London can you wait?

Wanna invest in vegan pizza?

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Ever since I adopted a vegan lifestyle over 20 years ago, I’ve been searching for the best plant-based pepperoni pizza.

We didn’t have a lot of pepperoni pizza opportunities in Australia when I was younger and by the time I got to the UK where they were more popular, I was vegan!

But hey, guess what, people? I think I’ve found the vegan pepperoni pizza of my dreams… and you can invest in the company responsible for bringing it to the UK capital.

NXT LVL PZA is a fast food concept that was pretty easy to fall in love with.

I stumbled upon the NXT LVL pop up restaurant in Soho just over a month or so back and was swept up by excitement and greed. The brand is all bright colours and video game imagery while the menu is 100% plant-based.

The idea of the concept is to give hungry people (like me) the food they desire while doing good stuff for the planet and animals. I saw so many people getting excited about the pizza before they realised it was plant-based and that excitement didn’t let up when they started eating.

The pizza from NXT LVL is extremely tasty.

I think what NXT LVL PZA has got right is not trying to invent the wheel when it comes to ingredients that other people do incredibly well already.

The brand has created partnerships with leading plant-based companies such as Beyond Meat to create pizzas with toppings that can’t be, er.. topped!

This is why the pepperoni pizza has got me all hot and bothered.

The Spice Invaders pizza (see photo above) features the mouthwatering pepperoni slices of Verdino Foods. This is by far the best plant-based pepperoni I have ever enjoyed. My childhood dreams are coming true!

Following on from a trial delivery kitchen near Battersea over the past few months, NXT LVL PZA is ready to take their delicious vegan menu across London via a series of delivery kitchens. I think they plan on opening ten delivery kitchens as a starting point!

And if you like the sound of getting a slice of the action (get it?), you can invest in their expansion via a crowdfunding campaign. Of course you need to know that any sort of investment opportunity carries risk, no matter how much some chubby Australian blogger loves vegan pepperoni pizza.

Click here if you want to discover more info about investing in a chain of vegan pizza kitchens.

You can also follow NXT LVL PZA on Instagram.

Extra note: keep a close eye on my social media announcements in the coming week. I love NXT LVL so much, there might just be an FGV pizza party sponsored by the brand coming to London and you will definitely want to be a part of it.

Special vegan Valentine’s dinner in London

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If you know anything about vegan food in London, you’ll be aware that Essential Vegan is one of the best places to get plant-based cuisine in the city.

Vanessa has established her vegan Brazilian food business as a real leader on the food scene over the past few years and now you can celebrate Valentine’s Day 2022 with a special set menu.

Tapioca dice with homemade sweet chili chutney
Palm hearts and plantain moqueca with basmati rice

The 3-course Valentine’s Day dinner is available for one night only at Essential Vegan, inside Dalston Superstore, on Monday February 14, 2022 from 5pm.

The menu is priced at £25 per person and includes:

  • tapioca dice with homemade sweet chili chutney
  • palm hearts and plantain moqueca with basmati rice
  • Brazilian donuts with guava paste

This is an incredible line up of dishes that is going to have you all loved up!

You can choose the time that suits you with bookings starting from 5pm. Click here to make a booking.

The full Essential Vegan menu will also be available on the night, as it is 7-days a week.

If you like the sound of the Valentine’s Day dinner but can’t get along, think about getting along to the Essential Vegan Dalston Superstore drag brunch that takes place every Saturday and Sunday between 12pm and 5pm. You need to book in advance (same link as above) as this event sells out most weeks.

You can follow Essential Vegan on Instagram.

Dining at Stem & Glory

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HUGE thanks to @stemandglory for sponsoring me to try their current menu today.

This 100% #vegan restaurant is usually an eye-opening and tastebud-pleasing experience, with today being no exception.

The kimchi pancakes and Korean ‘fish’ tacos were packed with flavour. I especially loved the mini blue corn tortillas for the tacos.

The large bowl of Szechuan aubergine (with side of kimchi rice) was a fascinating mix of sweet and spicy tastes.

Before today I’d never heard of Swede gnocchi and I was impressed. The creamy sauce featuring roasted chestnut mushrooms, spinach, and spiced walnuts took it to another level.

The @stemandglory dessert game is no joke, either. Pick from sticky toffee pudding with custard or warm cherry crumble with ice cream. Or be like me and get both.

Get over to stemandglory.uk to book a table at the London or Cambridge locations of @stemandglory and watch for a second London location soon.

Take a look at the Instagram video below to see all the delicious dishes!

Veganuary at Danish bakery

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As far as Veganuary menus go, this Danish bakery chain has torn ahead of the competition in the UK.

It’s that time of the year when us vegans get inundated with extra options. There are so many plant-based options in January it can be tough to stay on top of it all.

@oleandsteenuk sponsored me to come along to try their Veganuary menu and I was blown away.

The passionfruit slice was heavenly and mousse-y and I want ten more. The berry slice was just as delicious.

I slurped every last drop of the curried sweet potato and coconut soup.

Toasted focaccia sandwich with nduja paste, cheese, and spinach? Perfect.

And… the absolutely stunning raspberry and almond swirl pastry. My life is never gonna be the same. It is buttery and creamy and flaky and my new best friend. I ate two of them.

@oleandsteenuk has 15 London locations and one in Oxford.

Big thanks to @oleandsteenuk and their PR team for the invite.

Watch my Reel from Instagram below!

Temple of Seitan in the North

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I’ve been helping legendary London restaurant Temple of Seitan for a little while now and the most common comments I see from customers when I’m hanging around their social media have to do with the North of the UK.

People really want to see a Temple of Seitan location up North.

I’m sorry if I got you excited and made you think there is now a full location of the famous food chain in the North, however you can buy and eat Temple of Seitan in Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool as part of their collaboration with Yard & Coop.

Yard & Coop is not a vegan restaurant chain, so please use caution if you go sniffing around their website. You could stumble across animal-derived foods.

The vegan offerings however ARE gorgeous-looking and they all use Temple of Seitan chick’n.

Visitors to Yard & Coop can choose between:

AbraKEBABra – seitan with sweet pickled cabbage, diced tomato, minted yoghurt, chilli sauce, pickle chilli and crisp fries wrapped in pitta. All Veganuary dishes are served with a portion of fries

Karen’s Doing Veganuary – Temple of Seitan tenders accompanied with crispy bacon, street slaw, lettuce, tomato, BBQ sauce and vegan mayo

Massive Vegan Cock Burger – a 12″ plant-based version of the original Yard & Coop Massive Cock dish. Standing at 30cm tall, piled high with Temple of Seitan tenders, 2 hash browns, salt and pepper cauliflower, and street slaw. There’s also vegan bacon, cheese slices, lashings of chilli and mint yoghurt, iceberg lettuce, fresh tomato, gherkins, and red onion topped with a seitan wing perched on top. This monster is all crammed within a vegan brioche bun with loads of fries.

These Veganuary specials will not be around forever (until February 6, 2022) so if you are interested, get along to Yard & Coop in Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool ASAP.

You can get all store location info as well as links for ordering delivery on the Yard & Coop website.

You can follow Temple of Seitan on Instagram.

Now, let’s keep hoping for that permanent Temple of Seitan location in the North!

Halo Burger and Yard Sale Pizza

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Yard Sale Pizza has a new collaboration vegan pizza!

In celebration of Veganuary, the pizza shop has launched a vegan cheeseburger pizza in partnership with burger joint, Halo Burger. Additionally, as part of their Stuffed Crust Mondays, Yard Sale Pizza will be launching a very special vegan stuffed crust Margherita for January only. 

Yard Sale Pizza and Halo Burger are celebrating a month of plant-based eating in a big way. You Had Me at Halo is a fully vegan creation which will feature Beyond Meat burger patties, gherkins, melted American-style vegan cheese, vegan mozzarella, jalapeños and diced onions, finished with Halo Burger’s signature sauce. The mozzarella comes courtesy of Hackney-based vegan cheese purveyors I Am Nut Ok, which has been developed in direct collaboration with Yard Sale Pizza co-founder and director Nick Buckland to be the perfect melting mozzarella for pizza, and is used across Yard Sale’s signature vegan pizza offering.

You Had Me at Halo will be available from 5th January until 1st February and will be priced at £12.50 for a 12” (or £23.50 for 18”) The pizza will be on offer at all Yard Sale locations for delivery and collection, and for dine-in at their Crofton Park, Crystal Palace, East Dulwich, Hackney Road, Leytonstone and Finsbury Park locations. A gluten free version will also be available, meaning everyone’s invited to get in on the action. 

Halo Burger are popular producers of vegan junk food including burgers, pink salt fries, and soft-serve ice cream. Originally based in London, with branches in Shoreditch and Brixton, the brand has since expanded outside of the capital, with a Bristol location. 

Speaking about the collaboration, Ross Forder, Founder of Halo Burger said, “Halo Burger has always been committed to perfecting the taste of vegan treats and we admire the Yard Sale Pizza team for their shared commitment to leading the charge when it comes to high-quality plant-based eating. We’re excited to be celebrating Veganuary with them with this limited edition pizza.”

Co-founder and director of Yard Sale Pizza, Nick Buckland, added, “It’s very important to us at Yard Sale Pizza that our vegan offerings aren’t just great vegan pizzas, but they’re banging pizzas that happen to be plant-based. Veganuary provides the perfect opportunity to do something special so we’re thrilled to be hooking up with our friends at Halo Burger to make a plant-based cheeseburger pizza – the ultimate new year treat!”

While You Had Me at Halo will only be available for January, Yard Sale Pizza’s is serving vegan pizzas forever! The brand boasts a full-time vegan menu featuring three vegan pizzas, a vegan cheese and garlic bread (with their signature Marmite topping as an option), and a vegan ice cream sandwich featuring cashew ice cream, smoky salted caramel and a corn and miso cookie.

Visit Yard Sale Pizza online. 

You can follow Yard Sale Pizza and Halo Burger on Instagram.

Raising money for vegan community kitchen

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Made in Hackney is a legendary vegan kitchen dedicated to feeding vulnerable and at-risk Londoners.

If you don’t know about their amazing cooking classes and community outreach, click here to read all about them.

The biggest news for the charity is the fundraising campaign just about to come to a close. How much money does Made in Hackney need to raise for 2022?

£150,000 and they are about 70% of the way to the target.

This money will help Made in Hackney make delicious and nutritious meals, as well as deliver them to households around Hackney.

To help raise awareness of the fundraising campaign, I am having a chat with Made in Hackney founder Sarah Bentley on Tuesday December 28, 2021 at 6:30pm.

If you don’t see this in time, I will share the Live video online.

Please click here to donate some spare cash (if you have it) and help Made in Hackney feed our community.

News podcast December 23, 2021

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Hello to one and all.

This latest podcast episode was recorded on December 23 and has been shared here on Boxing Day 2021.

It might be the last episode of the year OR I might squeeze another one into the final week.

FGV mini news round up December 28, 2022 – final of the year – Fat Gay Vegan

As the year ebbs away join me for a chat about the tough task of going home, Whitney Houston, and vegan food on QANTAS planes.
  1. FGV mini news round up December 28, 2022 – final of the year
  2. FGV’s Mini News Roundup December 7, 2022
  3. FGV’s mini news roundup – news, views, and reviews from the plant-based world and beyond
  4. Fat Gay Vegan mini news roundup March 17, 2022
  5. FGV mini news roundup December 23, 2021 – vegan news and reviews

Thanks for listening.

You can keep up with all my eating adventures on Instagram.

Xmas burger at Temple of Seitan

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You might need to hurry if you wanna get your hands on this one.

With the way the threat of lockdown is hovering over our heads, I’m not sure if shops and restaurants will stay open for the remainder of the year.

And to make it even tougher to grab, this vegan Xmas burger special from Temple of Seitan is available in limited quantities each day until December 23, 2021.

The Kievin McCallister is the Temple version of a chick’n Kiev burger featuring garlic butter, rocket leaves, a seitan fillet, bacon, and a deep fried ‘Camembert’ patty.

Such intense festive flavours.

You can order in stores on via the online ordering system only. This special is not available via UberEats and it has limited daily quantities.

You can also follow Temple of Seitan on Instagram.

And… if you don’t know, I have been working a little bit with Temple of Seitan and I’m telling you that for the sake of transparency.

Gift ideas from vegan boutique

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My buddies Angela and James are the founders and owners of glorious vegan shoe shop and ethical boutique, The Third Estate.

They started the store many years ago in Leeds but for almost a decade they have been serving customers on Brecknock Road, North London.

The store is overflowing with ethical footwear, clothing, accessories, bags, wallets, belts, and gifts.

I recently popped into the store to pick out my top 5 Christmas gift recommendations currently being sold in The Third Estate.

Click on the Instagram post below to watch the short video I made.

What do you think?

In addition to my choices, the store has so many products for people searching for high quality, compassionate gifts.

You can see the exact location of The Third Estate thanks to Google Maps.

Click here if you would like to explore their online store. Shop by December 18 to ensure Xmas delivery!

Follow The Third Estate on Instagram.