Potato equals truth

You’re hiding, underneath the smoke in the room

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Rushing the Homegrown Smoker food truck

During a recent trip to Portland to attend Vida Vegan Con 2011, I was overwhelmed by vegan food choices. Every restaurant appeared to cater thoughtfully to my type, no matter if they were a veggie establishment or not. The picturesque city was packed wall to wall with cruelty-free dining options.

By far my favourite dining experience was the Homegrown Smoker food truck. Actually, it was so stunning I dined with them three days running. Everything I ate was tasty like I’ve never known, the staff were incredibly welcoming and I adored the concept of ordering my meal from a mobile kitchen parked up on a city sidewalk.

I must warn you the following pictures could lead to growling tummies. I make no apologies.

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Here we go, I’m hanging out in Camden

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Camden is famous for a lot of cool, outsider culture that eventually works its way into the mainstream. The historical Camden Market is now a must-see for thousands of tourists every year, the underground music scene exploded out of the borough in the 90’s spawning the Indie craze and more recently, the tragic demise of Amy Winehouse has been inextricably linked to the area as her Back to Black album became the highest-selling release of recent times in the UK.

It is understandable when members of minorities bemoan their insider knowledge being shared with the world. To have something intimate blown up to a global scale can be extremely challenging and confronting. However, there is one alternative happening coming out of Camden that I hope continues its explosion into the mainstream… vegan dining.

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LHR-Foodswings-LAX

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My regular readers will be aware of a story category I use on here known as Taking the long way around. The bulk of my stories deal with London-based tales of depravity, over-consumption and brief queer history, however I do venture further afield and I love to bring you the details of these adventures and misadventures too.

With that overly-verbose introduction out of the way, I want to tell you how a vegan eatery named Foodswings saved my life during a journey from London to LA.

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Vegans need more B12

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There are a few more updates still to come from my trip to Barcelona, but before we get to those I would like to inform you of a stunning vegan eatery located roughly an hour north of this city.

In the northeastern Catalan city of Girona is a vegan food destination known as B12. This cafe is a gem of a location for vegans  and it is full of burgers, desserts, beers, colas, hot drinks and more. Every single item in the restaurant is 100% vegan and the staff are 100% helpful, welcoming and friendly.

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Mega vegan food super photo post

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Gopal vegan deli in Barcelona

If you want to go to vegan food heaven, get your backside to Barcelona and walk straight into a fantastic vegan deli known as Gopal. I proclaim this to be the finest vegan food in the entire city and I might even be bold enough to declare it in my top 5 restaurants in the world.

This post is very thin on words because I want the photos to do the talking. It was also important to me to get this up in the same week that Gopal announced their expansion. Madrid is very shortly and very fortunately going to be exposed to the Gopal goodness.

But enough from me and my FGV mouth. Let’s head on inside the deli to drool over some of the food I’ve consumed during my stay in Barcelona.

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Parklife

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When you visit a small town in the UK, the vegan food can be extremely thin on the ground. I often find myself wandering aimlessly around provincial towns in the hope of discovering something cruelty-free to eat.

A few months ago I experienced this exact predicament in Hastings. Hastings is a picturesque seaside town steeped in history, located on the southeast coast of the mainland United Kingdom. The vegan dining options are not abundant but the people of cafe chain eat@ are somewhat redressing this imbalance.

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1847 was a very good year

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You would think gifting the world with Morrissey is enough but no, Manchester just can’t stop giving. This time it isn’t a whip-smart, whimsical lyricist being served up by this generous Northern city but vegetarian and vegan delights in a stunning setting.

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Chelsea don’t eat no meat

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I’m not a fan of festivals. The thought of searing sun, overpriced booze and fools with flags has been deterrent enough for most of my FGV life. Up until a few weeks ago, I had only ever been lured to a music festival once in my life and that was by the promise of seeing Morrissey live. I suffered through a stifling Australian day back in the Summer of 2002 and was forced to listen to some truly dreary supporting bands.

Fast forward almost a decade and Morrissey managed to drag me back to my second ever festival. A few weeks ago, I found myself strolling around a rather pleasant field of people in Kent as a cavalcade of musical legends (including Morrissey) thrilled on stage. Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Prince (yes, Prince!) drew tens of thousands of people to the three day event known as the Hop Farm Festival. Morrissey and Prince were my major draw cards and both artists were close to the best I have ever seen them, but I must say I was also blown away by the copious amounts of vegan food on offer.

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Seitan rejected my soul

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I love a good piece of meat… fake, that is and fake meat rarely comes better than a chunky slab of seitan. Seitan is a meat substitute made of wheat gluten originating from China and it is particularly chewy. It is perfect for cooking with sauces and marinades as it sucks up liquid and flavours expertly.

I don’t see a lot of quality seitan in the UK so it was with immense delight that I watched Josh produce a jar of the good stuff from his grocery bag recently. Lima seitan is a quality wheat meat that is easy to carve and is barely flavoured, making it perfect to absorb any sauce you throw at it.

It doesn’t appear to be available in many stores but the Lima website does have a list of suppliers and retail outlets. It is apparently available in countries as far spread as the Czech Republic, Bahrain, Croatia, Spain, Israel, Slovenia and Iceland. Their availability reads like the Eurovision finalist list! We didn’t have to travel that far to nab our jar as Josh made his purchase in Alara Health Store located on Marchmont Street in Bloomsbury.

So what did I make with this wonder product?

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A plant-based feast

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There is a charming eatery tucked away in West Yorkshire that is a firm favourite of the FGV. Dandelion & Burdock is a completely vegan restaurant that serves up some of the finest cruelty-free food anywhere in the world.

I recently returned to the lovely town of Sowerby Bridge with a large group of friends for weekend brunch and the food we consumed was intoxicating (read about my previous D&B visit here). Nestled beside a window overlooking the picturesque river, my friends and I ordered enough delicacies to sink a barge.

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