Tuesday. Tuesday. Gotta get down on TUESDAY… or something like that.
It’s time for another episode of Tell Me Where I’m Going (Wrong), the podcast in which Josh and I chat about random topics and act like we know what we are talking about.
This week we get inloved with the cultural legacy of Absolutely Fabulous, why I love Manchester, and the disgraceful reality of the British royal family.
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If you appreciate my blog posts and the work I do to support vegan business and challenge injustice, please consider making a one time small donation of a couple of quid online here. You might also be in the position to sponsor my work on an regular basis via Patreon.
You can order my book ‘Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t’ online now. It has been out a while now but is still a good read. You can also listen to the Audiobook read by me!
Ice Shack in Manchester used to have an ice cream flavour named after me many years ago (true story), so it was wonderful to see this 100% vegan sweet spot still in operation in 2025.
It’s not just the dreary, cold weather that tells me Christmas is just around the corner here in the UK. Another giveaway is the onslaught of festive menus being fired at us from plant-based restaurants.
Never one to shy away from a solid Xmas offering, Purezza has now released a delicious-sounding line up for your festive celebrations.
Manchester is on the blower and if you love vegan food, ethical shopping, and supporting independent businesses, you are going to want to answer this call.
The Northern Vegan Festival is making its way to the city and this is your chance to be part of something special. Events like this are not just about buying tasty food and cool products, although there will be plenty of that. They are about community, connection, and building a stronger, more visible vegan movement.
Keep reading below for all the details and how to grab your tickets.
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 cauli flower, 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.
UK’s first plant-based pizza restaurant Purezza set to open in Manchester’s Northern Quarter!
Purezza, the UK’s first vegan pizzeria, is launching its Manchester branch in May 2021. Following a year of growth, having also launched branches in Bristol, Brixton, and Hove, Purezza’s 6th branch will open in Manchester’s Northern Quarter at 75-77 High Street, M4 1FS (this was previously the site of Dough Pizza Kitchen).
Manchester’s pizza lovers will find plenty to get excited about at Purezza. The pizzas are renowned globally, having won National Pizza of the Year in 2018 and received awards at the World Pizza Championships in 2019. Purezza is also a 100% plant-based and vegan restaurant, for which it holds further accolades including Vegan Restaurant of the Year 2020.
Purezza’s range of creative Neapolitan-style pizzas feature its own signature plant-based mozzarella, a unique whole grain sourdough, and carefully selected organic ingredients. The menu consists of classics such as the Margherita, to unique pizzas like the award-winning Parmigiana Party which uses aubergine parmigiana and vegan sausages as toppings.
The restaurant also serves a full gluten-free menu, including pizzas which are indistinguishable from regular sourdough. There is a wide range of creative cocktails and organic beers and wines. Food will also be available via local delivery services.
Sustainability is at the forefront of Purezza’s values, and this comes across in more than just the food. The restaurant is fitted out with reclaimed and upcycled furniture, and decoration has been completed with eco-friendly and organic paints.
Tim Barclay, co-founder and co-owner of Purezza has said, “Manchester has been on our agenda for years now. We’ve had more requests to open in Manchester than any other city in the UK, and it’s truly a pleasure to honour those requests and to finally make it happen. We’re really excited about this, and we can’t wait to welcome you through our doors.”
Purezza’s Manchester branch will be opening in May 2021. Address: 75-77 High Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester M4 1FS.
Purezza has been operating in Brighton since November 2015, and opened a London branch in March 2018. It subsequently tripled the size of its Camden restaurant in February 2020. Purezza went on to launch branches in Bristol and Hove in Q3 2020.
The restaurant has become a household name among vegan and vegetarian foodies, with diners travelling from all over the world to eat there. The restaurant has won multiple awards, including National Pizza of the Year 2018.
Purezza specialises in plant-based alternatives to classic Neapolitan pizzas. Purezza is renowned for developing its own range of vegan cheese exclusively for its restaurants. Purezza has also launched a factory in Brighton & Hove to provide its cheeses and pizzas to retail later this year.
Purezza also launched its first recipe book in January 2020.
What The Pitta, recently voted the UK’s number one kebab at the British Takeaway Awards, will open its first site in the North as it brings its vegan kebabs to the residents of Manchester.
The site is set to open on January 8, 2021, with delivery, takeaway and eat-in offerings available subject to local COVID-19 restrictions. The menu will be full of all the bestsellers also available at the London and Brighton locations, making sure to stick to classic, much-loved recipes.
The brand has had its sights set on Manchester, aiming to integrate with the city’s vibrant food scene which already has many popular options available for vegans. In the expansion, What The Pitta have also developed new branding with Manchester-based graphic designer Woody Woods, which will be used throughout the new store.
Cem Yildiz, co-founder of What The Pitta, says of the opening: “Manchester feels like a huge step forward for What The Pitta. The site will be our biggest brick and mortar site yet, and to finally open during what we hope is the tail end of this pandemic fills us with optimism for the future for not just us but hospitality as a whole. Manchester is my favourite city outside of London, with such an incredible food scene and we can’t wait to be a part of that and hope the city welcomes us with open arms ready for their vegan kebabs!”
The entirely vegan Turkish-inspired menu first launched in Shoreditch in 2016, the brainchild of Cem Yildiz and Rojdan Gul. The concept came about after Cem decided to go plant-based and was introduced to Roj’s uncle’s vegan kebab recipe. The two saw the value of the recipe and the gap in the market and set up shop at in a small green shed out of Shoreditch, East London.
The food became immediately popular on Instagram and this is where they attribute their cult following to. Their aim is to reclaim the image of the kebab as a greasy 2am meal, bringing a playful spin on a British classic with an ethical twist.
To be the first to hear details of their soft launch offering text WTPMANC to 82228 or sign up to their newsletter online.
You can see the exact location of What The Pitta Manchester thanks to Google Maps.
Opening Hours for the venue in the Northern Quarter will be 11:30am-10:00pm Sunday to Thursday and 11:30am-11:00pm Friday and Saturday.
