Super quick post for people looking for a vegan job.
Yes. The details are above but if you can’t access the image, Bex wants you to phone her on 07515 176 341 if you are looking for part time employment in Glasgow.
That is all.
Until next time. xx
Vegan in Aberdeen
Two things I would like you to consider.
- £1 or £2 is not a lot of money. You can spare a few quid right this very moment, most likely.
- We have the collective power to help bring independent, community-focussed vegan businesses to life if we work together.
OK.
I would like to ask a favour of each and every person who reads this post. Please click here right now to donate whatever you can to the Bonobo Kickstarter campaign. The team behind Bonobo are opening the ONLY vegan cafe in Aberdeen, Scotland. It’s a big deal.
Bonobo has been running as a series of pop up events for one year, but now the founding group has decided to transform their business into a cooperatively owned and operated vegan cafe that will also function as a community hub for gigs, meetings and events.
To help with first month rental, kitchen equipment and other associated costs, Bonobo needs to raise £12,000.
They have already raised just over £3,500.
It is crucial that we put our money where our mouths are and support endeavours like Bonobo. This cafe is allowing six people to be employed in vegan work within their community, on their own terms and with so much scope to benefit local people.
Throw some money in the pot. Can you spare £1. Most people I know can afford £1. If you have more money at your disposal, put £5 or £10 forward to help strengthen opportunities for vegans in Aberdeen.
C’mon. Let’s get them financed and fighting fit. Donate now and spread this link.
You can also follow Bonobo on Facebook.
Goat Cafe
I got a message from my friend Anna this morning saying, “Sue, have you seen the Goat Café drama?” to which I responded, “No, Sue. What going on?”.
Firstly, we call each other Sue. It’s an Abigail’s Party thing.
If you are not aware, Goat Café is possibly the only fully vegan eatery in the northern town of Huddersfield.
But the drama?
In a bizarre Facebook exchange with a handful of customers, the person in charge of their social media abused and berated some customers.
By abused, I mean:
- asking how soon someone will die
- calling names such as ‘fucking control freak’
- responding to criticism with ‘fuck you and fuck your plans’
And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Reports are online of the Goat Café social media person also taking the argument and name-calling onto personal Facebook pages of customers including one instance of them using the term ‘fucking cocks’ to describe people voicing their concerns.
The backlash from the local and online vegan community has been swift and brutal.
The café has seen it’s star approval rating on Facebook plummet with more than 300 one star reviews being posted since the conflict commenced.
I don’t completely understand what started the tirade of abuse, but a lot of the conflict seems to surround a post by the Goat Café in which they expressed their plans to stop accepting credit cards and social media in their business.
This somehow turned into a particularly nasty exchange with a customer who had previously complained about a meal that wasn’t to her liking. You can see references to all of this on the Goat Facebook page (it might take a bit of sifting through as I believe the café has started deleting its older posts related to the situation).
The Goat Café serves an incredibly valuable purpose for Huddersfield and the surrounding area. I hear of vegans travelling from nearby towns once a week as it is the only place where they can be assured a 100% vegan menu.
My two visits to the café have been welcoming with solid food choices.
Whatever is happening to their team internally to result in this situation, I genuinely hope they sort it out not only for their own sake but for the valuable contribution their café and food make to the community.
Also, I don’t like seeing people attacked verbally. It’s not OK and rightfully people won’t stand for it. I have concerns for the owners who have always presented as kind and approachable. This behaviour appears completely out of character. I have concerns for the workers at the café and their job security.
Abusing people and name-calling on the Internet doesn’t fly in this day and age, least of all when the abuse is directed at your customers. People will shut your business down or at least work extremely hard to make it happen.
Hoping for the best but fearing the worst for Goat Café. Another drink, Sue?
Waffle sandwich delight
Boring sandwiches are redundant.
Waffle sandwiches are the future!
My buddy Ricardo and I visited one of the best vegan eateries in Mexico City earlier today, Vegamo. This place is packed solid with delicious dishes and cool drinks. I just can’t get enough of it and the owner are the friendliest people you could hope to meet.
Today I decided to not do my usual trick of playing it safe. I have a habit of always getting the same thing, but I pushed myself to take a leap.
And I am beyond glad I did. Please pay due respect to these AMAZING waffle sandwiches that Ricardo and I scoffed down.
Yep. They tasted as fab as they look.
I know most of my readers aren’t heading to Mexico City anytime soon, but I wanted to share in the hope of spreading waffle sandwich hysteria far and wide. I wanna see homemade waffle sandwiches flooding social media.
Extra note: my sandwich was called Yoda and the waffle dough was coloured/flavoured with spinach. Divine. Ricardo went for the Chewbacca.
Extra extra note: Ricardo is the extremely talented designer of the Vegan Beer Fest UK posters/logos for last year and he is set to once again design them all in 2017. Yay for talent!
Exclusive vegan Valentine dinner
One of the best decisions I made before leaving London for this latest six month stay in Mexico was to visit Paradise Unbakery in Kensal Rise.
The café was beautifully decorated and the food was superb. You can see my original blog post here.
Enough reminiscing. On with the future and the future at Paradise Unbakery is all about Valentine’s Day.
You really should book tickets for this exclusive event taking place on February 14, 2017.
The exclusive set menu reads like a dream:
- Strawberry Kombucha Mocktail
- Mermaid Platter: Raw Gnocchi OR Cooked Polenta, both with Loch carrot, “caviar” and “scallops”
- Burger: Raw burger in a raw turmeric bun OR BBQ jackfruit burger in a focaccia bun. Both with veggies, cashew cheese, side salad and roast sweet potato or raw crisps
- Raw Dessert for Two: a plate of two raw heart cakes and raw chocolate to share
As you can see, you can choose from raw or cooked options for some of the courses. Once you book your tickets, the café will get in touch to ask for your preference.
Tickets are priced at £32 each (plus booking fee). Additional drinks will be available to buy on the night plus you are permitted to bring your own beer or wine. Paradise Unbakery will supply the glasses!
This dinner sounds divine and I’m so happy to see a stunning vegan event like this happening in a part of London that doesn’t normally get a lot of plant-based heat.
Click here to book your spots for this special vegan Valentine event.
You can also let friends/lovers know you are going on the Facebook event page.
Vegan eggs
Here is the shortest blog post I have ever done.
Vegan Easter eggs. Flavours? Orange, original and bunnycomb. Chocolate buttons included.
In a lot of UK stores and supermarkets from now.
Visit Moo Free Chocolate online.
Vegan Vietnamese food in London
How about this tasty news?!
Liz and Joe are a couple with big plans for their brand new vegan food stand being launched at The Boiler House in Brick Lane on February 25, 2017.
What’s so special about ANOTHER vegan food stall in that part of London? Take a deep breath as I tell you Eat Chay is a 100% plant-based Vietnamese food stall!
Before I show you some mouthwatering food photos, take a look at how the Eat Chay menu is going to work.
That all sounds RIDICULOUSLY fabulous.
Now for the photos. Vietnamese coffee and tea. Korean meat-free ribs. Start planning your first meal with Eat Chay now.
Be sure to follow Eat Chay on Twitter and Instagram. Plus, get all their details online.
Get down for the grand opening on February 25 and then visit Eat Chay each and every weekend following that at The Boiler House.
Extra note: neither Liz or Joe are vegan but have decided to invest all of their efforts into a 100% vegan food business. Interesting.
Vegan store now delivering
There are so many things to love about Sheffield and home delivery from this wonderful vegan grocery store can be added to the list.
The Incredible Nutshell is one of the most well-stocked vegan stores I’ve seen. I’ve picked up some fabulous plant-based food from them that I haven’t seen anywhere else on my travels.
Sheffield is an extremely fortunate city to have this store and things just got better with the launch of their home delivery service.
Yes, that’s right.
If you live in Sheffield, you can shop online with The Incredible Nutshell and have your groceries delivered. The line up of products is impressive and includes chilled, frozen, cleaning products, snacks and so much more.
The wonderful Jez who works in the store told me the first orders are set to roll out from Monday February 13, 2017 and if the service proves popular, they will look into offering the service to nearby towns.
This is great news for anyone with access requirements that make store visits difficult and for people with work hours that don’t match store hours.
Click here to browse the online shop.
Vegan and half vegan
OK. This is taking ‘meat reducer’ too literally.
A new UK food company is pushing what appears to be vegan meat replacements as well as products that are half meat and half vegetable protein.
LOL.
I’m always keen to promote new vegan meats, but Hooba Foods seem to be chasing a bizarre niche market that I’m not sure even exists.
The list of their vegan products include mince, meatballs and burgers. From the look of the info on the website, the main ingredient is mushroom. You can see the entire vegan-suitable range online here.
So that is the vegan range out of the way.
Now, about this 50/50 range.
Hooba market their 50/50 range as being ‘all the taste but half the meat’. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know anybody who eats meat who would knowingly eat a burger or sausage made with 50% meat.
I find this a very unusual product. Are there meat eaters out there that could be swayed with these half and half products? Would they work as a transitioning tool in order to help get people to stop eating animals completely?
Will you be recommending the 50/50 products to omnivores in your life? Will you try the vegan products by Hooba?
Extra note: Thanks to reader Stephanie for bringing this brand to my attention.
Decadent vegan cakes
Berkshire.
I don’t know much about you. You’ve got Windsor Castle. You are west of London. I think The Office was set in your surrounds.
And you have a vegan bespoke celebration cake maker to call your very own.
Tiny Sarah’s Cakes is the stuff of sugar-filled dreams. The first time I looked through her photos on Facebook, I kept trying to think of an excuse to order a cake of my own. Surely I could find someone to marry or I could adopt a baby?!
Take a look at some of these creations and you will understand my emotional reaction.
Sarah is a French-trained baker and cake decorator. She recently became vegan and of course decided to turn her newly-established special order cake business 100% plant-based.
As you can see, Sarah’s cakes are extremely intricate so they can’t be shipped but she is willing to talk about shipping cookies and brownies to you if you are in the UK.
Otherwise, if you need one of her glorious vegan celebration creations you need to arrange to collect it from her in Bracknell, Berkshire. I’d say a drive to Berkshire would make your wedding or party perfect with one of these cakes.
I am in awe and I want to start seeing photos of cakes you all have specially ordered.
Go to Tiny Sarah’s Cakes online and like the Facebook page. Lots of photos can be seen on her Instagram.