I have delightfully-good news for the vegan cake lovers of London.
Remember when I lost my mind over the fact Lujuria Vegana cakes were being sold in Whole Foods Market Fulham? Check this post for all the glorious photos.
Since that blog post, it appears Lujuria Vegana creations have spread to Whole Foods locations all across the capital. On tweeting about seeing them in the Kensington store, I have received responses from people telling me they had also seen them in Piccadilly and Camden.
Toni of Lujuria Vegana had mentioned to me the vegan desserts would be creeping across London later this year, so it appears later is now!
Angela Malik is a celebrated food creator who has just opened a brand new cooking school in West London. This Thursday she is hosting a vegan Chinese food cooking demonstration class where attendees will learn some nifty food prep skills and eat some delicious plant-based food.
Sounds fab and the news gets even more enticing if you read on.
I am just putting the finishing touches together for the first night of the FREE WINONA film season. You know the deal, right? A month of free movie screenings starring everybody’s favourite girl interrupted, Winona Ryder.
If you missed out on tickets for this week’s screening of Beetlejuice, you will want to be extra fast when securing a place for the second instalment on Tuesday June 10, 2014.
It hasn’t even been a year since I first blogged about the glorious vegan food vendor The Mighty Fork so it is with great sadness and shock to find out that the people behind it have no future plans to trade.
London has lost one of its only world class, 100% vegan food providers. The Mighty Fork were a shining light in a slate grey Victorian sky filled with hummus and falafel. Their gourmet dogs were loved by many and the capital is a decidedly less adventurous food landscape without them.
Owner and founder Rita sent the following tweet this morning to her devoted fans via Twitter.
I followed this tweet up with an email to Rita, asking if this really is the end of her vegan hot dogs on the streets of London.
She replied that there are no plans for The Mighty Fork in the future and she has no plans to return to street food. Rita also stated it was important to her to get word out to the people who have supported her business. She loved meeting the thousands of people she served vegan street food to and is thankful for all the new friends she made along the way.
It turns out that the final outing for The Mighty Fork was the roller disco I held to raise funds for Sea Shepherd. I’m glad I had the good sense to eat two of their delicious creations on the day.
Much love to The Mighty Fork for the brief enjoyment they gave to London vegans.
Along with a lot of other west London based vegans, I often complain that not a lot happens for plant eaters on this side of the city.
Well, here is one event.
Angela Malik has just opened a culinary school in Ealing and is set to host a vegan cooking demonstration next week on June 5, 2014. The event will be a chance for attendees to watch a vegan Chinese meal be prepared from scratch before diving in for some tasting.
The event website states that you will observe the creation of wood ear salad with coriander, pock marked old woman’s tofu and stir fried Chinese greens with sizzling oil. Then you will eat it!
The tickets are available now. I would love to hear what this event is like if you go along.
Let’s hope this is just the start of more vegan events in the forgotten western part of the capital.
If you are in London this week and are not attending London Vegan Drinks, I have two questions for you.
Question the first: why the heck not? Question the second: it’s because you are going to this fabulous vegan Italian supper club, right?
My pal Sara is a much-loved food creator and she has once again put together an eating experience for hardcore foodies. Sara has just arrived back in the UK following a vacation in South Africa and she is fired up, ready to put some serious food on the dinner table this week.
Check out the menu.
STARTER – Farinata – baked chickpea pancake with red onions served with handmade vegan garlic mayo
MAIN COURSE – Handmade Beetroot Ravioli filled with Fava Beans in cheesy cream
SECOND COURSE – Artichoke and Asparagus Gratin
SIDE – Blood Orange, Beet and Fennel Salad served with handmade sourdough
DESSERT – Caramel Tiramisù
Sounds lovely, right? If you are reading this soon after I posted it, you need to act quickly to book your ticket.
A little while back, Josh took over with a blog post about a vegetarian cafe in the heart of the Bloomsbury neighbourhood that serves up tasty meat-free meals during academic term time. Read about his love of the place here and then scroll down below for a shot of my tasty lunch there today.
The Mary Ward Centre Café is a long-standing favourite of students, staff and visitors to this learning complex, as well as visitors and staff from the nearby Great Ormond Street Hospital. The prices are maybe some of the lowest you will find for vegan options in central London.
Here is an Instagram snap I took of my lunch today. I thoroughly enjoyed the borlotti bean pie topped with creamy mash and the lentil stew with crispy potato wedges. Both plates of food just over £4 each.
Did you plan on coming along to London Vegan Potluck last night but didn’t make it? These photos are your punishment.
I started this event three years ago and I have watched it grow in popularity since our humble beginnings in Brixton. I think we started with 20 attendees in May 2011 and now our numbers vary between 60 and 100.
I often find the event to be extremely tiring and a lot of work to pull together, but people love it and that is what keeps it going. People get to explore veganism in a friendly space and many attendees have been inspired to take up compassionate eating on a full time basis due to the support and camaraderie they get from events like the potluck.
Many thanks again to the following companies that came on board for our celebrations last night. It would be fab if you let them know via social media how much their support means to the vegan community.
Ms Cupcake donated a pile of brownies for the potluck table as well as a £10 gift voucher for the raffle
Vegusto supplied us with their amazing vegan cheeses as prizes
Moo Free Chocolates handed over some samples for the tables and raffle prize
Veganicity are experts in vegan supplements and they sent some along as prizes
Mr Prempy’s came along to talk to us about their raw cakes as well as hand out samples
Check out some of my Instagram photos from our 3rd anniversary celebrations last night and let me know in the comments what it is you love about London Vegan Potluck. Do you have any fond memories? Has it helped you? Did you meet new friends? Why are events like this important?
I make no secret of how much I adore the Cool Chile Co. This London based business is my main supplier of essential ingredients needed to get my Mexican food fix.
They sell it all. Kits that take the mystery out of cooking the perfect black bean dish. Chiles that are chopped, diced, dried and powdered. Spicy chipotle ketchup. Sweet salsa verde. Their enormous tortilla machine churns out thousands of the soft, round things every week (I wrote about the machine here). They even have a chorizo spice kit that comes with instructions explaining how you can use a meat substitute if you like. I love it!
But something makes the Cool Chile Co. extra special. The people who run it.
Director Dodi and General Manager Kelly are some of the most down-to-earth, unassuming and outright friendly people I have met in London. Even if their Mexican products weren’t the best in the country (which they are by a mile), I would still want them to be a roaring success because of what decent people they are.
Mexican ingredient champions
It makes it all the more enjoyable to announce that I am partnering with the Cool Chile Co. for my huge vegan Mexican dinner taking place this week. Dodi and Kelly are getting behind UNA CITA by making sure we have the freshest tortillas in the country to make my three taco plate a dish you do not want to miss.
Cool Chile Co make this possible
As a thank you to the company for coming on board with my event, I am giving them a pair of tickets for UNA CITA to give away to one fortunate Twitter follower. You need to follow them and retweet THIS tweet to be in with a chance to snap up the tickets for this Friday’s event.
Love Cool Chile Co. and be in with a chance to win!
Limited tickets for UNA CITA also available to buy here.
