Provincial towns you jog round

New vegan café in Sheffield

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Move over London, step aside Manchester and get ready to be challenged for your vegan crown, Glasgow.

Sheffield is quickly becoming a plant based city to be noticed.

I have already written about vegan grocery store The Incredible Nutshell, as well as Steel City Cakes and Burger Lolz, and now the South Yorkshire city is impressing with the grand opening of Make No Bones.

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How rad is that sign?!

Make No Bones has run a vegan food truck for quite a while, but now has taken the leap into bricks and mortar.

The sample menu on their website lists delicacies such as Tempeh Bacon & Avocado Sub, Ultimate Nachos and Jerk Tofu, Rice & Peas.

Sounds like my kinda place.

I have big plans to get there ASAP but in the meantime please do post glowing reviews in the comments below to inspire me to make the trip. If you get there before me, tell them FGV loves them and is on his way!

Follow Make No Bones on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Vegan hot dogs at Pride

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This news makes me smile… and it makes me hungry.

If you go to Southampton Pride this weekend (Sunday August 28, 2016) you can buy and eat vegan hot dogs.

Even better? The vegan hot dog stand is being run by volunteers who are all vegan and all the proceeds from the stall are being donated to Southampton Pride. 

I’m a bit teary knowing that kindhearted people do things like this. I adore that they are supporting the LGBTQ community without contributing to animal harm.

This is resisting oppression without resorting to another form of oppression!

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I asked Hannah of Hannah Banana Bakery (who is one of the volunteers) what is on the menu and she told me:

We have homemade salsa, mayo, mustard, homemade coleslaw, fried onions, and ketchup. 100% of the money goes to the Pride event as we are all unpaid vegan volunteers on our stall. General event info is on the Pride website. We are on the stall outside “The Stage Door” bar on West Marlands Road all day until we sell out!

People, get along to support this wonderful initiative and eat up!

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Listen to this

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Here is a musical interlude to break up your dreary day. Or to add extra value to your already awesome day. You pick!

Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest is just over a week away so I’m thrilled to finally be able to announce some news I was holding under my hat.

Attendees at the 12pm – 5pm daytime session will have the pleasure of not one but two live musical sets by irresistible Scottish band The Swizzle Sisters.

I adore the sound of this folk country band and the fact they are all animal lovers just makes it a sweeter deal to have them on board for the event (Patti and Paula are both longtime vegans while Maggie is veggie – our job is to turn her on the day!).

Have a listen to one of my favourite songs by the band.

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You can like The Swizzle Sisters on Facebook. A limited quantity of the band’s CDs will be sold on the day at the merch stand.

Buy cheap advance tickets for Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest online now for just £4 plus small booking fee.

Read about the special Mono food menu for the event here.

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Menu for Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest

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If you thought we weren’t taking food seriously at Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest later this month, you are in for a rude shock.

I take no small delight in presenting to you the exclusive Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest menu from the Mono kitchen.

Are you ready for this?

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GLASGOW VEGAN BEER FESTIVAL MENU

OUTSIDE BBQ MENU

Seitan burger in a sourdough burger bun with baby gem lettuce, bbq sauce, American mustard, white onions, dill pickles and beef tomato £6.00

Seitan burger in a sourdough bun with home-made kimchi £6.00

Seitan and black pudding burger in a sourdough bun with blue cheese sauce and caramelized red onion£6.00

Frankfurter in a soft bun with home made sauerkraut and mustard £6.00

Falafel burger on a bun with chili jam, mayo, baby gem and pickled veg (gf) £6.00

Add cheese to burgers – 50p

INDOOR MENU

Sourdough pizzas (gf available)

Margarita with fresh basil £7.50

Lahmacun Turkish style pizza with soya mince, roasted aubergine, white onion with a herbed diced salad, and topped with za’atar and yoghurt £9.00

Spicy Italian sausage, fresh red chilies, enoki mushrooms, black olives, fresh basil, smoked chili oil and cheese £9.00

Buffalo cauliflower, red onion, cheese, fresh oregano and Caesar sauce £9.00

Griddled yellow and green courgette with peas, mint and sumac served with or without vegan feta £9.00

Beetroot, kale, dill and garlic cream cheese, sun-blushed tomato, red onion and capers £9.00

Ham, pineapple, jalapeno and cheese £9.00

 

Mac & cheese (gf) £5

Add chipotle bacon bits £1.00

Add jalapeños 70p

Chickpea mayo melt with celery, dill, capers and red onion served on a toasted French roll with tomato and melted cheese £6.00

Buffalo tempeh burrito with coca cola black beans, dirty brown rice, shredded baby gem, sour cream and sweet corn, pineapple and jalapeño salsa £6.00

Bánh mì with crispy smoked tofu, cucumber and carrot pickle, Sriracha Vegenaise, white onion, basil & coriander, red chilies and shredded baby gem £6.00

Fava, raw beetroot, cucumber, carrot, red onion, black olives and salad wrap with house dressing and fresh mint £6.00

(gf sandwiches available)

 

Fries (gf) £3.50

Cajun fries with aioli (gf) £4

Poutine (gf) £5.00

Hot dog with ketchup, mustard and fried onions served with fries £4.00

Caesar salad with croutons £3.50

add chipotle bacon bits £1.00

 

Raw rainbow salad with beetroot, carrot, red onion and cucumber. In a miso and sesame dressing (gf) £4.00

 

Banana split sundaes 3 flav ice cream with choc fudge sauce, mixed chopped nuts and a maraschino cherry (gf) £4.95

Ice cream cones £2.00

Apple pie with ice cream

Cookie sandwich £3.00

 

What do you think of all that?!

This menu has been a long time in the planning and the Mono chef has done a wonderful job putting it all together. There are at least seven menu items I have marked as ‘must haves’ so I’m not sure how I’m going to have space for beer.

If you are still a little unsure about attending Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest after seeing the above menu and reading about the wide range of breweries represented at the event, maybe this extra piece of news will spike your interest.

I’m beyond thrilled to announce that newly vegan sandwich emporium Kind Crusts will also be selling food during both sessions of Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest!

Between the amazing Mono menu, Kind Crusts coming on board PLUS two top secret bakery stalls yet to be announced (a different company for each session), you are not going to be hungry at Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest.

Tickets are just £4 plus small booking fee. Limited space at both day and night sessions. Book online now!

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New vegan burger bar in Sheffield

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Book a bus ticket. Check train prices. Charge up the electric car. You are all headed to Sheffield as soon as you possibly can.

Already live there? You have got it made!

Say hello to the newest superstar of the UK vegan scene, Burger Lols.

Holy shit! A brand new all #vegan burger joint in Sheffield. Freak me out!

A photo posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on

It doesn’t get much cuter than that, right?

Burger Lolz has only been open a week but already it looks to have a solid following of fans. The shop was buzzing when I went in there and I’m not surprised. The menu is like a dream come true.

How a bout a mac n cheese burger featuring onion rings? Maybe a kebab burger with seitan is more to your liking. I know you all want the pulled jackfruit sandwich or the chilli cheese fries.

Check out this photo of what I was able to get my hands on during my recent visit.

Pretty freakin’ impressive. The fries alone are making me consider a move to Sheffield.

Get to Burger Lolz NOW, eat everything you can get your hands on and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Extra note:

Next door to Burger Lolz is the incredible Steel City Cakes.

This bakery has long been a favourite with vegan cake lovers and with good reason. Their selection of vegan cakes is like nothing else I have seen in the UK. I was almost crying from excitement and emotion.

Click on this video below to see just some of the vegan cakes they were selling during my visit. Sheffield is where it’s at!

What?! So much #vegan cake at @steelcitycakes in Sheffield! I’m freaking out!

A video posted by Fat Gay Vegan (@fatgayvegan) on

VBF-TWCover

Vegan groceries in Kent

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What do you do for vegan groceries when you live in Kent, England?

However you answered that question in your head, you can now add Wheat’s The Problem to your list of solutions.

1 - Shop Front

This grocery store is tucked away on an industrial estate in Sittingbourne, Kent and looks to be a vegan grocery oasis.

While not everything in the store is plant-based a huge chunk of what’s on offer is, with the shelves lined with Fry’s Family Foods, Follow Your Heart, Tofurky, Plamil and many, many more vegan brands. I would be here all day if I started listing them and you all know how lazy I am.

As you can tell from the store name, Wheat’s The Problem is also a specialty shopping destination for consumers looking for wheat free groceries with many items being suitable for coeliacs.

Get along to Wheat’s The Problem for vegan groceries and support independent business.

Click here to join the Facebook group for the shop. This is where you can keep track of all the fantastic new products being added each week. You can also click here to see where the shop is located.

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Caribbean vegan pop up

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There is a vegan Caribbean food business in Nottingham called Yemọja. You need to know about it, follow it and support it!

Yemọja operate pop up cafés around Nottingham, they support anti-fascist activism and they make mouth watering vegan food.

Check out these pictures from their Instagram page.

Looking fabulous, right?

You can follow Yemọja on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Even if you can’t get along to one of their events, you can still support this wonderful food and activism endeavour by contributing to their GoFundMe page. Click here to donate and help them reach their goal.

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Brewery list for Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest

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If you thought we were messing around with Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest, this blog post will set you straight.

The always amazing William Bros. Brewing Co. is curating the beer bar for our event and the list of participating breweries will leave you drooling.

The line up includes:

Windswept Brewing Company of Lossiemouth, Scotland – visit online
Tryst Brewery of Falkirk, Scotland – visit online
Fallen Brewing Company of Kippen, Scotland – vist online
Pilot of Leith, Scotland – visit online
Jaw Brew of Glasgow, Scotland – visit online
Tempest Brew Co. of Galashiels, Scotland – visit online
The Cromarty Brewing Company of Cromarty, Scotland – visit online
Drygate of Glasgow, Scotland – visit online
Loch Lomond Brewery of Jamestown, Scotland – visit online
Stewart Brewing of Edinburgh, Scotland – visit online
Top Out Brewery of Edinburgh, Scotland – visit online

Of course there will also be a lot of drink from William Bros. themselves as well as the much loved cider of Thistly Cross. Mono will be in charge of wine as well as non-alcohol drinks.

Full beer list will be announced before the event and every attendee will be handed a tick sheet featuring the entire rundown of drinks, as well as collectible branded pint cup to use on the day AND keep forever.

In addition, details of our food menus will be released very shortly with a stunning bar menu by Mono plus several special guest caterers who I know you will all adore.

Add to this some unique musical guests and we have one extremely unmissable event planned for Glasgow on Saturday August 27, 2016.

Buy your cheap advance tickets now and RSVP to the Facebook event page where you can also invite friends.

gvbflarge

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Glasgow food outlet turns vegan

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After only a few weeks trading as a vegetarian eatery, the owner of Kind Crusts in Glasgow has decided to turn her business into a 100% vegan sandwich shop.

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I reached out to owner Kathryn Veroni to ask for insight into her fabulous decision to go completely plant-based and here is her response:

As a vegan, complete food lover and notorious feeder, with years of experience in hospitality, I knew there was a clear gap in the market when it came to “fast food” suitable for vegans, vegetarians and people looking for healthier options. So, Kind Crusts was created. We only opened on Friday 1st July and have been very well received from the local residents of Dennistoun and vegans of Glasgow.

Initially when deciding on our menu, I had wanted to encourage non-vegans to try our products. The way I looked at it was; for every person NOT visiting the likes of [various highstreet takeaways], and choosing us instead, it was a win for the progression to vegan diets. To do this, I had chosen a dairy cheese and created a 95% vegan menu, with one dairy option for non-vegans. Within a few days of trading however, I quickly recognised that is wasn’t the correct decision for us. Although we would love to change the eating habits of the population, especially children, we want to do it in the way we always intended; through the provision of good, honest wholefoods. We shall use our knowledge of food and creative passion to form exciting sandwich fillings, salads and bakes, which alone, will be the reason people choose us.

Thanks, Kathryn!

I am thrilled with your decision to remove all animal products from your menu, but I’m sure the vegans of Glasgow are even happier. The menu is the stuff of vegans dreams, with decadent breakfast wraps and stuffed sandwiches making me a little bit jealous I don’t live in the Scottish city.

You can and should like Kind Crusts on Facebook. Or maybe Twitter and/or Instagram.

You might also want to take the time to check out the Kind Crusts menu on their website and take notice of how the shop gives discount to diners using their own coffee/tea cups!

VBF-TWCover

Vegan event in Maidstone

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Vegan events, festivals and fairs are EVERYWHERE in the UK. It seems you can’t get away from them (which is obviously a fabulous state of affairs).

Next on your list if you are keen to visit every single vegan event in the UK is the upcoming Maidstone Vegan Festival taking place this month (July 2016).

See the super colourful poster below.

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Looks like a wonderful day out. You can RSVP to the Facebook event.

Support vegan events in your town and city! Make an effort this summer to visit an event in a neighbouring area.

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