica!, from the cones to the cream, will be vegan. The company is crafting their creamy treats with rice milk and the entire range in store will be nut and gluten free.

Check out some of the photos being posted by the company on social media in the lead up to the grand opening.

Stunning.

Here is what you need to do:

  • Follow Yorica! on Twitter and Instagram
  • Attend the opening of the store this week (location on their website)
  • Take photos
  • Make me insanely jealous by tagging me on social media

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