What does a vegan road trip through parts of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah look like?
I’m heading into my final day of a two-week journey travelling between Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Flagstaff and Monument Valley, so I wanted to share some of my food journey with you.
A reader tip just reached FGV headquarters and of course I’m delighted to send the information straight on to you people.
A new gourmet grilled cheese sandwich shop has opened in East London. 90° Melt is a vegetarian outlet with a HUGE amount of vegan options.
Take a look at what reader Gideon ate during a recent visit.
Well of course you can see that superstar vegan grilled cheese sandwich taking centre stage, but the photo also includes buffalo cauliflower wings hiding away in the background. Looks fab!
The menu at 98° Melt is stuffed solid with delights such as fried cheese balls, onion rings, gourmet cheese sandwich melts, soup and more. Pretty much everything being served can be veganised and you might be interested in the decadent brunch options.
This all sounds delicious, however…
As we all know, dairy is a horrendously cruel industry in which cows are repeatedly exploited until they die so I’m hoping this grilled cheese shop makes the switch to 100% vegan one day soon.
If you want to see what is on offer at 90° Melt, visit their website. You can like their Facebook page, too.
The exact location of the shop can be seen on Google Maps.
I previously posted about TheCruelty Free Shop, an Australian grocery store chain with outlets in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne as well as online shopping. You can see that post here.
The big development today is that the Melbourne store has relocated to a site which the owner claims makes it the largest vegan grocery store on the planet.
TheCruelty Free Shop website says of the launch:
We’re pleased to announce that we are opening the biggest vegan shop in the world in Melbourne on Wednesday 12 April 2017.
Our new store will have more than 3500 different vegan products with all sorts of foods including 50+ vegan cheeses, as well as fashion, cosmetics, coffee, cake, hot pies, fruit & veg, and more.
From humble beginnings, the Cruelty Free Shop started as an online store based out of Jessica Bailey’s spare room in Sydney. We now have five stores across Australia and the widest range of vegan products in the country.
Our Melbourne store has also grown over the years and it’s now bursting at the steams at its current location so we are moving it around the corner to 124 Johnston Street, Fitzroy (just a five minute walk or two minute drive from the current location).
Be sure to visit our new store to check out the 1000+ amazing new items we’ll have in stock, grab a coffee, view the Edgar’s Mission photo gallery and stock up on all the very best vegan products from local, Australian and international businesses. Every Saturday we also have free food tastings of delicious new products and old favourites.
Thank you to all our wonderful customers who have made this possible and supported us over the past 15 years.
Wow.
More than 3,500 products certainly puts this up their as the largest vegan store of which I know.
You should follow Cruelty Free Shop on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter no matter where you live in the world and take the time to wish them continued success.
If you are in Australia and would like to know the exact location of the new giant shop, click here to get the info via Google Maps.
This blog post is all about the photos. Lots and lots of photos.
Ahimsa the Vegan Café recently opened in Pinner, Middlesex (that’s part of Greater London, people) and the reports coming out of the location are nothing short of rave reviews.
The friendly team behind Ahimsa have grand plans for expanding into a chain of cafés once they are established in this West London location and judging by the glorious food photos, that expansion shouldn’t be too far away.
The 100% vegan café is all about promoting plant-based eating and the reasons they give for wanting to promote these choices are listed on their Facebook page. They want to save animals, protect the environment, work towards global food security and help people stay healthful.
Ahimsa is the first vegan café in Pinner and locals are apparently loving the menu.
I said I had a lot of photos and I wasn’t joking around.
All of these gorgeous photographs were taken by the wonderful Jade of Jade Thomas Photography. You can see samples of Jade’s work on her website.
Thanks to Jade for allowing me to use these shots. I am extremely grateful.
Not a whole lot goes on in this part of London for vegans, so I’m thrilled to see all of this incredible food being served up by the Ahimsa team.
Pret a Manger has made no secret of how ferociously they are chasing vegan money in the UK.
The giant coffee chain has opened two completely vegetarian outlets with a big focus on vegan products and now they are putting an increased effort into advertising their vegan-suitable items across all their stores.
I guess big business has well and truly discovered they can make big money from us plant eaters!
Pret is currently advertising this coconut flat white coffee at a limited number of stores with a view to rolling it out further if it proves popular.
It’s great to see a dairy-free alternative made as a stand alone menu item, not as an afterthought or substitution.
In addition, Pret has rolled out this big vegan menu for spring and some of it looks tasty.
You can expand the ‘see recipe’ fields by visiting the menu online.
What do you think of this vegan push by Pret? Have you tried any of the new items? How were they?
I can’t eat in every town on the planet, so readers sending in guest reviews and photos means this blog can report on a wider selection of experiences than would be possible if I was the only one contributing.
Take these photos from Tina as an example. When would I have ever found an opportunity to go to Skipton?
Tina sent me an email accompanied with these photos showing some of the delicious vegan food being served by The Castle Inn located in Skipton, North Yorkshire.
Check out the menu and these top food shots.
Follow The Castle Inn on Facebook and visit them soon for delicious eating.
My friend Jo has all the best news. She is always reporting back from fancy vegan restaurants and exciting events with cutting edge vegan news.
And today Jo brings some of the best news I’ve heard in ages.
Superstar vegan milk and beverage company Califia Farms out of the USA is set to launch a limited range of milks into the UK!
Living in Mexico part of the year and travelling in the USA means I have become extremely familiar with Califia Farms, especially their pecan caramel creamer (meant for coffee but I drink it straight), chocolate almond drinks and gorgeous juices.
However, it is their coffee range that looks set to splash down in the UK over the coming months with listings in Ocado and Whole Foods Market stores.
Jo spied the company at a recent UK coffee trade show and sent me the following photos.
The photo above shows the barista blended almond milk, as well as the ready to drink cold brew coffee drinks.
Califia Farms is one of the fastest-growings drinks companies in the USA and it doesn’t look like they want to slow down anytime soon.
*Buy vegan cajeta/caramel if you can find it or otherwise, use this recipe to make it
Instructions:
Empty the plant milk into a large saucepan
Add the entire cinnamon stick
Warm over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until it begins to simmer but do not boil – Remove the cinnamon stick and remove the saucepan from the heat
Add the cajeta and stir thoroughly
Add the water to the corn flour and stir vigorously until no lumps remain
Add the corn flour mixture to the saucepan and return to a low heat
Stir well and continue stirring until the mixture thickens – about 5-10 minutes
Pour into cups and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before serving
Atole is a popular and versatile drink in Mexico. Vanilla, chocolate and fruit-infused flavours are popular so experiment with different combinations. Serve with warm tamales for an extra-hearty treat on a cold night!
A legendary vegan workers’ co-operative, which has served the Manchester community for two decades (yes, 20 years), has been shortlisted for a national BBC Food and Farming award.
Unicorn Grocery in Chorlton is a fabulous store packed solid with fresh produce, locally-sourced deli foods, ciders, pantry items, personal care items and much more.
In fact, you could comfortably find everything you need for a weekly shop under their roof.
The BBC Food and Farming Awardsare broken up into several categories, with Unicorn being shortlisted in the Best Food Retailer category.
The BBC explain this category by saying:
This award celebrates the local shops making a positive difference to our lives, our high streets and communities by selling great quality, delicious and affordable food. Whether it’s a butchers or fishmongers, a bakery, deli or farm shop – we asked what is great about the food they source, the service they provide and their impact on the surrounding area.
I think it is fantastic that a completely vegan grocery store is one of just three businesses to have been nominated in this category.
We can’t do anything to help Unicorn Grocery win their category as the awards are completely judge voted, but we can send out best wishes to them via social media.
Let them know how thankful you are for the hard work they do for their community and how pleased you are to see them nominated by sending a message of support via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
