London vegan news, reviews & events
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!
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?
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.
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:
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.
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.
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
I met my cat equal last night and it was instant love.
I dropped by the house of my pal Pink Primate last night for food at a local restaurant, catching up with gossip and perusing the local stores of her neighbourhood. It was a lovely evening with friendly people, but the true highlight for me was meeting Sweeney the fat vegan cat.
We were instant best friends.
I’m hoping Pink Primate can jump into the comments below and let us know about the vegan cat food she buys. I would also love to hear from other cat-friendly people regarding their views on cats and vegan eating.
Can all cats be vegan? Is it expensive? Are there any vets that support vegan diets for domesticated cats?
I have been racking my feeble brain for a witty or whimsical way in which to announce this epic news, but I have been reduced to a quivering mess and can no longer think. I’m going to just have to come straight out and say the facts.
The best vegan cakes and desserts in the whole of Europe are now available in London.
If you have been loitering around these parts of the Internet for a few years, you should be able to recall this mammoth post I wrote about irresistible vegan cakes in Barcelona created by the magical company known as Lujuria Vegana.
Their cakes are absolutely peerless in Europe. I am a super fan.
Imagine then my sheer delight/shock/convulsions of hysteria when I was confronted by masses of Lujuria Vegana desserts sitting in the chilled fridges of the brand new Whole Foods Market location in Fulham. I almost fell over.
The range in Whole Foods is staggering in size. You can see by the photos below that I was completely unable to control myself and bought many varieties. I was overcome by a cake buying frenzy.
As far as I can tell, this particular Whole Foods Market is the ONLY place in the UK selling these gluten free and vegan desserts. I had heard whispers of them making inroads over here but this is the first time I have seen them on a store shelf.
Check out my photos (yes, I bought ALL cakes featured). Get to Fulham. Buy many cakes. Be happy.
Follow Lujuria Vegana on Twitter.
Finally. Oh, finally.
The Vegan Ice Cream Wars just got serious. Yes, we have enjoyed slurping away at chocolate, vanilla and other plain favours in the UK for years but what we desperately needed was someone to add a bit of excitement to proceedings.
Get the job done, Bessant & Drury’s.
I was waddling through Waitrose today when the familiar B&D packaging caught my eye as I passed the frozen food section. I almost passed without incident until I did a double take when I saw a magical word.
Swirl.
Yep, you got it. Vegan frozen dessert containing luscious fruit swirls all throughout. Mango swirls or coconut and raspberry swirl. Oh my!
The first photo shows the two flavours being considered while the second shows the fortunate flavour that made it back to my freezer. The raspberry is rich, decadent and lovely. I can’t wait to get back for the mango.
Good job, Bessant & Drury’s. You are winning the UK league of the Vegan Ice Cream Wars.
Click here for more tales from the frontlines of the Vegan Ice cream Wars.
It’s Tuesday. Don’t pretend you have anything interesting on. Luckily for you and your early week malady, I have news that will inspire you to leave behind EastEnders as you scuttle into the London night.
There is an incredibly inexpensive vegan supper club taking place in Dalston.
Here is the lowdown.
Vortex Downstairs Café is hosting a pop-up vegan night with guest chef Kate Abildgaard. Kate usually works at the Wild Food Café in Covent Garden but has decided to showcase her food preparation skills slightly further afield for one night only.
Wanna know what is on the vegan menu for tonight?
The pop up dining event runs from 7pm and you will need to phone 020 7923 9532 to make a booking. Oh, I almost forgot about price.
The three course vegan meal will set you back only £12. Yes. You are reading correctly.
Support vegan events. Eat cheaply. Get out of the house!
Chips. Fries. Pommes frites. Papas fritas. Frieten. Whatever name you give to it, sliced potato cooked in scalding oil and dusted with salt is my favourite food of all time. I can’t get enough of it. No seriously, I cannot get enough of it in London.
I need your help.
Where can I buy freshly cooked chips that are vegan in the capital? I don’t want fries that have been reconstituted with lard. I am not interested in thick cut chips that have been fried in the same oil as fish. Please don’t tell me about potato that is covered in chicken-flavoured salt as soon as it comes out of the basket.
I need more vegan chips in my life.
Here are some photos of my favourite chips and fries in the UK. I will be eternally grateful to anyone who can point me in the direction of any London cafes, shops, restaurants or market stalls that will do right by me and potato.
Suggestions below!
Can you remember a time when finding vegan cake in London was a struggle? Now it seems you can’t walk down the street without tripping over a piece of dairy-free sponge or accidentally eating half a dozen cupcakes. OK, that last one might be just me… and you can take out ‘accidentally’.
It seems the more cake vendors we get in the capital, the more up-and-coming bakers are inspired to get in on the act. It’s a fabulous win/win situation for fat, gay vegans and other cake aficionados.
The latest cake maker to catch my attention is the super friendly Kirsty of Garden of Vegan. Kirsty is a home baker turned business person looking to impress London with her cruelty-free cakes. She generously hand delivered a bag of her goods for me to sample and asked me to let you all know about her new business.
Here is what Kirsty had to say about getting your hands on some vegan cake:
“We began as wholesale but in an ideal world we want people to order directly from us. We are working on an online order form, but at the moment if people want to order they just email us at gofvegan@gmail.com or contact us via Facebook or Twitter and they can request a menu. Once they decide on what they want, they send us an email, we send them an invoice and they can pay on delivery.”
Kirsty also assured me she is proactively searching for cafes to sell her cakes. If you are a cafe owner or have a local hangout that could benefit from vegan cake, get in touch with Garden of Vegan.
Check out some of their creations below.