Vegan food on the road

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There is this weird phenomenon in the UK called ‘services’.

People are apparently unable to drive more than half an hour without needing to stop for petrol, food, magazines, drinks, sweets and gambling. Yes, gambling.

Services is the name given to the large retail outlets dotted around the country’s motorways. Some of the services contain mini-supermarkets, others have walkways joining the two sections of the services that sit on either side of the motorway. Don’t like the shops you see? Cross the bridge to the other side of the motorway!

Vegans usually don’t find a whole lot to eat in services. My experiences have led me to believe all I could eat was potato crisps, hummus and fruit.

But that has changed!

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Goodbye from FGV

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London, it has been swell.

Almost exactly five years ago today, I started this little blog called Fat Gay Vegan and to say it has taken over my life would be an understatement of epic proportions.

The blog evolved into hosting community events such as London Vegan Potluck and London Vegan Drinks. I launched a successful vegan PR company off the back of the blog and quit my job as a primary school teacher. London Vegan Beer Fest was made possible thanks to the popularity of my blog.

The past five years have been a whirlwind of blogging, events, pop ups and meeting thousands of people from all over the city, country and world.

But the only constant in life is change. It is time for me to say a temporary goodbye to the city I have called home for the past five years.

I’m leaving London and moving to Mexico City for at least six months.

Josh and I adore Mexico City. Our hearts and minds never stray too far from el Distrito Federal and the past year has been spent making plans on how we can spend more time in our favourite location on the planet.

To cut a long story short, we are heading there in January 2016 for six months.

Fat Gay Vegan will continue as a blog and my monthly advice column will appear in Vegan Life Magazine, but the regular events I am known for will of course come to a halt. You will still get all the big UK vegan news on these pages, but it will be mixed with a little more Mexican flavour.

I will be back in the future (big plans for London Vegan Beer Fest to be announced soon!) but for now it is time to say farewell.

I would love to say goodbye in person to as many readers and event attendees as possible at my final parties before I head overseas:

  • You can join me for my 3rd annual Vegan Xmas Dinner this Thursday (December 17, 2015) for a wonderful 3-course meal and lots of cheesy Christmas music. Tickets are on sale here.
  • My farewell party is taking the form of the last ever Queer Vegan Disco on Saturday January 9, 2016. This will be just two days before I fly out of London. This party is set to be huge. It is the final QVD, the monthly party people have come to adore. Buy your tickets in advance to secure your spot on the dance floor.

Thank you to every single person who has read my blog and attended my events during these past five years.

If I don’t see you at the Xmas dinner or Queer Vegan Disco, I will see you in the future.

xx

Best in London… again!

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A few months ago, I wrote an extremely-excitable blog post heralding Cook Daily as the best vegan food provider in London. You can read the original post here.

Flash forward to last night and the food I was served up in Shoreditch has forced me to announce a successor to the crown.

There is a new ‘best in London’ eatery and it is…. Cook Daily. Well, it is almost Cook Daily.

Let me explain.

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Amsterdam

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Post by:

joe panel

Just a couple of years ago, Amsterdam was pretty poor for vegan stuff. I was very surprised to discover this as Amsterdam has a reputation as being counter-cultural, alternative and free-thinking, yet there was a lack of vegan restaurants (and the vegetarian ones were pretty poor, too).

Conversely, according to my Dutch friends, the Hague has a reputation as being a boring, buttoned-up city of government workers and lawyers – yet the vegan options there were far better than in Amsterdam.

But happily, times have changed and Amsterdam now has a decent selection of vegan places, many of which have opened in the last couple of years. So let’s have a quick run around a few of them during my next few blog posts, shall we?

First, let’s visit what might be my favourite new Amsterdam eatery of our recent trip – DopHert. We’d heard good things about DopHert, so were eager to try out their menu, which had lots of tasty items on it.

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Tessa, Laura and Millie

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Remember how I wasn’t so sure about the #TerryTheTurkey video made by Vodafone? Even though the fictional story had a happy ending, I was concerned for the real animals used in the production of the advert (you can read my post here).

I’ve since found another video about rescued turkeys that is much more to my liking.

This sweet video made by Animal Aid details the happy lives lived by three rescued turkeys at Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norwich. Click play to say hello to Tessa, Laura and Millie.

You can dig deep into your Christmas savings and sponsor one of the turkeys featured in this video. For just £10, you can help care for Tessa for an entire year.

Click here to sponsor Tessa or here to see all the other animals featured on the site for sponsorship.

Help turkeys. Don’t eat them!

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Fry’s online

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BREAKING NEWS.

I’m just a few weeks out from my move to Mexico, meaning my job with Fry’s Family Foods UK is coming to an end. I will no longer be the first to bring you exciting news such as the following:

Fry’s now have four products available to buy via Morrisons online!

frys morrisons

You can click on the above image to visit the online shop.

The supermarket is selling just 4 of the 20+ product range available in the UK, but it is a great start.

Do you shop with Morrisons online?

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Xmas menu

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OK. Read this blog post and then act quickly.

With more than 50% of tickets for my 3rd annual Vegan Xmas Dinner already gone, you will need to be fast to secure a spot once people get a look at what we are serving on the night.

Kath and Roger have won over a lot of hearts and stomachs at Kabaret @ Karamel in North London since they started expanding and developing the vegan menu, so I’m thrilled to have them on board as the main chefs for my Christmas extravaganza.

Check out the food line up for this one-night-only special event taking place on Thursday December 17, 2015:

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Vegan tapas

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Wanna know about the new vegan tapas restaurant taking Brighton by storm?

The very friendly Rob Trounce of rootcandi has put together the following guide to the restaurant and it sounds (and looks) incredibly inviting.

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Not so tasty

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Post by:

josh panel

On a recent trip to Leeds I saw this Turkey Style, Ham Style & Leek Pie by VBites and curiosity got the better of me.

I have to admit I was quite disappointed.

The filling was an odd-looking mixture of meats and veggies which didn’t taste particularly appetising. Although I like VBites’ turkey-style roast and their ham-style slices, the flavourless sauce and soggy carrots combined with the two meat replacements in this pie didn’t work for me.

The lacklustre pastry only served to speed the pie’s trip to the bin after just a few bites.

IMG_5196 IMG_5194

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Glasgow forever

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I have fallen in love.

This weekend has been a special time. It has helped me realise I don’t just like Glasgow, I love it.

The best vegan city in the UK welcomed me with open arms this weekend and it has been fabulous. Let me give you the rundown:

Friday night – I hosted a one-night Queer Vegan Disco special at The Flying Duck vegan bar and it was brilliant. More than 120 people crowded in as Josh played camp tunes and we handed out vegan sweets. It was beyond fun. Thank you to the incredible staff at the venue and all the party people.

Saturday and Sunday – Tim Barford of VegfestUK did it again. Tim and his team launched a Scottish version of their incredibly successful event at the SECC in Glasgow. Thousands and thousands of people flowed into the venue for what turned out to be the best vegan event I have attended in the UK. I gave a talk on how to start a vegan blog and people crowded around the door when they couldn’t get into the room. Thanks for the love and for making me feel valued.

Thank you to The Vegan Emporium for the photo

All weekend – Glasgow has got vegan food on lock. It is by far the most superior city in the entire country when it comes to plant-based food. We consumed burritos, cheesecakes, alcoholic milkshakes, seitan burgers, pasta, salads, sautéed kale and so much more.

Glasgow is number one. I’m dreaming of my return as I drive south into the rain soaked hills and windswept terrain.

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