Vegan

Vegan knowledge is power

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How’s this for a UK first? You can book a tour of the giant Whole Foods Market store on Kensington High Street and you will be led around the complex for approximately an hour by their in-house Healthy Eating Specialist.

Oh, did I forget to mention that the specialist is a super friendly vegan named Maura? How cool is that?

Maura is in charge of all the cooking demos and food education that take place in the Kensington store. As a vegan, she makes sure plant based eating is front and centre of everything she does.

I recently booked a tour with Maura and was impressed by how she was able to personalise the experience for me. She really explored the vegan options available for me based around my love of quick meals and snacks (and maybe some beer). Maura pointed out products that matched my love of food and she often referred to my ethical choices. I didn’t feel like my health was being questioned and the nutrition information was pitched just right. I was interested in everything she showed me.

That’s not to say that she wouldn’t be able to cater for the health-conscious vegans out there. Maura explained how she loves to talk with store visitors about making the most out of the bulk section, vegan food nutrition, cooking vegan food from scratch and how she can even email you follow up recipes based on ingredients you discuss with her in store.

Maura of Whole Foods Market
Maura of Whole Foods Market

It really is a fantastic experience being taken around such a huge supermarket by a vegan food specialist. There is no pushing animal products. Maura is completely relaxed and helpful. The tour is flexible enough to feel inclusive for long term and new vegans alike.

The tour costs nothing and there is no pressure to buy anything at the end.

Maura of course welcomes non-vegans to tour the store with her. It is such a great way for people teetering on the edge of veganism to get a helping hand. This would be a perfect blog post to pass on to those people in your life who you know could be comfortable with vegan food if they just had a little more information.

Maura is definitely the person with that info.

Email Kensington@wholefoodsmarket.com if you are keen on taking the tour with Maura.

Cheap as chocolate

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It is a wonderful time of year. A time of year I always look forward to with great anticipation. No, not spring. It’s time for discounted vegan chocolate.

Here are two delights I picked up this week in the post-Easter sales.

How about you? What have you found in the chocolate bargain bins this week?

What was good? What was amazing?

Raw in Camden

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I was about to start this post by saying another week sees the appearance of another vegan food market stall, but I think they are popping up faster than one a week in London.

Rawwwsome is kind of unique, though.

The fabulous Steph has started this super cute stall right in the heart of Camden Lock Market. It is packed with incredibly healthy (and tasty!) handmade raw treats such as mint chocolate brownies, raspberry cheesecakes and banoffee bites.

Steph told me she is having a great time exposing this type of food to the mostly non-vegan punters of the market. During my visit, I counted almost a dozen curious people stop by to taste the samples on offer and every single one of them looked and sounded impressed.

And so was I. Everything I ate was gorgeous. Check out the photos below.

Get down to Camden Lock Market and eat all the raw treats from Rawwwsome. Follow Steph on Twitter. It might be a good idea to double check with her before you head down that she will be there. I think she is currently at the market most Fridays and Saturdays.

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Ticket info

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Can you believe it has been almost a year since London Vegan Beer Fest first stormed into our lives? What an event!

Beer was guzzled. BBQ food was devoured. Merchandise was snapped up. Karaoke classics were gloriously murdered. We certainly had a lot of fun and now it is time to do it all over again.

LVBF Logo 2014 550pxFat Gay Vegan (that’s me) is thrilled to present London Vegan Beer Fest 2014.

When I decided to put this event together, it was difficult to imagine getting through the first year but now here I am ready to celebrate the second edition in 2014.

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I overdid it at the soda shop

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Here is some quick and tasty news for you.

Buy vegan soda in London that is delicious!

I have been hearing good things about new(ish) soda company Square Root and was keen to get it on my chubby tastebuds. This Hackney-based company make all their drinks by hand from seasonal ingredients and they sell them from a gorgeous vintage tricycle fitted out with taps from which they pour the tasty liquid.

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Not just falafel

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I’m not going to pretend the food in Just Falafel even comes close to my favourite eating place in London, Mr Falafel, but I will say they do a fabulous job of making vegans feel like they have another friend out in the wilds of the big city.

Just Falafel is relatively new to London, with a handful of franchise locations popping up recently as well as the corporately-owned outlet on Fulham Broadway. It was the Fulham branch that I first stumbled into and I was pleased I did.

The menu clearly states what is suitable for vegans and the manager of the store was more than happy to talk me through how they could veganise other items. I was attracted to an Egyptian falafel wrap with a side order of fries.

The fries were delicious and delivered in a super cute mini deep fryer basket. I was grinning from ear to ear. Potato is my life and Just Falafel on Fulham Broadway knew what they were doing with the good stuff.

The wrap was good, but certainly not overwhelming. I would rate it 7 out of 10. If I was in the area and hungry, I would definitely buy it again. I wouldn’t travel for it. I would travel for the fries, however.

Curiously, Josh and I visited the Just Falafel outlet in Covent Garden and were slightly less impressed. Josh actually said he would not go back and he works just a few minutes away. I was surprised by how different the experience was compared to the Fulham location. The Covent Garden fries were left unfinished by the two of us. That speaks volumes.

Now, back to the good stuff.

Check out my photos from the Fulham Broadway Just Falafel. I recommend eating there if you are in the area.

meal store

Vegan art competition

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You London vegans are so greedy.

You are not satisfied with being able to eat vegan fish and chips in multiple locations. Having a vegan beer festival doesn’t seem to quieten you. Two huge monthly parties in the shape of London Vegan Drinks and London Vegan Potluck leave you wanting more events. More vegan cake companies than you can keep track of isn’t enough.

OK. Let’s see if this scratches that vegan itch.

Announcing a vegan art competition!

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Come see

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Here is a treat for you that requires very little reading. This post is super heavy with photos from my visit to the Natural and Organic Products Europe show that took place over the weekend at London Olympia.

It took me almost five hours to see everything and I was overwhelmed by the huge number of vegan companies and products on display.

The photos below don’t even come close to detailing the full range of cruelty-free goods at the event. I decided to include some of my favourites as well as brand new products showcased.

Is there anything that catches your attention?

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Sneak preview: UNA CITA

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My giant Mexican dinner party taking place in east London is just a few weeks away. UNA CITA is a 50 person, 3 course party featuring Mexican pop music, visuals on a big screen and a welcome cocktail that will impress.

May 9, 2014 is going to be a day for the vegan eating history books.

I popped over to the venue tonight (The Gallery Cafe in Bethnal Green) for a test run of the main dish and is was nothing short of spectacular. Check it out below.

Three taco plate

The plate features three corn tortillas filled with mouthwatering ingredients and a mound of chipotle rice in the centre. I literally pounced on my plate.

**Ingredients are supplied in part by Cool Chile Co. Follow them on Twitter where they will be giving away a pair of tickets to this event**

The three vegan tacos feature:

  • Pan seared garlic mushrooms, red salsa and diced peppers
  • Shredded cabbage, frijoles negros (black beans) and avocado
  • Chorizo, sour cream and tomatillo salsa

Everyone on the testing team tonight was blown away by the combination of flavours. This plate will be served after a starter of esquites and before a serving of hot, sweet churros with dipping chocolate. I will post photos of the other dishes as we workshop them over the next fortnight.

Buy your tickets for this special event NOW.

Follow The Gallery Cafe on Twitter.

una cita copy

Win tickets for VegFest

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I love a good giveaway. Don’t you? Of course, some giveaways are superior to others and the prize up for grabs in this competition is definitely at the higher end of the scale.

VegfestUKBristol2014PosterFinal2

You know all about VegFestUK. You are aware the Bristol chapter of this vegan lifestyle, food, education and music extravaganza has been a much loved event for over a decade. You know it is the biggest vegan show of its kind in Europe. Of course you are aware that people travel from all over the UK, Europe and the planet to attend. There isn’t a person reading this who isn’t already aware they can visit the official VegFestUK website here for all show information. I probably don’t need to tell you the event this year is spread across May 23, 24 and 25, 2014.

I won’t bore you with what you already know. Instead, here is some new information to arouse your interest.

COMPETITION

VegFestUK Bristol organisers are generously giving me the opportunity to gift two pairs of tickets to the Friday and Saturday night concerts taking place as part of this year’s event. That’s right. One lucky winner will score two tickets to the Friday night gig and two tickets to the Saturday night gig.

That’s a fab prize. Check out the talent the winner will be experiencing.

Friday May 23, 2014

VegFest UK is throwing a huge disco party featuring the Bristol Samba Band, ABBA Gold tribute band, the legendary Boney M feat. Maizie Williams and Gwen Dickey’s Rose Royce. There will also be musical action from DJ act Just a Couple of Mums.

Saturday May 24, 2014

VegFestUK goes punk on the Saturday night with live sets from Goldblade fronted by the awesome John Robb, Ruts DC and Peter Hook and the Light.

Here is how you can enter to win a pair of tickets for both nights.

Comment below telling me about your favourite musical act. Make it funny and interesting. Share tales of concert experiences, first records, obsessions gone wrong or anything related to your musical pick. Your favourite band, singer or performer does not have to be appearing at VegFestUK in order to mention them.

It is that simple. The competition will close midnight April 30, 2014. I will pick a winner based on how amusing/engaging the entry is but I’m sorry to say I can’t choose someone I work with or am friendly with already. The tickets will be sent to the winner via post from VegFestUK organisers. You will need to leave a way for me to contact you in the instance you are the winner. A link to your Twitter account would be fine.

Get entering!

Follow VegFestUK on Twitter

Like VegFestUK on Facebook