Provincial towns you jog round

Newcastle goes vegan

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It seems you can’t go anywhere in the UK without tripping over a vegan festival. Plant-based get togethers are multiplying at a rapid pace and a northern city has joined the trend.

Get ready for the Newcastle Upon Tyne Vegan Festival this July.

This event is the brainchild of a full time student and vegan catering business operator named Louise. Louise has decided to spend the minuscule amount of spare time she has to create a fun and educational day-long event in the northern city.

The Newcastle Vegan Festival is set for July 26th, 2014 in a large hall located a short walk from the central train station. More than 100 stalls are expected and will include food, films, local food producers, ethical clothing and many more services and goods from the world of veganism.

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Entry will be a lowly £2 for adults and £1 for children with profits from ticket sales being donated to charity.

If you live in the area, make sure you get on in to the Newcastle Upon Tyne Vegan Festival for food, fun and information. If you live elsewhere, this is surely a perfect opportunity to visit the city.

Vegans in the valley

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I am a big believer in communities self-directing and supporting each other in order to enact change. That is why I am thrilled to hear about this community-driven support group in the Calder Valley that is creating a support network for local people looking to make more compassionate choices in their lives.

The success of these sorts of groups usually sits with how engaged members feel and I can see by the line up of events 3 Valley Veg*ns has planned, engagement is not going to be an issue.

The group has an impressive calendar of events outlined for the near and distant future including market information stall, social walks, picnics, a summer barbecue and even a vegan cake baking class.

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This is an important way change takes place and sticks. Compassionate people supporting each other and organising/socialising at a grassroots level creates a safe space to explore vegan living. It is a vital step in improving outcomes for non-human animals. Community and kinship matter.

I urge you to get involved with 3 Valley Veg*ns if you are anywhere near the Calder Valley and if you are further afield, take a leaf from their book and create your own compassionate community movement.

Follow 3 Valley Veg*ns on Twitter

High on a hill

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I’m not a physically-adventurous vegan, but I can’t assume the same of all my readers. In that vein, I am pleased to bring you the following information about the Snowdon Vegan Weekender.

Between Friday 25th and Sunday 27th July, 2014  you can stay in in a hostel, eat lots of vegan food and get active up a mountain. Oh, yeah. You can also help raise money for charity.

The 2nd Sponsored Walk up Snowdon, raising funds for the Vegan Organic Network and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is taking place on Saturday 26th July. You can get involved AND make an entire vegan weekend out of the adventure.

The YHA at Pen-y-Pass, which is situated at the foot of Snowdon, is where the walk will start and also happens to be the main accommodation for the weekend. People not staying at the hostel will still be able to join the walk, dine at the hostel for vegan meals and enjoy all the entertainment on offer. Information about the sponsored walk and veganism will be on show in the YHA’s cafe, which will be open to the public during the day and is adopting an all vegan menu for the weekend!

For those making the trek up Snowdon, My Cupcakes bakery are supplying free vegan cakes at the summit.

The Snowdon Vegan Weekender promises to be a unique experience, that’s for certain. Last year’s event saw 70 people on the summit, a world record for the most people eating vegan cake on a mountain. How awesome is that?

Everyone is welcome on the family friendly walk, though you do need to be reasonably fit and know that you can walk the distance, which includes some steep sections. It is after all the biggest mountain in Wales. Non-walkers can catch the Snowdon Mountain Railway train to the summit from Llanberis but tickets need to be booked well in advance.

Full informations about the weekend, the climb and how to book accommodation can be found here.

Let me know what the view is like from the top!

Buy cake without leaving the house

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I make no secret for the respect I have for Ms Cupcake and the hard work Mellissa Morgan has put in to make her brand one of the most respected independent businesses in London. Notice I didn’t say ‘vegan’ before businesses? That’s right. Ms Cupcake is in the majors.

One of the secrets to their success has surely got to be the relentless attitude to keep creating new products and new ways to get them to people.

Take for instance their new mail order service. 

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And no-one spoke and no-one smiled

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“Here we go again. FGV is complaining about a vegetarian restaurant. Why can’t vegans just take what they get?”

Indian Melody was the scene of one of the most disappointing dining experiences I have ever had in the UK. I thought I was onto a sure thing when I discovered an almost entirely-vegan Indian restaurant in the city of Southampton, but I was rudely awakened to a different reality.

Indian Melody
Indian Melody

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Best vegan breakfast?

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My partner Josh loves to jump onboard now and then to let you know about the food making him smile.

Please give him a warm welcome as he returns to let you know about an amazing vegan breakfast he consumed in Bristol. Could this be the best vegan fry up in the UK? Answers in the comment section, please!

Take it away, Josh.

FGV’s recent post about the vegan brunch at Down To Earth in London reminded me of a trip earlier this year to Cafe Kino in Bristol. This was my third trip to Bristol yet for some reason I had never made it to the cafe before. Passing through on the way from Cardiff to Bath with my sister-in-law and nephew from Australia, we stopped off at Cafe Kino one morning to fill our bellies before a long day of driving.

For those that don’t know about Cafe Kino, it’s a co-operatively run vegan cafe (except for cow milk in the drinks) situated in a picturesque area of Bristol. They’re open every day of the week, selling mostly home-made vegan food.

On the morning of my visit, I of course gravitated towards the vegan fry-up. It arrived quickly at my table with sausages, baked beans, hash browns, fried mushrooms, fried bread, bacon rashers and grilled tomatoes. It. Was. Perfect.

Amazing vegan fry up in Bristol
Amazing vegan fry up in Bristol

I can’t remember how much I paid but I remember thinking it was very reasonable for the amount of food I received. I wish there was something like this in London!

You can vote for Cafe Kino (and FGV!) in the VegfestUK awards

Follow Cafe Kino on Twitter

I go ahead and Smile

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You know when you go to a small town or city and you find nothing to eat? What a sinking feeling, right?

This did not happen to me during my recent trip to Southsea.

Earlier this week I posted about my wondrous experience at Coco Chocolate Boutique (read about it here) and it just so happens you can also get a pretty decent vegan savoury meal on the very same street in Southsea.

Smile Cafe is as amiable an establishment as you can get. Every person working in the place was friendly, down to Earth and helpful. Their menu features vegan options clearly marked, which is highly unusual in this small cafe/diner style set up in the UK. Even though Smile is an omni eatery, I felt completely at home.

Smile of Southsea
Smile of Southsea

Check out what Josh and I enjoyed.

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Loco for Coco

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You don’t find yourself in the position of being a fat, gay vegan without knowing your way around a drop of chocolate or two. I love bars, coated sweets and anything containing vegan chocolate. It’s part of the territory when you are a FGV.

Imagine my delight a few weeks ago when I found myself standing in a cute-as-a-chocolate-button store in Southsea, surrounded by vegan chocolates. I was in heaven!

Coco Chocolate Boutique is a gorgeous specialist store crammed full of decadent, handmade delicacies just minutes from the seafront. Even though they aren’t exclusively vegan, the Coco shelves and cases hold an impressive array of animal-free fare.

Coco Chocolate Boutique of Southsea
Coco Chocolate Boutique of Southsea

There are vegan fondants, cherries oozing in brandy, dark chocolate shards in several flavours, chocolate covered Turkish delight and even solid dark chocolate skulls.

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You wanna talk about Reading?

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I work hard to make London Vegan Potluck a success and stories like the following make it all worthwhile.

A few months ago I was contacted by a friendly person from Reading called Gemma. Gemma was planning a vegan potluck in her city and wanted some advice on how to get it together.

I am only too happy to help where I can when it comes to this sort of question. As I have said previously, vegan potlucks are invaluable when it comes to building social capital, supporting new vegans and strengthening the resolve of long term vegans.

Flash forward to yesterday and I received a lovely message from Gemma sharing the following information:

“So we had our potluck tonight and I thought you would like to see the pics. There were about 18 or so people I think. Thank you again for all your advice before. It really helped. Our next one is 5th August and everyone has said they will come to that one too, yaay.”

How fantastic. I tip my hat to Gemma and the Reading vegans for hosting the first of what I’m sure will be many potlucks. Hopefully I can make it along in the future!

Gemma has kindly agreed to let me use some of her photos from the Reading Potluck. Follow her Facebook page for further dates and details.

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Fudge. Plain and simple.

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After I visit a city, it always takes me a long time to work through all the food I consumed and convert the tasty memories into blog posts. I have that well-known vegan condition that involves eating every single possible vegan dish available to me during a vacation. Almost like I’ve never seen food before. What’s wrong with us?

My recent Edinburgh trip was no different. Working out where vegan breakfast, lunch and dinner were to be enjoyed took precedence over getting to the castle or visiting the museum. The walks along the Royal Mile or down historic closes were planned with precision to ensure vegan food options took centre stage throughout my time in Edinburgh.

In addition to my baked potato experience, one of the most memorable frenzied pit stops for food involved vegan fudge. Thick, creamy and irresistible vegan fudge. The Fudge Kitchen located on the Royal Mile isn’t a vegan food outlet but they certainly know how to make plant-based eaters feel welcome.

The store has at least one vegan fudge option on show each day. My visit coincided with the overwhelmingly-scrumptious toffee variety made with soya cream.

Fudge Kitchen Edinburgh
Fudge Kitchen Edinburgh
Gorgeous vegan toffee fudge
Gorgeous vegan toffee fudge

I am trying to be a less food-driven tourist. Not as many of my trips are planned around the food available at the destination but it will be a long while until I am comfortable moving through a town without devouring every vegan dish on offer.

Find all Fudge Kitchen UK locations online

Follow Fudge Kitchen on Twitter

Like Fudge Kitchen on Facebook