V Revolution still fabulous

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Manchester. So much for which to answer. Or something like that.

A recent trip to the northern city was somewhat planned around a trip to V Revolution. Don’t know it? V Revolution is one of the finest examples of vegans doing fantastic stuff with food and making it an enjoyable experience, too.

The cafe is tucked away in the Northern Quarter and manages to churn out delicious burgers, irresistible hot dogs, ice cream floats, and the best nachos south of Edinburgh (yep, nothing beats Auld Hoose).

Scroll down to see what I’m talking about. These three photos are from my latest visit and looking at them you can imagine why the V Rev staff had to push me out the door at closing time. I didn’t want to leave!

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Look who I met

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One of the most enjoyable parts of the incredible vegan cruise I have been on during the past week was getting to spend time with one of my favourite vegans.

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is a one-person powerhouse. Her educational books, talks, public appearances, podcasts, and interviews are more than inspirational. Colleen has the rare ability to engage complete strangers with her disarming and charming conversational presentation style, leaving them happy to have heard her message of how to go and stay vegan.

If you have ever questioned if a person can be unapologetically vegan AND a nice person, you haven’t met Colleen. She speaks with complete authority when it comes to why and how people choose to live vegan, but never loses her compassion for other humans in the process.


The above photo was posted by Colleen over on her Instagram account. We had a fabulous time catching up as we cruised along the Danube with Vegan River Cruises.

You can get all the latest updates from Colleen by visiting her website, liking her on Facebook and following her on Twitter.

New vegan shop alert

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I have been the announcer of bad news lately, telling you all about the closure of vegan and vegan-friendly businesses all over the country.

But finally some happy news.

A 100% vegan shop is now trading in Sheffield.

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The Incredible Nutshell has everything a compassionate Sheffield shopper needs.

I reached out to the owners of Incredible Nutshell to find out a little more information about their store.

Here is what you should know:

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Vegan Beer Fest UK

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Hold on to your pint glasses, people. News doesn’t come bigger than this.

Following on from the meteoric rise in popularity of London Vegan Beer Fest which resulted in 1000 guests enjoying the 2015 event, I am thrilled to announce I will be taking the event around the UK in 2016.

Of course London Vegan Beer Fest will be back for a 4th year this July, but I will also be staging the event in Manchester and Glasgow.

The Manchester and Glasgow events will have everything that is adored about the London event, but also unique twists to suit the city we are in. That means attendees will be able to get hold of branded pint cups/glasses, beer tick sheets, exclusive merchandise, and close to 100 different vegan beers from around the country, as well as gorgeous vegan food cooked up by local food vendors and restaurants.

While final details will follow soon, I can tell you Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest will take place in August 2016 while Manchester Vegan Beer Fest will roll out in September.

You can follow the official Vegan Beer Fest UK Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. This is where you will get breaking news about dates, venues and tickets.

Best 9 of 2015 Instagram

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There is a trend sweeping social media today that involves using software to generate a best 9 list on Instagram.

Without too much pomp and ceremony, here is a collage of the most ‘liked’ photos from my Instagram account during 2015.

Enjoy!

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Game over: we have a winner

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It all makes sense now.

This is the vegan-friendly product I didn’t know I was waiting for my entire life.

Look!

jim beam cherry sauce

Jim Beam Cherry Bourbon Sauce. Yes, you are reading correctly. Yes, you are correct to freak out and start running to your nearest Sainsbury’s store to buy boxes and boxes of this product.

Imagine this on seitan wings?!

9% of the sauce is Jim Beam bourbon. I am in love.

Crafty nutters

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josh panel

Earlier this month, FGV and I were up in Glasgow for VegFest Scotland where we got to meet lots of lovely people and cram lots of delicious food into our mouths. One of the products that really stood out was the Nutcrafter Creamery aged nut cheeses. So good in fact that I had to buy some to bring back to London with us.

Not having a fridge for our three-day journey back to London (we stopped in Manchester for a couple of nights on the way back) wasn’t a problem. These cheeses are air-aged which means that they can be kept out of the fridge. This is good new for those of you not in the Glasgow area as it means you can order them online. Check out the delicious flavours we brought back to London:

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Vegan beer in MK

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Vegan beer fans, some news for you.

A new brewery has popped up in Milton Keynes and their gorgeous unfiltered and unfined artisan beer is made with organic grains.

Bucks Star beer

You can like Bucks Star on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Have you visited this new microbrewery and beer garden? What did you think of the brews?

Vegan comfort on another level

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This blog post contains some of the most explicit comfort food photos you will have seen in a long time.

The photos are heavy going and some people will find them quite confronting. Sit down, take a few deep breaths and then scroll down for the visual g(l)ory.

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Vegan-friendly store closed

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Apologies for being the postal service of bad news lately, but it appears extremely tough work is required to keep a business open in this day and age.

Remember when I wrote about the vegan-friendly grocery and health store in Manchester called Win Naturally?

The store, owned by Julie and Phil Neville, was located inside the Arndale centre in Manchester city centre. They store was packed with mostly vegan toiletries, groceries, healthy snacks, supplements and more. It was kind of like a supersized Holland & Barrett.

During my trip to Manchester a few weeks back, I stopped by the store to pick up a few things and was greeted by the following vision.

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