You think you’ve seen decadent Christmas cakes and treats?
Think again.
London can you wait?
New vegan truffle shop
I suppose weirder things have happened, but this is up there!
A brand new shop selling handmade vegan chocolates and truffles has opened in the unlikely location of Brentford in West London. Brentford is not exactly known as an epicentre of vegan specialty chocolate. Well, until now.
Bianca Márton is the luxury dairy free shop front for a business that started out selling at farmers markets in the local area and Richmond. A handful of the creations contain honey but the huge majority of what is on offer is suitable for vegans.
I am yet to get along to taste for myself but I have heard rave reviews from three separate people and all the flavours listed on the website sound exquisite.
Click here to visit the store online for info on opening times and location.
Goodie bag of glory
My first ever Vegan Coach Trip is this weekend (Sunday December 21, 2014) and I couldn’t be more excited.
We are going to have a blast on our day trip, eating delicious vegan food and supporting independent vegan businesses. This is a rare opportunity for London-based vegans to get out of the capital and see what plant-eaters are doing in other parts of the country. Read all about the trip here.
One of the coolest things about Vegan Coach Trip is the wonderful vegan goodie bag I have assembled for passengers taking part. Every single attendee will be given a bag featuring contents worth more than the actual price of the coach ticket.
That’s right!
By spending £13 (plus fee) on a Vegan Coach Trip ticket, not only do you get an amazing day out but you also get a goodie bag worth just over £30. This is better than good value. You are actually getting paid in vegan goodies to attend this wonderful day out in support of vegan businesses. The treats you get are worth more than the ticket price!
Wanna know what is in the bag?
- One mini cheesecake by the wonderful Tickled Tastebud – get your hands and lips on your very own cruelty-free passionfruit cheesecake – follow Tickled Tastebud on Twitter
- One sample of compassionate skincare products by glorious vegan business Premae Skincare – you can visit their new flagship store in the Whiteleys centre, follow on Twitter and like on Facebook
- Our friends at Moo Free Chocolates have donated one Mini Moo bar featuring vegan honeycomb for each bag – follow them on Twitter and like on Facebook
- Pulsin’ are part of the goodie bags with inclusion of their Orange Choc Chip bars – a tasty inclusion – you can follow them on Twitter and like on Facebook
- Each bag will receive two samples of Orzo Coffee – the caffeine free barley coffee – follow them on Twitter and like on Facebook
- Brand new magazine Vegan Life is making sure each goodie bag will contain the latest issue of their compassionate publication – follow them on Twitter and like on Facebook
- Vegan Tuck Box deliver boxes of vegan treats all over the country and they have kindly donated packs of Ten Acre crisps for our goodie bags – follow Vegan Tuck Box on Twitter and like them on Facebook
- A goodie bag wouldn’t be complete with sweets from Goody Good Stuff – surely the most-loved vegan sweets in the UK – follow them on Twitter and like on Facebook
- Veganuary are helping people go vegan for January and want our passengers to have one of their chunky charity bands to wear or share with a friend – follow them on Twitter or like on Facebook
- Ombar is joining the Vegan Coach Trip party by supplying delicious chocolate for the goodie bags. You can follow them on Twitter and like on Facebook
- Chai tea specialists Happy Happy Chai Tea are including mini bags of their secret chai mix so passengers can make their own delicious cup when they get home – check them out online
- Rebel Kitchen are going to have delicious, irresistible samples of dairy-free mylks in the goodie bags – you can follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook
- Each bag will contain a 10% discount voucher for London’s only vegan boutique and grocery store, Vx – you can follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook
Wow. What a list.
Please take a moment to tell these companies how much you appreciate them supporting this initiative to help independent vegan business.
Let’s recap:
- For just £13 plus booking fee you get a seat on the coach that will visiting the Christmas market at Hatton in Warwickshire, departing from and arriving back to London in Holborn.
- There will be an on board quiz with prizes.
- The Vegan Grindhouse will be serving delicious vegan food at the market, including a special burger meal deal just for our tour group. Read about it here.
- The Blue Lemon is a vegan soap and skincare shop located at the shopping village. They are offering our trip 20% off purchases over £20.
- The shopping village has many opportunities for last minute Christmas present buying, including a clothing department store offering labels up to 70% off.
- You can spend as much or as little time with the group as you like – we won’t make you hang out with us once at the shopping village if you are not keen. We also welcome people attending on their own – it is a great chance to meet people.
Get involved with this incredible day out. Support the vegan businesses of the West Midlands. Have fun. Go shopping. Eat food. Make friends.
Book your tickets now. Click here to book. Please share this blog post far and wide.
Closing time
You have a few days to get your hands on some unique vegan pizza before this west London restaurant closes forever.
Otto of Notting Hill just posted:
Eat vegan with non-vegans
My partner Josh is climbing on board the blogging train today to give you some advice on where to go in central London when faced with dining companions who flatly refuse to go to an entirely vegan restaurant.
Thanks, Josh. Love you. xx
Queer chai
Last minute post for the queer and queer-friendly readers out there. (If you are neither of those things, I’m happy for you to never come here again)
There is a super fun Queer XMAS Fayre being held today (Saturday December 13, 2014) inside the Royal Vauxhall Tavern and I think a lot of you would quite enjoy proceedings.
It is kind of like a huge jumble sale and craft show with handmade goods, secondhand clothes, art and more.
You can see the event website here and the Facebook event page here. The fayre runs between 1pm and 6pm today and organisers will be playing tunes to entertain the crowds.
You might be thinking how this relates to you as a vegan, right?
A brand new Hackney-based hot drinks endeavour is launching at the Queer XMAS Fayre. Happy Happy Chai Tea will be serving their specially brewed concoction, warming attendees on this chilly Saturday and impressing with their mixture of soya milk, black tea, herbs, spices and fresh ginger.
See you there?
Feast your eyes
Last night was a very good night for food lovers.
Everyone in attendance at the first night of my annual vegan Christmas dinner gave rave reviews for the 3-course meal served by The Gallery Café. It was a roaring success.
Want to see what we consumed?
Christmas menu 2014
If you haven’t booked your spot for my annual vegan Christmas dinners taking place on Thursday and Friday of this week (December 11 & 12, 2014), the finalised menu below should have you rushing to buy a ticket.
The Gallery Café team have been hard at work creating the 3-course meal that is set to satisfy.
Read about it below:
Welcome drink
A cup of hot mulled wine to welcome you in from the cold and get the party off to a fabulous start
Starter
White winter root vegetable soup – Celeriac and parsnip creamed and cooked to perfection, with extra parsnip crisps on top.
Main
Hearty roast dinner – succulent slices of handmade seitan, chestnut and cranberry stuffing, roasted carrots, crunchy potatoes, red cabbage sweetened with raisins, sprouts with facon and red wine gravy.
Dessert
Pudding – traditional Christmas pudding topped with irresistible brandy cream.
Tickets for the dinner are priced at just £25 plus booking fee.
You can book one of the final spots by clicking here.
The bar will be selling vegan beer, wine and cider all night plus other options including tea, coffee and juice. The entire venue will be 100% vegan for these events.
NYE with FGV
Party people have been approaching me for weeks wanting to know what I have planned for the biggest night of the year.
Well, here you go.
NYE with FGV 2014/2015 is ready for blast off.
What a day!
Today was intense.
I work with Fry’s Family Foods and one of my jobs is to help run stands and exhibits at shows. Today marked the return of the Animal Aid Christmas Fayre to Kensington Town Hall and I got to take Fry’s to the masses. It was intense.
The event was packed solid with thousands of compassionate people, all jostling to get some tasty food and support the animal charities in attendance. Animal Aid do a faultless job putting this event on and I think it would be lovely if you followed them on Twitter.
It was a wonderful day full of happy faces. I was completely worn out from running the stand for Fry’s but the endless stream of friendly greetings from the crowd kept me on my toes and feeling upbeat.
I am indebted to the incredible volunteers from Animal Equality who helped with staffing the Fry’s stand. I honestly could not have done it without them. Please follow this fabulous group on Twitter.
Another crucial component of the day was Sara of Pomodoro E Basilico. Sara cooked from 9:00am until 4:30pm non-stop so we had delicious bolognese to hand out to hundreds and hundreds of people. She was a powerhouse and you should all follow her food business on Twitter.
Now I need my bed. I’m worn out.
You can also follow Fry’s Family Foods on their UK Twitter account.