TWO COPPER BRANCH LOCATIONS IN TORONTO ARE NOW OPEN PAST MIDNIGHT
The chain’s locations on Bathurst St and at the Sheppard Centre now offer vegans and omnivores alike the chance to eat plant based at nearly any hour.
The Montreal-based chain, which is now the largest plant-based restaurant chain in the world, has announced that two of their key Toronto locations are now open past midnight seven days a week. Their Bathurst and Sheppard Centre stores will now feature their full menus well past the time any other healthy or plant-based restaurants have closed for the evening. This will allow anyone out for the evening in the city or night shift workers to enjoy the benefits of delicious, plant-based meals at an hour when previously the best they could do would be burgers and fries.
Copper Branch’s location at 410 Bathurst St is open until 2am seven days a week and their restaurant at the Sheppard Centre is open Thursday through Saturday until 2am and Sunday through Wednesday until 1am.
“Customer response to these two locations staying open late has been incredible,” says Copper Branch Global Director of Marketing, Andrew Infantino. “Our customers love that they can replicate their late night favorites such as burgers, Buffalo wings, nachos, and even poutine in an all-natural, healthy version when they’re out late in the city.”
With over 60 restaurants worldwide, what sets Copper Branch apart from other quick service plant-based restaurants is its commitment to both familiar fare as well as unique global recipes that diners can only get at Copper Branch. The chain features an all-day breakfast and an all-encompassing menu that includes power bowls, burgers and sandwiches, soups and chili, and power smoothies. The entire menu is whole food plant-based, with many non-GMO, organic, specialty and naturally gluten-free foods.
Though the entire Copper Branch menu is vegan, the company has found that the vast majority of its customers are not strict vegans, but rather omnivores who want to replicate the delicious foods they currently enjoy but in a healthier, more ethical and sustainable way. “This is food I’m proud to have my children eat” adds CEO Rio Infantino. “Now our customers can do so at any hour, which is exciting for the industry and for the company.”
Copper Branch is considering adopting the late night strategy at more locations.
ABOUT COPPER BRANCH
Started in 2014 and headquartered in Montreal, Copper Branch is a privately held company and holds the distinction of being the largest and fastest growing plant-based fast casual chain in the world. The company’s mission is to Empower, Energize and make people feel their Best; providing a convenient, plant-based dining experience without sacrificing taste, quality or satisfaction. The reasonably priced, 100% plant-based menu items are never fried and consist of mainly organic and non-GMO ingredients. For locations, menus and other details, visit the website.
The Nuneaton Vegan Fair is taking place in the Warwickshire town this Saturday August 3, 2019.
The following description of the event is from the organisers and it sounds fab.
The Nuneaton Vegan Fair will feature 30 stalls selling a wide range of vegan products including delicious cake, chocolate, cheese, cosmetics, clothing, recipe books, and a selection of hot food.
FREE entry. All welcome.
STALLHOLDERS
Caterers
Got No Beef Burger Bar
Sheila’s Kitchen
Vegan Joe’s
U-Juice
Cakes & Confectionery
SOOKS Ltd
Sweetest Things
Trishul Raw Chocolate
Totally Vegan
Lakeside Ethical Treats
Vegan Cheese
Soul Cheeze
The Naturally Vegan Food Company
Other Food Stalls
Venitin FOODS
Butterbelle
Vork pie
Natures Finest Juices
Tropical Paradise Preserves
The following is an excerpt from my first book Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t.
While I am sometimes marginalised and oppressed with regards to my sexuality and weight, I understand that I also live with extreme privilege because I am a white, cis- gendered and able-bodied man. It’s the white man part of me that gets a lot of people to listen to the fat and gay parts of me.
The modern world is designed to reward me for simply being me at the expense of people who are not me.
We need to know our own place in the world in order to be the most positive force we can be. So, with that in mind, let me start by exploring my understanding of my privilege for a short while before we move on to a plan of action. (Apologies. Plan of action is included in the book but not here)
I grew up in a poor family with a lot of abuse and sadness in a town where gay kids like me were routinely harassed by law enforcement and local homophobes, but I survived when many people around me didn’t.
Inequitable systems of oppression were in place to benefit me as a white man even while I was being targeted for my perceived sexuality. People around me who didn’t present as white men had safety and opportunity taken away or denied to them.
I left school at age fifteen and moved out of my family home. Even though I didn’t complete the most basic high school requirements, I was never out of employment from the moment I left the school gates for the final time.
Of course, a lot of that employment was dreadful and underpaid, but the point is that even as an uneducated young person I was employed for any position for which I applied and nobody can tell me my appearance wasn’t responsible. I was able to earn a desperately needed income for food and accommodation when a lot of people my age were discriminated against because of institutionalised racism embedded in Australian society.
An adult close to me sexually abused women in my family and these women have lived with the ongoing trauma of that abuse. As a young man, I was statistically less likely to be abused by this person and I wasn’t.
My teenage friends and I were searched by the police with alarming regularity during our often drunken nights wandering the streets of our hometown, however, indigenous Australian young people in the same predicament didn’t get off with just a warning or even with their lives in a lot of instances.
The worst thing to happen to my group of white friends was watching our cheap sparkling wine being poured down the storm water drain while the police laughed at us and ridiculed our clothing. We were not arrested, detained or physically assaulted thanks to our white skin and we were afforded privilege, consideration and relative physical safety during these acts of police surveillance. This was not the case for young people who didn’t look like us.
There is a story I think of quite often involving a young man in my hometown. He lived with a physical disability that resulted in him walking with a limp. I would smile at him as he passed by my workplace maybe once a week. We were the same age and we both recognised the other as a queer teenager in a sad town where our kind was not celebrated. We both started going to the same gay bar as teenagers where we mixed with a lot of older people.
One terrible night, my hometown comrade was targeted by an older man who took him to a dark alley behind the gay bar and brutally bashed him until he was no longer alive. I found myself in countless compromised situations as a young gay man but I didn’t find myself targeted for living with a disability. To understand how people with disabilities are more often targets of violence, search for statistics in your local area and be prepared to be upset by what you find.
Following on from decades of dead end jobs, I secured a place at university to follow up on my interest and desire to become a schoolteacher. The four-year undergraduate degree culminated with a multi-month practical placement in a real classroom. I was the only person out of my group of friends offered a job by the school at the end of the practical teaching placement. I was also the only one of said group who was identifiable as a white man and I’m comfortable in saying that I was nowhere close to being the most accomplished or hard-working student teacher amongst my cohort.
I’m not reflecting on these memories to get a pat on the back for being progressively aware, I’m telling you because it is crucial for those of us living with and benefitting from privilege to understand that the animal rights movement is not separate to everything I’ve described above.
I have discovered that if I want to be a worthy activist for animals I must also learn to resist and challenge oppression in multiple forms within vegan circles. Vegan businesses, vegan activist groups, vegan socials, and vegan online spaces all operate within the same systemic framework of oppression that favours me in the ways I described above. If I am being rewarded, someone is being oppressed. That is how it works.
If you would like to read the follow up to this section, you can order my book from independent bookstores as well as online via WH Smith, Foyles, and Amazon. The book is also available via Audible for listening.
The following message was shared on the Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary Facebook page:
It is with much sadness and regret that I must advise that we have hit the end of the road.
Fiona’s mission to rescue as many animals as possible and to promote the cruelty free lifestyle in her unique and awe inspiring way of the past 25 years looks like it is over.
We are so grateful to all our supporters who have helped us with the feed bills over the years, but tragically the level of support is simply not enough for us to continue on. Despite Fiona’s incredible athletic achievements gained in the face of chronic disability, she remains relatively unknown/supported within the vegan community and virtually unknown in the wider community – the UK’s most accomplished athlete that no-one has ever heard of.
We had hoped that her film, Running for Good, would reach a wide audience, but despite our & the producers best efforts this has not happened – frustratingly everyone who has seen it has been blown away by Fiona’s accomplishments and many of those have gone on to donate to the sanctuary, but again the numbers are painfully low and not just enough to make the difference we needed to make the animal sanctuary work.
We had hoped that as promised during filming, Fiona’s inclusion in the Game Changers movie would bring her name and work to the 10m+ audience that will see this film and that this would save the sanctuary, but having been edited out from the final cut, this now will not happen leaving poor Fiona to reside in relative obscurity.
The running costs of the farm site have escalated beyond our initial expectations as the amount of work required to turn it into the sanctuary for animals that we wanted it to be is colossal – we thought we had completed the fencing having fenced what was absolutely necessary, we had hoped that the original fencing in some of the fields combined with dense natural hedging would be enough to keep the animals in, but the cattle have tested the fencing in several places resulting in them getting out a few days ago – net result is that we have to spend around a further £19k on 1000m of additional fencing – Funds we simply do not have.
We are behind some £20k on feed bills & as we head towards the end of the summer, we have done the math & we just can’t carry on.
We have 350 loyal supporters to whom we are very grateful & we have personally put everything we have into keeping going these past few years, but we have nothing left to put in.
In the meantime we will clearly keep caring for the animals in our care, but if we can’t find additional supporters and raise significant funding in the next few days, then it’s over.
I can’t even begin to explain how crushed Fiona is. These events have destroyed her totally.
Please don’t let this happen to her and the rescues.
If you can donate or set up a monthly direct debit it would be so appreciated.
Click here to donate or set up a monthly donation.
Held at a community hall in Queensbury, north-west London.
Open to children aged 8 to 14 years.
Not restricted to children from a particular borough
Your child can be enrolled for all five sessions or for individual sessions of your choice
Now in their sixth year of running this unique and special series of hands-on cooking classes, Shambhu’s chef Nishma Shah will expertly guide and inspire young students as they produce delicious healthy meals. They will be applying culinary styles from around the world, using wholesome plant-based ingredients together with various natural flavour-enhancing and healing spices and condiments.
These are very much hands-on cooking classes and are always a fun, fulfilling, and educational summer-holiday activity for children.
They are also an excellent opportunity for children to learn and practise food prep and cooking skills, gain knowledge on relevant topics such as nutrition, spices, flavour-pairing, and discover how to minimise food waste.
For all the finer details including prices, click here.
Music and movies have been a huge part of my life, much as I imagine they have been for most people reading.
Some of my earliest memories revolve around music. Radio was a huge part of my childhood in Australia and I soaked up everything I heard. Rock radio at the time made me more than familiar with Australian bands such as Cold Chisel, INXS, Divinyls, and Midnight Oil.
Movies have always moved me emotionally and worked as an escape from reality. As a teenager, I was obsessed with the films of Winona Ryder and loved sitting in the dark with a jumbo popcorn as she perfectly portrayed the eternal angst-ridden teen on the big screen.
Later in my life television underwent a cultural reawakening and as an adult looking to reflect on my existence from a more critical position, shows such as Six Feet Under had me thinking of life, death, and the universe.
The popular (and sometimes not so popular) culture I’ve accessed throughout my life has helped me survive and build a sense of self.
This lifelong connection and nurturing I’ve received from performers is made extra special when someone I admire turns out to be vegan.
When a song or a piece of art speaks to me clearly and distinctly, it is an added bonus to know that the performer has a compassionate approach to life.
Let’s check out five of my favourite entertainers and why I adore them.
Most ‘vegan celebrity’ lists are just that. Lists. I wanted to give you some personal insight into how these people reached me over the years with their creative output.
I was 21 years old when the classic teen comedy Clueless was unleashed on the world and it instantly became a staple amongst my circle of friends. Unforgettable quotes from the film were fused into our speech patterns until we almost couldn’t separate our real life interactions from the screenplay.
The role of Cher in Clueless was enough to make me adore Silverstone forever, however I still enjoy watching her pop up across my screen now and again.
I thoroughly enjoyed her brief stint in the title role of the short-lived sitcom Miss Match. I also delighted when I saw Silverstone pop up for a four-episode arc on the dramedy Suburgatory, opposite her clueless co-star Jeremey Sisto, and in a supporting role in the 2018 film Book Club.
I was quite a young person when Woody Harrelson entered my consciousness.
Cheers was one of my favourite TV programs and Harrelson played the supposedly unintelligent yet loveable Woody Boyd. I didn’t have a happy home life and Cheers was one of my escapes, with Woody being a familiar and happy face for me.
Woody has ever since been a part of my pop culture landscape across many decades.
I cringed at yet loved his turn as a serial killer opposite Juliette Lewis in Natural Born Killers. I adored his starring role in Zombieland and am excited for the sequel coming soon. I even loved Woody in the Han Solo movie from 2018!
No Doubt have been one of the important musical forces in my life and co-founder, bassist, and songwriter Tony Kanal is one seriously cool dude.
I first met Kanal as a fan back in the 90s when No Doubt were in Australia on a promotional tour for their smash hit record Tragic Kingdom. I went on to see the band live numerous times around the globe including London, Brisbane, and Houston.
Tony later went on to form Dreamcar with Tom and Adrian from No Doubt, alongside Davey Havok of AFI fame, and released one of the most criminally-overlooked pop records of all time.
I recently got to say hello to Tony again in person this year as we were both attending the massive Eat Drink Vegan event in California. It was a warm moment and I cherished the chance to say g’day to one of my all time musical heroes.
Mayim Bialik as been an influence in my life for a very long time and now that she is set to open a vegan restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, I’m certain she will be on my radar for a few more decades at least.
Mayim first entered my life thanks to her title role is the 90s sitcom Blossom. I adored the show and her personality. Bialik also starred as the younger version of the Bette Midler character in the big screen tearjerker Beaches and this was a HUGE film in my younger years.
I’ve always enjoyed Mayim’s on screen comedy timing in The Big Bang Theory when I’ve seen snippets on TV but I’ve never really warmed to the show overall due to its sexist and racist undertones.
Daryl Hannah was such a huge movie star in the 80s. I watched so many of her film on VHS from the local Blockbuster including her turn as a mermaid in Splash with Tom Hanks.
I adored Hannah in Roxanne, Wall Street, and Steel Magnolias. These films were all on heavy rotation in my house.
Daryl Hannah has been one of the most active social justice and environmental activists when it comes to celebrities throwing their weight behind causes. She has even been arrested for putting her body on the line as a form of protest.
One of the most-loved places for vegans and fans of Indian cuisine to eat in Sheffield is Ajanta’s Vegetarian, a recently-opened restaurant on Abbeydale Road.
Located in the old BurgerLols spot (yep, they shut down a while back), Ajanta’s is bringing affordable and irresistible Punjabi recipes to the Sheffield masses with a 100% vegan menu.
The menu is truly world class. Check it out below:
Mains
Dal £5 – slowly cooked lentils in a secret blend of spices
Chana masala £5 – a classic Punjabi chickpea dish packed with flavour
Aloo £5 – spiced potato and toasted cumin seeds
Peppers & ‘chicken’ £6 – vegan ‘chicken’ pieces and peppers fried in paprika and garlic
The plant-based Oumph! Burger, from Swedish multi-award winning Food for Progress, is now on the menu in a number of Shepherd Neame flagship pubs in Kent and London.
“There is a growing market for vegan burgers, so we decided to put a number of different brands to the test before introducing one on our menu. We asked 30 members of our team to try the burgers, and every time the Oumph! burger came out on top for taste and texture. When comparing the nutritional content of the burgers, the Oumph! Burger also scored very highly”, says Shepherd Neame head development chef Simon Howlett.
The inspiration for The Oumph! Burger was based on a juicy rare burger, but the difference is that the Oumph! Burger is made with entirely plant-based ingredients. Like all Oumph! products, The Oumph! Burger is made with soya beans, and the fine red colour comes from beetroot. The Oumph! Burger weighs 113g, which is the equivalent of a Quarter Pounder.
Dave Smith, head of UK Foodservice at Oumph! and Food for Progress comments:
“We’re pleased to see that such a well-established pub company as Shepherd Neame has chosen the plant-based Oumph! Burger for their pub menu. No doubt this will be very welcome among vegetarians, vegans and flexitarians.”
The Oumph! Burger is now available in the following Shepherd Neame flagship pubs: The Spitfire in Kings Hill; Ship & Trades in Chatham Maritime; Royal Hotel in Deal; Bell Hotel in Sandwich; Royal Albion in Broadstairs; Samuel Pepys in London; Sun Inn, Faversham; Market House, Maidstone; Jamaica Wine House in London; and Marine Hotel, Tankerton.
The Oumph! burger at these Shepherd Neame locations is totally vegan including the bun and all accompaniments . It’s cooked in an oven and grill, while their preparation and service of vegan food follows the same guidelines as their allergen controls. One person oversees the burger from start to finish in order to control process and quality.
Other Oumph! products include Pulled Oumph!, Oumph! Kebab Spiced, Thyme & Garlic, The Chunk, Salty & Smoky, The Oumph! Pizza Italian Style, and The Oumph! Burger.
A number of different Oumph! products are available in Asda, Tesco, Holland & Barrett, Whole Foods Market, As Nature Intended as well as independent stores across the UK.
Did you know that London has a 100% vegan bar situated right next to a 100% vegan pizza café?
Get informed and then get along for to draw drinking.
Hackney Dive is the latest vegan venture from hardworking legends Carla and Marco, the humans behind the incredibly-adored Young Vegans pie and mash shop in Camden and the gourmet vegan pizza hotspot called Death By Pizza.
Carla and Marco have worked tirelessly to bring London some of the best vegan food on the planet, so their next logical step was give vegan London a better drinking experience.
Hackney Dive is your number one spot to grab cocktails, beer, and cider in east London. The bar is situated in a shipping container right next door to the Death By Pizza pizza hatch, making it the perfect destination for eating and drinking.
I reached out to Carla of Hackney Dive to ask for her top 5 drinks you MUST try on your next visit:
1. Köln Style Lager by Hackney Brewery (Draft) 2. Hackney Mule – Double Vodka, Ginger Beer and fresh lime juice 3. Aperol Spritz 4. Kapow! – Pale Ale by Hackney Brewery (Draft) 5. Crate Brewery Cider (Draft)
OK. Now I’m thirsty.
You can see the exact location of Hackney Dive in Netil Market thanks to Google Maps.
Check out these gorgeous photos from Hackney Dive and neighbouring Death by Pizza below and be sure to follow London’s most fabulous vegan bar on Instagram.
