Wagamama in Amsterdam Centraal Station

by

Post by:

josh panel

I recently had to meet my elderly Dutch aunt in Amsterdam for a brief lunch before catching the train back to London. Of course Amsterdam has many vegan options but given the time constraints and accessibility concerns, I wanted something close to Amsterdam Centraal Station.

A quick search online showed that I was in luck as Wagamama has a branch inside the station and there were rumours that they had a separate vegan menu available to customers. We arrived shortly after they opened and were greeted by the friendly servers who, like everyone else I met in Amsterdam, spoke perfect English. When I asked for the vegan menu, I was delighted when the server brought this to me:

Vegan menu at Wagamama in Amsterdam Centraal Station

How great is it that they have actually taken the time to see which dishes are inherently vegan and which ones can be easily made vegan and how to do so! This is in stark contrast to the UK Wagamama restaurants where if you ask about veganism, you are shown some crusty old ring binder with all sorts of confusing charts about crustacea, grains, egg etc. Kudos to the Amsterdam branch for being on top of shit!

Yasai Itame curry at Wagamama Amsterdam Centraal Station

I played it safe and ordered what I always order at Wagamama – the Yasai Itame cury (no mushrooms, extra tofu) which is a delicious mix of rice noodles and assorted vegetables in a piquant coconut broth. It was wholly delicious and I’m terrified of ever ordering anything else at Wagamama in case it doesn’t live up to this dish.

So, if you’re in Amsterdam and in need of delicious vegan food in a hurry, pop into Wagamama and thank them for having a vegan menu.

Sainsbury’s is stepping up on veganism

by

Hey, have you all noticed the shift happening over at Sainsbury’s in regards to promoting vegan food?

Within the space of a week, the UK grocery giant has posted three vegan cooking videos to their Facebook page.

Check them out here:

Wow. Three pretty spectacular vegan recipes shared by one of the biggest retailers on the planet. They have even gotten two leading vegan food personailities to help with the videos (Heart of Cake and CookDaily).

This is a clear indication of how powerful veganism has become in the UK. These companies do not undertake anything without market research and a lot of consideration.

That they are making vegan options a big part of their current advertising campaign says volumes. Times are changing and if they don’t get on board, they are going to miss out and they know it.

In related news, Sainsbury’s have apparently teamed up with a group of scientists to redesign their store layouts to encourage customers to buy less meat.

The following is lifted from a story in The Guardian:

Oxford University scientists will work with Sainsbury’s executives in a programme that will see supermarkets redesigned. Proposals include: placing vegetarian alternatives on the same shelves as meat products; giving vouchers and loyalty points to shoppers who choose vegetarian products; and providing recipes and leaflets that outline how shoppers can eat less meat.

What do you all think of this push on plant-based consumerism by Sainsbury’s?

Vegan pop up event

by

UPDATE This event completely sold out in about 48 hours. The organisers have added five extra tickets to give people a chance who missed out. Click here to book QUICKLY! Also look for this to become a more regular event with changing food themes.

One of my favourite chefs in London is Adrian of Vegan Peasant Catering.

Together with his partner Diana, Adrian has built a peerless reputation as one of the finest vegan food caterers in the UK. I’ve collaborated with them on a few events and the food always leaves people raving.

Now is your chance to take part in the Vegan Peasant fine food experience for yourself.

I know I say this about a lot of things, but honestly if you don’t book a spot for this dinner as soon as you read this there is a HIGH chance it will be booked solid.

Thursday February 23, 2017 from 7pm until 10pm. Admission is £25.

Menu

Canapés

  • Smokey Aubergine Ganousch, Candied Lemon Zest & Sage Crisp Crostini
  • Cream Cheese, Pink Grapefruit & Garlic Chive on Buckwheat Blini
  • Black Pepper & Sea Salt Shortbread, Ricotta & Candied Fennel

Bowls

  • Sauté Wild Mushroom and Spinach with Oregano and Cherry Tomato Concasse over
    Gnocchi, finished with curly Endive and Basil oil
  • Balsamic Glaze Roasted Beetroots, Red Onion, Carrots and Toasted Walnut over Bulgur
    Wheat Salad finished with warmed Horseradish Sauce and Parsley

Sweet bites

  • Frutti di Bosco (Italian Fruit of the Forest)
  • Chocolate Chocolate Brownies

A welcome drink is provided on arrival and additional drinks will be available to purchase. This exclusive event is in the Hackney Central area close to Hackney Central Overground and Homerton Station. Attendees will receive directions and details within 48 hours of the event.

Click here to book now.

Follow Vegan Peasant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You should also get in touch with them for any large scale vegan catering needs you have as they have fed up to 300 people with mouthwatering plant-based food.

Vegan donuts in Amsterdam

by

Amsterdam is full of vegan surprises.

Such as vegan donuts in a non-vegan donut shop.

Tasty Donuts is a donut and coffee chain with outlets in Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Slovakia.

Each Tasty Donuts shop has one of their trays dedicated to vegan donuts. As you can see in the photos above, there are four flavours from which to choose including one called Blacky(?!).

The Amsterdam outlet didn’t have a whole lot left on the vegan shelf when I visited late in the day, however what they did have was extremely tasty.

You can visit the Tasty Donuts website to discover all the locations.

Non-vegan café switching to vegan

by

I simply ADORE sharing news about non-vegan food places switching to plant-based offerings.

Slowly but surely, small victories for animals are turning the world just that little bit more vegan… and victories rarely come more uniquely planned out than what is going down at The Fields Beneath.

The Fields Beneath is a much-loved coffee shop and café situated at Kentish Town West station in North London.

Owner Gavin gave me some VERY interesting insights into how he is easing his loyal customers into veganism. I absolutely love his plans for 30 plant-based coffees for £30.

Let me step aside and give Gavin some more space to explain:

At The Fields Beneath, we’ve been open a little over four years and started transitioning to a vegan menu in December, cutting out meat first. The exciting opportunity we’ve got with the shop is that a vast majority of the customers are not vegan. They don’t get it in the way I feel only vegans do; I certainly didn’t myself until about this time last year, and the cafe has the chance to introduce customers to many parts of the vegan journey.

We started the conversation two weeks ago by offering a program where a customer can get 30 coffees for £30, the catch being no dairy! As of yesterday we’ve signed up 100 people. ‘What’s wrong with dairy?’ comes up a lot but the aim is to cut out dairy completely by the end of April.

As for the food, we’ve aimed so far to replace things with their vegan counterparts; our cakes, our croissants and sandwich ingredients. The hot dishes have been vegan for over a year.

From February we’ll be pushing the possibilities with food, choosing not just plant based menus, but leaning on as much seasonality as we can. On top of the team we’ve got, led by Helena Vieira, we’re building one for the future and have welcomed back old friend Avneet Padda after two years away working for the likes of Silo in Brighton and Cafe Oto in Dalston. She’s bringing a wealth of experience with baking, fermenting, pickling, seasonal produce and so on. So we’re very much at a ‘watch this space’ point.

We roast the coffee ourselves at Tate Britain, and have plans to make our own oat milk so that a) our costs don’t go up by moving from dairy to Oatly, and b) to make sure people don’t need to spend more money to be vegan.

What a well-thought out and inventive way to ease people into accepting vegan café choices as an everyday occurrence.

I can’t wait until my London return when The Fields Beneath will be 100% vegan. Who wants to meet me for a croissant?!

Please follow The Fields Beneath on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Extra note: The Fields Beneath is a London Living Wage Employer. Fuck yeah!

Extra extra note: The Fields Beneath are running a hot water bottle drive. If you have a hot water bottle that is spare, drop it off with the café. If you are currently on the streets, you can drop in to collect a hot water bottle that has been recently filled. You are also welcome to return for hot water refills when needed.

Vegan pop up in Sheffield

by

You can’t keep vegan Sheffield contained and this latest plant-based pop up food event is just more proof.

Have you heard of FANFARE?

FANFARE will be bringing mouth-watering tacos, fresh crunchy salads and flavourful fluffy rice to a one day only pop up café in co-working space, Union St. Don’t miss out on Friday January 27, 2017 between 11:30am and 2:00pm.

All dishes can be served with a selection of toppings and sauces while mouthwatering delights await hungry customers, such as beer battered aubergine and smokey pulled jackfruit. Gluten free eaters won’t be overlooked, either.

FANFARE will also offering range of cakes by Rawkus which, you guessed it, are raw. Diners will also be able to buy hot and cold drinks.

I’m super excited to see the photos that come out of this event and with whispers of FANFARE getting a permanent location soon, Sheffield is one of the hottest vegan spots on the planet.

Keep updated with FANFARE on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can RSVP to the Facebook event here.

Click here to see exactly where Union St is located thanks to Google Maps.

Vegan means vegan for a reason

by

Vegan means vegan.

Every single day we see another mainstream misuse or misapplication of the word ‘vegan’. The tipping point for me was this sentence from a recent article about vegan trends posted by The Metro:

Whether it’s a bid to lead healthier lifestyles, be more considerate for the planet or save money, more people are opting for plant-based choices.

In a ‘news’ story titled Vegan restaurants, meal ideas, recipes and more – the hot trends coming for 2017 and specifically in the section designed to explain to the reader why more people are exploring veganism, the author doesn’t mention animal protection or compassion.

Vegan does not simply mean plant-based eating (although that is obviously part of veganism). Vegan is not a term to be co-opted by mainstream media and people pushing ideas or topics that are unrelated to veganism.

The power of veganism rests, in part, with the rigidity of its meaning. A meaning that vegan activists need to work hard to protect.

Someone who chooses to live vegan has committed to remove use of, or dependency on, animal-derived products as much as they possibly can in order to reduce harm and suffering to non-human animals.

If you don’t follow that train of thinking or living, you are not vegan. Simple.

This is not an attack on non-vegans. I used to be one and some of the people I love most on the planet are not vegan.

This is to clarify that vegan means vegan.

I believe that protecting the term vegan is an important form of animal-centric activism. Vegan is a strong identifier with a clear message that is too valuable a tool in the fight for animals to be watered down or mis-applied. We use it to apply pressure to non-vegan businesses, we use it for identification purposes, and we use it to mark real compassionate change.

We don’t use it to mean plant-based eating trends devoid of animal consideration. It doesn’t mean that and never will.

Yes, you can eat plant-based food in a vegan restaurant and not be vegan and yes, I think that is a good thing. Yes, you can go to a vegan event but not be a vegan. I spend my whole life trying to make non-vegans do just that.

Of course I welcome non-vegans to my events and celebrate the proliferation of vegan-suitable products, but I will not give up the fight to define what vegan means.

It exists as a narrow term for a damn good reason and that reason is to improve outcomes for animals.

And if you want to write a story about why people are vegan but not mention animals once, there are a few of us who will passionately point out where you have gone wrong.

Big vegan dessert pots

by

You all know about Pudology so I’m not even going to waste my time reminding you of the decadent, creamy dessert pots this company makes.

They are one of the finest plant-based food lines in the entire UK.

Well, get ready to tweet this news to your nearest and dearest because Pudology are launching BIG tubs in Ocado.

As you can see above, the larger tubs are available in the Deeply Decadent Chocolate and the Smooth Chocolate Orange varieties.

But how much bigger are they?

You will be used to the original tubs coming as 85g twin packs, but these new tubs are a jumbo-sized 350g!

If you hurry, Ocado have these new larger tubs on special deal for £1 off.

Enjoy and follow Pudology on Instagram.

Vegan fish and chips

by

My friend Kay is living the highlife in Sydney, Australia and she is absolutely thrilled to be able to tease me constantly with all the fabulous vegan food advancements that have taken place down under since I departed over six years ago.

One of the best pieces of news she has sent me involves a vegan fish and chip shop called Bliss & Chips.

Located on King Street in inner city Newtown, Bliss & Chips is a gluten free and completely vegan chippy!

Check out some of the photos Kay sent over, including her favourite ‘duck’ burger. Can you spot that deep-fried Jokerz bar on the photo wall? I’m drooling!

I’m getting a bit emotional thinking of potato scallops. They are childhood favourites of mine and I don’t know where to get them done vegan in the UK.

Dear Bliss & Chips. You are my heroes and I hope you inspire people all over the planet to open similar outlets.

Like Bliss & Chips on Facebook. Follow the Instagram account.