Taking the long way around

¡Taco taco taco!

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Post by:

josh panel

I was super-excited to read on the LA Times website that Los Angeles is getting a brand-new taquería, opened by none other than actor Danny Trejo and it appears to be very vegan-friendly! The LA Times article quotes Danny saying;

“Here, we wanted to include everybody, so we have a great vegan menu and gluten-free menu.”

Other online articles speculated that Trejo’s Tacos was 100% vegan but it has since been established that it is just vegan-friendly as they posted a picture of a chicken taco on their Instagram feed. Either way, I can’t wait to find out more during my next trip to LA!

As a side-note, FGV and I visited our first vegan taquería here in Mexico City last night… review and pics coming soon!

You can follow Trejo’s Tacos on Twitter and Instagram, or like the Facebook page.

All vegan burger restaurant

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During my recent cruise along the Danube, I was pleasantly surprised and sometimes shocked by how much vegan food is out there across Europe.

Take Linz, Austria for instance.

Linz is a city with a population floating around the 200,000 mark, so you might not expect to find much in the way of plant-based eating.

But Front Food is having none of my misconceptions.

This 100% vegan burger restaurant would not be out of place in NYC or LA, but a moderately sized city in the gorgeous Austrian countryside is the only place you’ll find it.

Check out the glorious decor and the mouthwatering cuisine.

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Seaweed burger in Netherlands

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Post by:

joe panel

As we’re on our Dutch odyssey, let’s take a quick break from bustling Amsterdam and swing by Dordrecht, a nice little town that we visited partly (ahem, mainly) due to the presence of a new vegan café called Daantje there that we wanted to try.

And we were so glad we did! Dordrecht is a very pretty town, and Daantje was a lovely café, bright and cheerful, on a postcard-perfect old Dutch street.

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So the ambience was spot-on, you’ll be glad to hear the food was excellent too. I had a “Dutch Weed Burger” (which may be named provocatively but is just a play on words, it’s named after the seaweed it contains) which had been recommended to me by almost every Dutch person I spoke to (or so it seemed). It was huge and delicious!

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Jess had a brie, walnut and maple syrup wrap, which was also great. The vegan brie is apparently made on the premises, and was really creamy and full of flavour. Had we been served this in a non-vegan place, I’d have been suspicious of dairy infiltration! But the friendly owner is definitely 100% vegan.

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So should you fancy visiting the Netherlands but having a break from Amsterdam, then I can recommend a day in Dordrecht, including a visit to Daantje.

Goodbye from FGV

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London, it has been swell.

Almost exactly five years ago today, I started this little blog called Fat Gay Vegan and to say it has taken over my life would be an understatement of epic proportions.

The blog evolved into hosting community events such as London Vegan Potluck and London Vegan Drinks. I launched a successful vegan PR company off the back of the blog and quit my job as a primary school teacher. London Vegan Beer Fest was made possible thanks to the popularity of my blog.

The past five years have been a whirlwind of blogging, events, pop ups and meeting thousands of people from all over the city, country and world.

But the only constant in life is change. It is time for me to say a temporary goodbye to the city I have called home for the past five years.

I’m leaving London and moving to Mexico City for at least six months.

Josh and I adore Mexico City. Our hearts and minds never stray too far from el Distrito Federal and the past year has been spent making plans on how we can spend more time in our favourite location on the planet.

To cut a long story short, we are heading there in January 2016 for six months.

Fat Gay Vegan will continue as a blog and my monthly advice column will appear in Vegan Life Magazine, but the regular events I am known for will of course come to a halt. You will still get all the big UK vegan news on these pages, but it will be mixed with a little more Mexican flavour.

I will be back in the future (big plans for London Vegan Beer Fest to be announced soon!) but for now it is time to say farewell.

I would love to say goodbye in person to as many readers and event attendees as possible at my final parties before I head overseas:

  • You can join me for my 3rd annual Vegan Xmas Dinner this Thursday (December 17, 2015) for a wonderful 3-course meal and lots of cheesy Christmas music. Tickets are on sale here.
  • My farewell party is taking the form of the last ever Queer Vegan Disco on Saturday January 9, 2016. This will be just two days before I fly out of London. This party is set to be huge. It is the final QVD, the monthly party people have come to adore. Buy your tickets in advance to secure your spot on the dance floor.

Thank you to every single person who has read my blog and attended my events during these past five years.

If I don’t see you at the Xmas dinner or Queer Vegan Disco, I will see you in the future.

xx

Amsterdam

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Post by:

joe panel

Just a couple of years ago, Amsterdam was pretty poor for vegan stuff. I was very surprised to discover this as Amsterdam has a reputation as being counter-cultural, alternative and free-thinking, yet there was a lack of vegan restaurants (and the vegetarian ones were pretty poor, too).

Conversely, according to my Dutch friends, the Hague has a reputation as being a boring, buttoned-up city of government workers and lawyers – yet the vegan options there were far better than in Amsterdam.

But happily, times have changed and Amsterdam now has a decent selection of vegan places, many of which have opened in the last couple of years. So let’s have a quick run around a few of them during my next few blog posts, shall we?

First, let’s visit what might be my favourite new Amsterdam eatery of our recent trip – DopHert. We’d heard good things about DopHert, so were eager to try out their menu, which had lots of tasty items on it.

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Gran Canaria

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One of the best parts of running this blog is finding out about awesome vegan things that I would never otherwise know.

Take the following as an example.

I received an email this week from a friendly person in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Jose wanted to share news with me about a vegan group he is a part of and I was super impressed, so I asked him to write the following for you all.

Carabrecol was born out of the necessity of having more vegan places around the city of Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria. The only vegan options in bars and restaurants in the city tend to be potatoes with mojo (Canarian sauce), Padron peppers and salad. So a group of friends decided to start doing vegan nights in various venues. So far we have managed to do many vegan nights, and we have sold vegan tapas at gigs and cultural events.

Carabrecol is a totally voluntary DIY project, and the organizers receive no payment. Any profits are put into a fund to do more vegan nights and to bring bands to play in Gran Canaria and Tenerife.

People seem to like the project and are supporting it very well.

To date, we have been able to bring Active Minds, Brian Curran, Kronstadt, and Zounds. Doom are coming in January, and we have more bands lined up. We are hoping that we can do more vegan nights and bring loads more bands in the future.

You can checkout our Facebook page or our website here.

Wow. How fab does this group sound?

Not for profit, vegan tapas and bands! I adore activism like this.

Make sure you check out their pages if you are heading over for a visit. Get involved if they have an event on during your stay.

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Vegan Sicily

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HUGE thanks to my friend Jo who has kindly offered us this tempting review of vegan Sicily.

Jo is someone who gets a kick out of discovering vegan food in unexpected locations and she certainly has stumbled across some gems in Sicily.

Read and be jealous!

Vegan Sicily

If anyone is looking for a vegan-friendly corner of the Mediterranean for a get-away, I can thoroughly recommend the south-east of Sicily.

The provincial capital city, Catania, is not only close to the airport (about 15 minutes by taxi, car or bus), has Mount Etna as its backdrop and is full of history but it also boasts three exclusively vegan restaurants as well as three vegetarian restaurants with extensive vegan options.

Food in this part of the world is reasonably priced and of super flavoursome. I was told that Catania was particularly vegan-friendly because it’s a university city but vegan food was pretty easy to find outside the city. Ordering a roasted vegetable sandwich or pasta ‘senza fromaggio’ seemed to raise not even a flicker of surprise.

My food highlights were:

  • ‘Seitan Alla Piestra’ (which I think translates as ‘medalions of seitan’) at Zenzero & Salvia

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  • The ‘Anthony Kiedis’ pizza (spicy seitan, tomatoes and vegan cheese) at Haiku (http://www.haiku-ct.it/). It took a while to chomp through the pizza, partly because the mushroom carpaccio starter turned out to be the equivalent of the size of a UK main course but also because the pizza was generously deep filled and automatically comes with a salad. The setting at Haiku is lovely as they have a beautiful courtyard garden. Despite being happy to slowly plough through my Anthony Kiedis whilst enjoying the lovely surroundings I couldn’t manage to finish. They very kindly offered to give me a box to take the rest home. I soon realised that these large portions are the norm in Sicily.

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Haiku also runs a small vegan shop next door to the restaurant where you can buy tofu products (including Taifun), nut milks and a vegan version of ‘nutella’

  • My meze meal of roasted aubergine, chick pea fritters and seitan schnitzel at La Cucina Dei Colori, (http://www.happycow.net/reviews/la-cucina-dei-colori-catania-23581, washed down with an unfiltered local craft beer called ‘Tari’, and followed by a very rich chocolate and pistachio mousse. This is a vegetarian restaurant but almost all of the dishes were labelled as vegan. It’s a popular restaurant and wasn’t easy to get a table.

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Other highlights include:

  • Nicosia Winery’s ‘Nero D’Avola’ wine – made from grapes grown in the Etna valley. They sell a red and white wine both labelled as organic and vegan and can be bought in supermarkets.

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  • Stecco Natura: they sell a large range of vegan ice lollies and have branches in Catania, Taormina and Syracuse. My favourite was the ‘mandorla’ (almond) flavour. Other Gelateria sold vegan gelato and the Sicilian ‘granita’ (a bit like more natural tasting slush puppy).

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  • ‘Latte di mandorla’: this is a traditional home-made almond milk drink made as a spring and summer cooler drink from almonds grown locally and served in cafes and bars. Some are sweetened with honey though so you need to check
  • Maccu – a traditional ‘peasant’ dish made of fava beans and wild fennel. It’s like a thick soup served with pasta;
  • Vegan ‘artisan’ chocolate in Modica

My food highlight though has to be Moon restaurant in Syracuse (http://www.moonortigia.com). Not only is it a beautifully-styled restaurant (it felt a bit like sitting in a contemporary art gallery) with a fantastically chilled ambiance and right in the centre but all the dishes are vegan. I had the most delicious seitan ‘kebab’ and almond parfait for desert. They also serve the Nero D’Avola wine and the restaurant doubles as a music venue in the evenings.

kebab

desert

Thank you, Jo!

I’m sure I’m not alone in being amazed by these glorious vegan food options in Sicily.

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Winning with waffles

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Post by:

Caitlin panel

The latest addition to Barcelona’s growing vegan scene comes in the form of Väcka, a completely vegan and partly raw restaurant with a Swedish name and Argentine owners.  Väcka, which means ‘waking up’ in Swedish, centres its philosophy around awakening compassion and awareness of healthy eating.

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Special guest

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Here is some news that has me grinning from ear to ear.

Some people are effective activists. Some people are powerful public speakers. Occasionally, you will find people who possess both of these attributes. Even rarer? Someone with these skills who is also an absolute dream to be around due to the fact they are incredibly friendly, personable and charming.

Yes, I’m talking about Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

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To say I am often blown away by Colleen’s capacity for compassion and her ability to powerfully disseminate information is an understatement. I could listen to her talk for hours.

And this news I speak of?

Imagine my absolute joy to be able to announce Colleen Patrick-Goudreau as a very special guest on the 100% vegan cruise I am a part of this Winter on the Danube.

This 6-night cruise between Germany and Austria was already a fabulous situation. All inclusive with only vegan food and drink served on board. Shore stops in some of the most gorgeous and scenic cities in Europe. My annual New Year’s Eve party hosted on the ship as it is docked in Vienna.

And now Colleen!

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More than half the cabins have already been booked for this historic cruise and with Colleen on board, I would imagine the remaining suites will move quickly.

You can go here to read more about the cruise.

Visit Colleen Patrick-Goudreau online, like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter and Instagram. You will fall in love with her insightful, engaging videos and informative podcasts. Guaranteed!

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Electric bicycles

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You all know about the vegan cruise I am a part of over New Year’s Eve. You cannot possibly have escaped my excitement. (If you have, click here for more info)

I just found out some extra information for those of you who have already booked a cabin on the cruise down the Danube.

The ship we are travelling on includes electricity assisted bicycles that can be used during shore stops. You can cycle around some of the gorgeous towns and cities we visit!

Also, there are these super nifty GPS and information devices for passengers that are pre-loaded with guided tours, directions and cruise commentary. Check out the video below.

The video shows both the bikes and the handheld devices.

I thought I couldn’t be more excited for this cruise, but I am now!

Go here to read about the cruise and here to book one of the remaining cabins.

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