Hackney Down Vegan Market September 23

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Just dropping by (who am I kidding – I live here) to let you know about the line up for Hackney Downs Vegan Market as it celebrates becoming a weekly event on Saturday September 23, 2017.

Check out this fabulous line up:

  • Big V London – burgers from the edge of paradise that are changing the way London eats
  • Young Vegans – the finest vegan pies in London from the nicest people in the city
  • Vegan Delice – delectable treats from one of the best vegan baked goods businesses in the UK
  • Hell Yum! – outstanding vegan ice cream and ice cream cookie sandwiches
  • Club Mexicana – a special ONE DAY ONLY mach n cheese menu
  • The Cashew Family – some of the finest gourmet vegan cheese in the UK
  • Vega Mama – be prepared to be bowled over by warm jackfruit curry and take home tubs of vegan tuna!
  • Vogococo – irresistible raw chocolate and energy balls
  • The Cane Press – freshly squeezed sugar cane drink available with or without rum
  • Just Fab – the famous vegan Italian restaurant visits us with panelle, arancini and vegan tiramisu!

I can’t tell you how excited I am to launch weekly and even more so when I look over that list.

I mean, come on. Sugar cane juice and rum!

RSVP to the Facebook event here and invite all your friends.

Join FGV for a bubbly and cake party

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London. You are not just getting a few more vegan establishments opening lately.

You are being completely OVERRUN by some of the best vegan food outlets on the planet.

My friend Vanessa Almeida is opening her gorgeous vegan café in Shoreditch following on from years of running pop ups and residencies around the capital.

The lease is signed on the shop and I’m sitting inside right now as people paint furiously around me. It’s so thrilling to see Vanessa’s hard work and dedication to good vegan food finally paying off.

I’m working with Vanessa to raise some funds to ensure her Essential Vegan Café gets off to the best start possible. We are running a fundraising campaign to help pay for equipment costs, legal fees, paint, stock, furniture, and the countless expenses associated with opening a world class café in one of the most expensive cities on the planet.

If you think you have an idea of how expensive it is to open a business in London, I’d hazard a guess that your figure would be nowhere close to the reality.

I am trying to help Vanessa raise £30,000 to safeguard her business beyond opening. Most of the money is coming from Vanessa and her husband Neni, but they need a little bit of help from team vegan.

Essential Vegan Café is set in a stunning space just off Shoreditch High Street and it is the perfect location to showcase Vanessa’s Brazilian inspired menu that features seitan burgers, cheese bread and artisan coffee.

Of course there are a whole bunch of rewards on offer if you are able to support Vanessa’s campaign, but the one reward I’m most interested in telling you about today is the opening night party hosted by me!

If you donate £40 to the Essential Vegan Café fundraising campaign you can choose a ticket to the opening night party on Saturday September 30, 2017.

There are three separate sessions to join:

  • 6:00pm until 7:30pm
  • 7:30pm until 9:00pm
  • 9:00pm until 10:30pm

The ticket includes entry to the party where you will enjoy:

  • Free vegan bubbly to drink
  • A slice of cake (you get to choose from a selection!)
  • An Essential Vegan tote bag
  • Sneak preview of the café’s new menu before anyone else in London
  • 10% off your bill if you want to order food at the party

This is a very special event to help support a very special person. You will not meet anyone on the vegan scene who has worked as hard as Vanessa.

Join me for a party, eat some cake, drink some bubbles AND support an independent vegan business. It is going to be the MOST FUN.

Click here to see all of the rewards. If you can’t make the party launch, perhaps you will be tempted by some of the other rewards such as gourmet vegan cheese, private dining experiences and more.

Vegan cheese at Pizza Hut UK

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If you are a vegan on the Internet this week, you will have probably read the news regarding a vegan cheese trial taking place at some Pizza Hut locations in the UK.

Here are the basics.

Pizza Hut customers can visit a handful of restaurants between October 2nd until November 26th, 2017 and ask for their pizza to be made with vegan cheese.

The stores taking part in the trial are:

  • Pizza Hut CANTERBURY ​
  • Pizza Hut CRAWLEY
  • Pizza Hut THANET
  • Pizza Hut BLUEWATER
  • Pizza Hut CHATHAM

The vegan pizza options are limited to dine in only. No takeaway at the moment. It is also important to note that the gluten free base at Pizza Hut is not currently suitable for vegans. You can see all the other ingredients the company lists as vegan on their website by clicking here.

I wanted to give you a few more insights into how and why this trial came about, so I reached out to the person responsible.

Pedro Zúñiga is the founder of Coffee & Cheese, an incredible vegan cheese, vegan meat and coffee distribution company. I wrote about how you can buy bulk Violife from Pedro back here on my blog.

Pedro has singlehandedly manoeuvred this trial with Pizza Hut and is supplying the cheese through his company.

Here is what he had to say about the trial.

FGV: Which Violife product are you supplying for the Pizza Hut trial?

Pedro: They will use the new Violife Grated for Pizza we are introducing to all our customers in the next few days. We will have them available in 11x200g formats for shops and 1kg bags for caterers.

FGV: How excited are you? What positive effects it will have?

Pedro: From a personal point of view, I feel like this is a little step towards a more compassionate world, and it proves that even large non-vegan companies can no longer ignore the vegan community. Don’t get me wrong, I sill would much rather have a Protein Punch on a Turmeric base from PickyWops, but if your non-vegan friends or family happen to take you to Pizza Hut, it’s good to know that you have a vegan option there as well.

From a professional point of view, it shows that we are capable of making changes to large mainstream chains while keeping our vegan identity and being a small independent vegan company. This is encouraging for all independent vegan businesses, and reminds us that we can trigger changes even if we are small, and even more so if we work together and support each other. If we make our voices heard in this short trial period, they will roll out to a permanent, nationwide vegan cheese supply at all 330 Pizza Hut Restaurants in the UK. Takeaways aren’t involved yet, but this may also happen in the future if it goes well in the Restaurants.

You can show your support for Pedro’s hard work by visiting his website and following him on Facebook and Twitter.

Hackney Downs Vegan Market weekly

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You asked for it so we made it happen.

Hackney Downs Vegan Market is now a weekly event!

Fat Gay Vegan and EAT WORK ART are thrilled to announce the transformation of London’s best vegan street food market from a monthly event to a WEEKLY one.

There is no need to wait an agonising month to get your fill of delicious comfort food. Starting Saturday September 23rd, 2017 and going forward each and every Saturday, Hackney Downs Studios will be home to the finest collection of vegan traders in London.

Hackney Downs Vegan Market is the original and the best. It’s brought to you by a vegan in order to help vegan businesses. This is your weekly community market and entry is free.

Stay tuned for product giveaway news and updates taking place at the market.

Best vegan breakfast

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I’m constantly on the hunt for the best cooked vegan breakfast in the UK and I think I’ve found a strong contender.

Teatime Collective in Manchester is a wonderful place for comfort food, cake and ice cream but I had never tried their all-day breakfast until this weekend.

It was stunning.

It had all the components of a vegan fry up including a potato cake! Also, if your fry up doesn’t have beans and toast, don’t even talk to me.

Have you tried this breakfast? How does it rate compared to your favourite?

You can follow Teatime Collective on Instagram.

FGV ice cream

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Here is a super quick post to let you know about one of the biggest honours of my life.

The Ice Shack vegan ice cream parlour in Manchester is serving a Fat Gay Vegan flavour!

The mojito flavour is packed with lime and is incredibly creamy.

Of course the FGV mojito is not the only reason to visit this ice cream shop, but it is a damn fine one. So is the salted caramel ice cream, the dozens of flavours of handmade truffles, and the ever rotating selection of ice creams.

Follow Ice Shack on Instagram.

Beer list for Manchester Vegan Beer Fest

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Take a look at this SOLID beer list lined up for Manchester Vegan Beer Fest this Saturday and then buy a ticket for just £4 online (£8 on the door).

The selection is spread across keg, cask and can offerings. Start planning your drinking now. We will give you a tick sheet on the day to help you keep track.

Bad Seed Brewery

Ain’t Bright 5.0% ABV Collaboration with North Riding Brewery. New England Pale. Ultra hazy, juicy pale ale with soft mouth feel and tropical juice character from Citra, Mosaic and experimental BRU-1 hops

Dalliance 4.0% ABV Cascade hopped pale – fresh flavours of grapefruit, lychee & citrus from the hop that started the craft beer movement

Hefeweizen 5.1% Award winning German style wheat beer with notes of banana and clove. Light and refreshing

Jungle Juice 4.6% ABV Collaboration with Heavy Industry. New England Hopfenweisse. German wheat beer yeast meets a huge dry hop combo including El Dorado, Sorachi Ace, Ekuanot and Jarlingo. Plus just a touch of Lemon Peel to add to the tropical fruit salad

Pond Hopper 4.2% ABV Transatlantic Red Ale. Rich ruby malt base acts as a perfect backdrop for the firework display of English and American hops. Jester, Chinook & Cascade brings a wild tropical fruit flavour with a citrus & grapefruit aroma

Session IPA 4.0% ABV Easy drinking, full on hop flavour. Zythos, Jester & Chinook hops combine to give flavours of tropical fruit, citrus, grapefruit, lychee & pine

Brass Castle Brewery

Brass Lager 5.3% ABV A moreish malt-forward Vienna lager with a characteristic brass hue and aromas of caramel, toffee and lemon. Medium body with a minimal head. Smooth, fruity finish

Disruptor 7.4% ABV Hoppy and hazy New England style double IPA, complex and silky with strong hops

Helles Lager 4.4% ABV Refreshing Munich-style light lager. Winner of the SIBA UK National Champion Lager award 2017! Refreshing and crisp Helles with a medium-sweet finish. Aromas of toffee, grains and floral notes. GLUTEN FREE

Hopped Cider 6.0% ABV A hop-infused cider! The best of both worlds

Hoptical Illusion 4.3% ABV Mini-IPA with tropical hop flavours and a magical secret – it contains neither barley nor wheat malt! This beer is brewed with the African grain sorghum with aromas of pine, mango, pineapple and syrup. GLUTEN FREE

Sunshine IPA 5.7% ABV A North Yorks version of the fashionable US West Coast hop-forward IPA. Bitterness is balanced by malt sweetness in our IPA and dry-hopping rounds out the aroma. Multiple hop types in this one, to justify the ‘sunshine-in-a-glass’ claim.!! GLUTEN FREE

Vociferous Agreement 10% ABV a triple IPA brewed in collaboration with Wilde Childe Brewing. A dark amber body with a thick head. Fruity spiced orange flavour with a big hop finish

Orchards of Husthwaite Gold Cider 5.5% ABV Medium-dry, full-bodied cider GLUTEN FREE

Orchards of Husthwaite Galtres Katy 6.0% ABV Medium-sweet, single variety blush cider GLUTEN FREE

Brass Castle have also stocked the nightclub bar with a selection of vegan wines and soft drinks

Heavy Industry Brewing

77 4.9% ABV CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain 2016 Gold Medal winner (strong bitters category) – A big amber IPA style beer brewed with the finest pale and crystal malts dark – Seville marmalade is backed up by a piney, peppery bitterness

La Vie en Rose 4.0% ABV A Delicate Hibiscus sour with a mixed fermentation and berry notes.Dry Hopped

Le Boulet D’Or D’Amour 5.4% ABV A dry hopped fruity saison, pale refreshing and spicy

Moral Panic 8.2% ABV Double IPA Served through a hop rocket for even more Citra

Pigeon Toed Orange Peel 5.2% ABV A cloudy orange hefeweissen style beer brewed with the finest Pale and Wheat malts. Featuring Mandarina Bavaria hops. Notes of cloves, pears and pineapple underlay a big freshly squeezed orange taste

Twisted Barrel Ales

Beast of a Midlands Mild 3.5% ABV A traditional Midlands style mild made using a complex variety of malts to provide a rich, textured backbone that belies its minimal strength. The addition of vanilla pods provides a creamy finish and aroma

Detroit Sour City 4.0% ABV A thirst quenching, fruity sour beer. Kettle soured for a deliciously tart acidity, then dry hopped with Rakau and Equinox hops for a tropical citrus flavour

Raspberry Ripple Sour 3.5% ABV A base of Pilsner, Oats and Wheat, kettle soured with Lactobacillus Plantarum and fermented with 20kg of raspberry puree and vanilla pods, for a deliciously refreshing raspberry ripple ice cream like effect

Saison From Another Place 5.5% ABV a Belgian farmhouse ale, brewed with dried elderflower & peppercorns for a floral, spicy flavour that blends with the characteristics of the funky Belgian yeast

Tongo 6.0% ABV A Rakau hop stand provides a delicious nectarine flavour that pairs delightfully with the fruity, peppery characteristics of the saison yeast. Made in collaboration with Blackjack Brewery in Manchester and The Wolf Pub in Birmingham

Wake Up Juicy 8.0% ABV The worlds of Belgian Tripel and modern DIPA collide. We’ve taken our immensely popular Tripel recipe and hopped it to DIPA levels with an intoxicating blend of Mosaic, Denali and Equinox hops

There will also be an amazing selection of food offerings thanks to V Rev Vegan Diner, Mother May I, Sgaia Vegan Meats, The Vegan Food Pod and Moodley Manor.

Vegan waffles in London

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London, it’s your time to get Waffled.

Waffled tell me they are all about reinventing the waffle into a delicious savoury meal. That was enough to make me thrilled to book them for Hackney Downs Vegan Market this Saturday (September 16, 2017).

Who doesn’t love a good waffle?

Waffled products are mostly allergen free (they do contain contain tahini and garlic), 100% vegan and always gluten free.

The business serves 3 flavours of waffles which they turn into delicious dishes: 1) Falafel (chick peas + coriander) – they don’t deep fry the falafel, just waffle iron it 2) Buckwheat and rice flakes 3) Millet and oats (can also be made into a sweet option served with watermelon, banana barriers and organic maple syrup)

The waffles are complimented by 4 sauces/pastes guacamole made on the spot, aubergine-sweet pepper spicy sauce, home-made hummus, and beetroot-butter squash.

They also serve waffled vegan haloumi salad (made from drained tofu and marinated in a blend of spices making it taste like haloumi) garnished with pomegranate molasses and watermelon.

If you are excited about Waffled, give them a follow on Instagram and get along to Hackney Downs Vegan Market this Saturday.

Vegan pizza in Elephant

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I’ve been blogging lately about some of the vegan changes taking place at the shipping container complex known as The Artworks in Elephant & Castle.

There is Cupcakes & Shhht that has recently turned vegan, as well as an Ethiopian restaurant called Beza that has a vegan menu alongside its non-vegan menu.

To add to this vegan choice at The Artworks, I discovered today that the onsite pizza restaurant called Elephantastic Pizza has a whole bunch of vegan options for plant-based diners.

They even use Violife cheese for the vegan pizzas!

Check out my selection below and get along for good vegan eating in the Elephant soon.

Vegan with Shakespeare

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Vegan food is everywhere.

I’ve reported on fancy restaurants launching plant-based menus all over the planet. We’ve got more vegan fast food places in London than I could have imagined five years ago. Heck, I even dine in style on a 100% vegan cruise each year.

This saturation of vegan dining options leaves me feeling as though nothing could surprise me with plant-based developments.

I just found out I can be surprised.

You can now enjoy a three-course vegan meal in the rooftop restaurant or a vegan afternoon tea complete with scones, vegan hot dogs and croissants in the café of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Yes. Shakespeare just got vegan-friendly.

The most arguably famous theatre company on the planet now caters for vegans.

Afternoon tea sounds like a delight, especially when you consider the option for high tea featuring champagne and chocolate dipped fruit. You can click here to see the afternoon tea menu and check out the photos below.

The afternoon tea menu impresses, but the three-course vegan menu in the rooftop restaurant also caught my attention.

A thoughtful, high quality three-course meal for £26 in such a gorgeous setting is wonderful news. Click here to see the current menu items available for the three-course dining option.

The three-course dining option is a pre-theatre option and is served Monday until Saturday.

If you don’t know where the theatre company and restaurant are located, click here to get a better idea thanks to Google Maps.

OK. Now it’s time for your best Shakespeare-related vegan puns and jokes in the comments.

Extra note: all photos used for this blog were taken by Sara Beaumont of Sara Beaumont Photography.