Provincial towns you jog round

UK shopping village gets a vegan cafe

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Do you remember the excitement when I told you about the shopping village in Coventry, UK where you could find a vegan brewery and a vegan grocery store?

That original blog post about Fargo Village absolutely blew up, with a huge number of readers from all over the UK and the world wanting to find out more.

But that was then.

BIG news coming out of this already very vegan-friendly shopping village tells us that there is now a 100% vegan café on site. How great is that?

Three vegan businesses located within the same shopping village.

Totally Vegan describes itself as a ‘100% vegan cafe serving everyday, affordable food and drink to support you and your family’s vegan journey’. Sounds like a positive outlook to me!

Nikki who runs the Green Unicorn vegan grocery store in Fargo Village had the following to say about the new café:

Totally Vegan opened in early February to queues out the door and many satisfied customers (their lemon and blueberry cake is to die for and they makes a gorgeous chickpea flour quiche too) – and their sausage rolls are so good they’ve even got the non-vegans clamouring for them!

Nikki also let me know they are hosting their own vegan fair in the shopping village this April. Coventry certainly is taking to this vegan malarky, right?!

You should like Totally Vegan Café on Facebook and follow them on Instagram.

Yay for vegans taking over shopping villages!

Extra note: the photo in this blog post belongs to Totally Vegan and is reproduced here for promotional purposes.

Vegan revolution in Sudbury

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Need some anecdotal evidence that veganism is on an unstoppable roll in the UK?

The English market town of Sudbury, Suffolk now has two 100% vegan eateries. Yes. Two vegan food outlets in a regional town with a population hovering around the 20,000 mark.

Incredible!

First up is Cradle. This restaurant is a social enterprise which ploughs profits back into community-minded projects such as food waste solutions and local gardens.

Take a trip to the Cradle Facebook page and scroll through some of the cuisine photos. It all looks delicious, creative and rather fancy. You can also visit their website.

Next up we have Kind Cuisine, a more relaxed looking café serving soups, salads, cakes and drinks.

Owners Linda and Mark are on a mission to show locals how to eat plant-based foods in order to protect animals and the planet.

You should follow Kind Cuisine on Facebook and Twitter.

If Sudbury can do it, so can your town.

Get active and start vegan food opportunities, especially businesses that fold back into the community. And if you can’t start your own business, make the effort to support the businesses that do spring up when you have the means.

If you don’t live in Sudbury but have the means to visit for a few days, put some cash into the economy by dining with these two vegan establishments. If you can’t make it along, consider a kind word of support on their social media pages to let them know their commitment to veganism and their local community is appreciated.

Vegan job in new vegan café

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Need a vegan job? Like to cook?

Holy Cow is a relatively new café in Edinburgh city centre. You might very well remember when I posted this photo of their cakes over on my Instagram account:

A post shared by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on


Yes. They do look tasty.

The café is only a few months old but now ready for a vegan chef to join its team.

You can apply via the Gumtree advert online here.

You can also follow Holy Cow on Facebook and Instagram.

You can see the location of the café thanks to Google Maps.

New vegan store in Stourport

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A vegan store opening in the UK is barely news anymore. They happen with such ferocious regularity, you can blink and miss the announcement.

But I bet the people of Stourport, Worcestershire think their new plant-based shop is news worth singing about.

 Opening today (Saturday February 18, 2017), As One is a 100% vegan grocery and lifestyle store.

Packed solid with groceries, personal care products and so much more, As One is surely set to become the number one destination for vegans in the region.

You can like As One on Facebook and check out their location thanks to Google Maps.

Vegan work

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Super quick post for people looking for a vegan job.


Yes. The details are above but if you can’t access the image, Bex wants you to phone her on 07515 176 341 if you are looking for part time employment in Glasgow.

That is all.

Until next time. xx

Vegan in Aberdeen

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Two things I would like you to consider.

  1. £1 or £2 is not a lot of money. You can spare a few quid right this very moment, most likely.
  2. We have the collective power to help bring independent, community-focussed vegan businesses to life if we work together.

OK.

I would like to ask a favour of each and every person who reads this post. Please click here right now to donate whatever you can to the Bonobo Kickstarter campaign. The team behind Bonobo are opening the ONLY vegan cafe in Aberdeen, Scotland. It’s a big deal.

Bonobo has been running as a series of pop up events for one year, but now the founding group has decided to transform their business into a cooperatively owned and operated vegan cafe that will also function as a community hub for gigs, meetings and events.

To help with first month rental, kitchen equipment and other associated costs, Bonobo needs to raise £12,000.

They have already raised just over £3,500.

It is crucial that we put our money where our mouths are and support endeavours like Bonobo. This cafe is allowing six people to be employed in vegan work within their community, on their own terms and with so much scope to benefit local people.

Throw some money in the pot. Can you spare £1. Most people I know can afford £1. If you have more money at your disposal, put £5 or £10 forward to help strengthen opportunities for vegans in Aberdeen.

C’mon. Let’s get them financed and fighting fit. Donate now and spread this link.

You can also follow Bonobo on Facebook.

Goat Cafe

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I got a message from my friend Anna this morning saying, “Sue, have you seen the Goat Café drama?” to which I responded, “No, Sue. What going on?”.

Firstly, we call each other Sue. It’s an Abigail’s Party thing.

If you are not aware, Goat Café is possibly the only fully vegan eatery in the northern town of Huddersfield.

But the drama?

In a bizarre Facebook exchange with a handful of customers, the person in charge of their social media abused and berated some customers.

By abused, I mean:

  • asking how soon someone will die
  • calling names such as ‘fucking control freak’
  • responding to criticism with ‘fuck you and fuck your plans’

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Reports are online of the Goat Café social media person also taking the argument and name-calling onto personal Facebook pages of customers including one instance of them using the term ‘fucking cocks’ to describe people voicing their concerns.

The backlash from the local and online vegan community has been swift and brutal.

The café has seen it’s star approval rating on Facebook plummet with more than 300 one star reviews being posted since the conflict commenced.

I don’t completely understand what started the tirade of abuse, but a lot of the conflict seems to surround a post by the Goat Café in which they expressed their plans to stop accepting credit cards and social media in their business.

This somehow turned into a particularly nasty exchange with a customer who had previously complained about a meal that wasn’t to her liking. You can see references to all of this on the Goat Facebook page (it might take a bit of sifting through as I believe the café has started deleting its older posts related to the situation).

The Goat Café serves an incredibly valuable purpose for Huddersfield and the surrounding area. I hear of vegans travelling from nearby towns once a week as it is the only place where they can be assured a 100% vegan menu.

My two visits to the café have been welcoming with solid food choices.

Whatever is happening to their team internally to result in this situation, I genuinely hope they sort it out not only for their own sake but for the valuable contribution their café and food make to the community.

Also, I don’t like seeing people attacked verbally. It’s not OK and rightfully people won’t stand for it. I have concerns for the owners who have always presented as kind and approachable. This behaviour appears completely out of character. I have concerns for the workers at the café and their job security.

Abusing people and name-calling on the Internet doesn’t fly in this day and age, least of all when the abuse is directed at your customers. People will shut your business down or at least work extremely hard to make it happen.

Hoping for the best but fearing the worst for Goat Café. Another drink, Sue?

Vegan store now delivering

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There are so many things to love about Sheffield and home delivery from this wonderful vegan grocery store can be added to the list.

The Incredible Nutshell is one of the most well-stocked vegan stores I’ve seen. I’ve picked up some fabulous plant-based food from them that I haven’t seen anywhere else on my travels.

Sheffield is an extremely fortunate city to have this store and things just got better with the launch of their home delivery service.

Yes, that’s right.

If you live in Sheffield, you can shop online with The Incredible Nutshell and have your groceries delivered. The line up of products is impressive and includes chilled, frozen, cleaning products, snacks and so much more.

The wonderful Jez who works in the store told me the first orders are set to roll out from Monday February 13, 2017 and if the service proves popular, they will look into offering the service to nearby towns.

This is great news for anyone with access requirements that make store visits difficult and for people with work hours that don’t match store hours.

Click here to browse the online shop.

Vegan afternoon tea for Valentine’s Day

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There is a cute tearoom in Exeter called The Hidden Treasure Tea Room and the big news you need to know about is the Vintage Valentine’s Sharing Menu taking place on February 14, 2017 between 4pm and 9pm.

The Hidden Treasure Tea Room is not a vegan establishment but if I had a quid for every time a reader raved about their plant-based options, I’d be a retired blogger trying to realise his dreams of becoming a Mexican wrestler.

This Valentine vegan menu sounds superb and you can’t even think about complaining for the price of £45 per couple for 5 courses!

Check this out:

1) Setting the table – pea and mint spoons, olive and rosemary forks, blue “cheese” and grape knives and a tropical granita.

2) Three tasty morsels – tiny tomato soup with a desert island, Mediterranean stuffed pepper and crispy rocket.

3) Take a break – herb broth-in-a teapot with savoury popcorn.

4) Sticky fingers – three delicious dips with a selection of interesting things to dip and share.

5) Divine decadence – a selection of desserts and two spoons! Including sparkling Prosecco and elderflower jellies, melting chocolate pots, brown sugar custard hearts, mini fruit pavlovas and fizzy fruits.

You will need to book a spot for this incredible vegan meal. The Hidden Treasure will understandably be packed on the day.

Call 01392 274134 or email hiddentreasuretearoom@gmail.com to reserve space.

You can also get more info on the Facebook event page.

Vegan food in a pub

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Have you ever found yourself driving the A1(M) between Leeds and Newcastle only to think how grand it would be if you could come off the motorway for vegan pub food.

I know we’ve all been there, right?

Worry no more, weary travellers. Baydale Beck Inn has a brand new vegan menu to fill you up and it’s kinda really impressive.

Baydale Beck Inn is a family-run pub on the outskirts of Darlington, County Durham.

Alongside their regular non-vegan menu, the Baydale vegan menu is now available all the time. Check it out below.

I don’t know about you, but that is one of the finer vegan pub menus I’ve seen.

You can check out Baydale Beck Inn on Facebook and see where they are located on Google Maps.