Vegan in Earlsfield

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If you think all the best London vegan food is in Hackney, I’m about to hip you to some news you can use.

Say hello to Amrutha Lounge.

Amrutha started life as a mobile food truck (which I wrote about here) but recently opened this permanent eatery in Earlsfield, SW London.

What do the founders say about their food?

Innovative vegan dishes and heart-warming classics are lovingly prepared on the premises by our chefs on a daily basis. The food is made from scratch with an emphasis on taking simple ingredients and elevating them to extraordinary levels, that’s our version of ‘Vegan Soul Food’.

You can follow Amrutha on Instagram. See the exact location thanks to Google Maps.

Now, let’s check out some food shots.

Vegan food in Tynemouth

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I absolutely love when independent vegan businesses reach out to me in order to let me know what they do.

How else am I supposed to find out stuff?!

Check out this fabulous story sent to me by Jo and Matt of Square Roots in the northern England town of Tynemouth:

We are Jo and Matt (wife and husband team) and Square Roots was born in November 2015. Matt started off baking square muffins packed with vegetables which were really popular and were vegetarian. Then a friend of ours asked if we had ever thought of creating vegan dishes. At the time we knew nothing about veganism so the research began.

We are so pleased that we did. There is no going back for us now as we are now both vegan and it’s fantastic to see more and more people waking up to the horrors of what goes on in the meat, fish and dairy industries. Square Roots is now 100% vegan and loving it.

We are passionate about using more planet friendly packaging. We have had so much support from fellow vegans (and non-vegans too).

We trade at Tynemouth Weekend Market and are starting to supply cafes, too. We are also converting an old horse trailer and will soon be selling vegan friendly alcohol. Oh… we are also in the process of offering a mid-week three-course meal delivery service in our local area which is very exciting.

This is absolutely fabulous news for the vegan and vegan-curious of Tynemouth.

Follow Square Roots on Instagram.

Exclusive vegan cheese now in London grocery chain

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By now you would have heard all about New Roots.

This Switzerland-made range of vegan cheeses took London by storm when it was previewed at VegfestUK late in 2017 and ever since vegans have been scrambling to get their hands on their products.

The camembert made by New Roots is next level and their other divine cheeses aren’t far behind. It is no wonder people have been hunting all over the capital for this stuff.

Well, the hunt for New Roots just got that little bit easier now that they have signed a deal to be sold in Planet Organic stores around London.

You can get along to the following in store tasting sessions to try some of this cheese glory for yourself and of course buy a few of the flavours:

  • Thursday March 8th – 4pm until 7pm – Islington N1 8LR
  • Friday March 9th – 4pm until 7pm – Devonshire Square EC2M 4AE
  • Saturday March 10th – 11am until 2pm – Torrington Place WC1E 7HJ
  • Saturday March 10th – 4pm until 7pm – Westbourne Grove W2 5SH
  • Sunday March 11th – 11am until 2pm – Wandsworth SW18 4FT
  • Sunday March 11th – 3pm until 6pm – Tottenham Court Road W1 1BJ
  • Thursday March 29th – 12pm until 3pm – TottenhamCourt Road W1 1BJ
  • Saturday March 31st – 2pm until 5pm – Muswell Hill N10 3HS

There are a lot of opportunities to try this cheese, so get along to at least one of these tastings in March.

You can follow New Roots on Instagram and if you can’t make it along to the tastings, shop online with the superstar vegan cheese company.

Vegan International Women’s Day

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Calling all London people.

8th March, 2018 is International Women’s Day and a collective of women-led vegan food businesses are getting together to collaborate on a one-off menu at the Spread Eagle London.


Apart from serving up tasty vegan food, they are giving 100% of all the money made (none of them will take any money to cover costs) to a charity called Working Chance. This charity supports women leaving the criminal justice system, helping them to get back into the workforce and break the poverty and re-offence cycle by pairing them up with employees.

The menu is fabulous:

  • ARRIVAL – glass of prosecco/Old Blue Last beer – The Spread Eagle
  • STARTER – chorizo and purple potato tacos with pickled chiles, avocado salsa verde, and lime – I Will Kill Again x Club Mexicana
  • MAIN – jackfruit jelfrezi torta with pink onions, pickled chiles, and sour cream raita, served with tortilla chips and salsa – Spice Box x Club Mexicana
  • PUDDING – warm chocolate chile mud pie with vanilla ice cream – Young Vegans x Club Mexicana

Click here to book your table on the Spread Eagle website for anytime after 6pm on March 8th and be part of their big ‘fuck you’ to patriarchy and big businesses cashing in on women and veganism. Don’t be fooled by other markets and pop ups trying to ride the promo wave of International Women’s Day.

Follow Club Mexicana, Spice Box, I Will Kill Again, The Spread Eagle, and Young Vegans on Instagram.

If you would like to support Working Chance charity but cannot attend this event, please consider donating online.

Incredible 5-course event

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Join Itis for an evening of vegan food and Caribbean party vibes on Friday March 23, 2018 in SE15.

The food experts will be serving a gourmet 5-course meal, created by their own executive chef. The Caribbean-inspired menu will include the region’s flavours combined with their chef’s own personal twist. They’ll have island music and drinks going all night.

THE FOOD

  • Trini-Style Corn Soup: A traditional street food made with split peas, pieces of corn, coconut milk and fresh herbs and spices
  • Pholourie: Fried, spiced dough balls served with a tamarind sauce
  • Salad: Mixed leaves, rocket, beetroot, cherry tomatoes and carrots served with a fruity vinaigrette
  • Jerk Shrimp Pasta: Linguini tossed in our homemade mild jerk-cream sauce, with red and green peppers, corn, onions and mushroom topped with vegan jumbo shrimp
  • Dessert: Oreo base cheesecake with fruit coulis

THE DRINKS

A glass of Caribbean Rum Punch and a non-alcoholic glass of homemade sorrel juice will be served. They will also have a bar serving Caribbean cocktails and drinks for you to purchase additional drinks from on the night if you wish

Itis always make a huge impression when they trade at Hackney Downs Vegan Market so I feel confident in saying you don’t want to miss this 5-course extravaganza taking place in southeast London.

Click here NOW to buy tickets.

Follow Itis on Instagram and Facebook.

Ten things to eat in London

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I haven’t done a little wrap up post like this for a while, so I wanted to jump on the blog quickly and give you an overview.

My inbox is swarming with correspondence from people wanting to know what is ‘must eat’ food if they only have a few days in London.

This following collection isn’t meant to act as a definitive list, rather it highlights ten things I highly recommend when you are next in London. The list is in no particular order.

Check it out and let me know if I have left any of your favourites of my list.

Number 10.

Get along to Temple of Seitan for their fried vegan chicken. They have two locations where you can pick up this world famous food.


Number 9.

Arancini Bothers is a chain that recently transformed into a 100% vegan business and you have got to get to one of their locations for their risotto balls. Too good.

 


Number 8.

Young Vegans know pies like nobody else and their Camden Market eatery is heaven. The mashed potato and gravy sides elevate an already incredible eating experience to another level. I highly recommend  the Seitan and Ale pie.

 


Number 7.

The seitan burger at Wulf & Lamb is one of the finest things to eat in London. Their special blend seitan is the closest to ground beef in the city and it is TASTY.

 

A post shared by Wulf & Lamb (@wulfandlamb) on


Number 6.

I’m always singing the praises of CookDaily but it is worth repeating. Get the Full English bowl and have your life changed for the better.

 

Number 5.

If you aren’t familiar with Cookies and Scream, I’m sorry to say but you are not living your happiest life. Get a shake with added cookie dough balls.

 

Number 4.

Vanessa at Essential Vegan is a food superstar and her take on vegan Brazilian cuisine is a MUST-EAT when in London. Get the cheese balls. Eat them while hot. Leave happy.

 

Number 3.

One of the best things to eat on the planet is the doner chip box from What The Pitta. I simply CANNOT walk past their Shoreditch location without ordering this item.

 

A post shared by What The Pitta! (@whatthepitta) on

Number 2.

Dough Society is the first vegan donut and coffee shop in London. The Homer donut is one of their regular offerings and it is one of my favourite sweet treats in the capital.

 

Number 1.

The Snix bar from JuiceBaby is a pure delight. Shortbread base, gooey caramel and peanuts covered in raw chocolate. I would do almost anything for one right now.

 

A post shared by JUICEBABY (@juicebabyuk) on

Vegan in the Canary Islands

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Guest blog post by my fabulous friend, Gabi.

Vegan Surprise in the Canaries

So much for my detox holiday. I have just demolished a Jamaican beer stew, some grilled veg with Aioli and instead of dessert a delicious dumpling with mushrooms. So, now it’s just a cortado…I think. The tiramisu looks good though.

The London weather and all the snotty nosed people on the tube were getting to me, so I escaped to Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands for a spot of sunshine. Having booked an all-inclusive deal in a tourist resort my food expectations were extremely low and I thought it might be a good opportunity to do a bit of a detox. I thought my options were limited to salad, nuts and fruit with the occasional canary potatoes bathed in red and/or green mojo (delicious by the way).

I was in Corralejo on the very northern tip of the island, a smallish tourist town, with a strong surfer vibe. And it’s got no less than FOUR vegan restaurants! I couldn’t believe it. Particularly since two of these really made this slightly jaded Londoner’s palate sing. The first was Baobab, a little homely family run restaurant that’s open from 11 am – 4pm, so a perfect lunch spot. Home-made bread sandwiches with an array of veggies, spreads, sprouts and tofu. Also, fresh juices and salads. But the stars of the show for me were the specials. The first day I had fried marinated tofu with a potato bake and fresh organic salad, simple, great ingredients and I nearly licked the plate. The second day I couldn’t make up my mind between home-made cashew cheese with figs and other yummy things and some croquettes. The croquettes (Spinach I think, won). Yummy again. Followed by a delicious raw chocolate and pistachio cake. Sitting in the sun, by a square, I was happy. Their English was rather basic so I didn’t get the full lowdown on this family run enterprise.

It was another restaurant though that sounded the death knell to my detox. Past & Future only opened a few months ago, and I ate there four times. And always way too much because I really wanted to try as much as possible. As much as I love street food, it was so nice to sit in a proper restaurant, have good food and wine not get totally fleeced. Even though there are some Indian/Indonesian/Jamaican outliers on the menu, to me the food is European soul food. Proper home-made pasta (Ravioli with truffled cream sauce, really good lasagne), German/Austrian dumplings, fresh crisp salads, Canarian stews, Tiramisu and parfait for dessert.

The restaurant is owned and run by the vivacious polyglot Aida Le Pesqueur who can rattle off her menu in what seems like 15 languages and gave me a bit of an insight into the Canary Island vegan scene. She is helping to organise the island’s first vegan festival on May 19th-20th in the capital Puerto del Rosario. Le Pesqueur moved her restaurant from Cologne to Corralejo last year and credits the arrival of a number of Italian restauranteurs in recent years with the sudden flurry of vegan activity in the town. Her own ambition is either to franchise Past & Future or to open a vegan hotel on the island.

The other two vegan spots are H20, a daytime café which is really good too. It has the standard vegan fare of juices, salads and burgers, and does a full English breakfast, hence I wasn’t as excited. D Sanchez is a burger bar that gets a lot of love online for its fresh food and craft beer, but I didn’t make it there. It does look good from the outside though.

FGV on Audible

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Because I never shut up about it, you all know that I had a book published this year.

But what you might not know is that my book is now also available on Audible.

Audible is a company that specialises in audio books, most often read by the author.

The photo above shows me in the Audible studios in London. I recorded my audio book in the days prior to my departure for Mexico City and it was a real mix of nervousness and excitement.

The recording took almost two full days and by the end of it, I was glad it was over. I met some professional voice actors who record books for a living and I just don’t know how the have the stamina.

I was also thrilled to find out that my recording session took place in the same studio where Matt Lucas recorded his book!

You can click here to buy the audio version of Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Shi!t via Audible.

You can also buy the paper version from Amazon, Foyles, and WH Smith.

FGV in Los Angeles

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Are you in Los Angeles or know someone that is?

I thought I should let you know that I am presenting my book Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t in a small informal book reading at Stories of Echo Park.

Stories is one of the coolest book stores on the planet and I’m thrilled to be presenting my first ever book there on Monday March 12, 2018 at 7pm.

Here is a little bit about the event:

Join us on March 12 7PM to meet Sean O’Callaghan aka Fat Gay Vegan. The prolific vegan blogger, activist, and event organiser will be in store to give a short reading and talk about his debut book Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t.

The vegan community has grown hugely in the last decade, but for every person joining for ethical reasons, there are as many others who join because of the latest diet trend, food fad, or celebrity bandwagon. Products and politics, lifestyle gurus and companies, all have their own agendas for getting you to go vegan, often related to health and weightloss. Fat Gay Vegan turns these ideas on their heads, and shows how not only can you be fat and vegan, but that weight and health are not at the heart of what veganism is. In its simplest form, veganism is about living a life as free from cruelty as possible.

This means treating animals and people with respect for their lives and wellbeing, and social justice is as core to his work as finding the best vegan cafes around the world. He also extends his compassion to non-vegans, and there is no place for shaming here, only for challenging ideas. His book is a manifesto for kindness.

Sean will be available to sign books after his talk. Come along for some myth-busting, plant-based jokes, and sweet vegan treats!

You can see all upcoming events at Stories BooksandCafe online here.

RSVP and invite friends on the Facebook event.

You can also buy my book online here.

A vegan potluck returns

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If you are new around these parts, you might not remember that I used to run a vegan potluck.

London Vegan Potluck was a wonderful community event where people shared homemade vegan food, socialised with new friends, and perhaps got some cooking inspiration.

It was a fun, low cost and informal way for people to celebrate their veganism in a time before weekly markets and vegan nights.

London Vegan Potluck ran every month for four years and then I got overworked. We had to bring it to an end and London has mostly been devoid of vegan potlucks ever since.

But there is a new one on the horizon by some people named Anna and Amy.

Check out this info about the one-time-only vegan potluck in London:

The Nourishing Vegan Club is inspired by a love of food, passion for wellness & desire to bring like minded people together. So on Saturday 17th March we’re holding a vegan potluck afternoon at Jaz & Jul’s (a.k.a chocolate heaven) in London.

Bring a homemade vegan dish/cake, come with an appetite and be prepared to feast! Tickets are £5 (or £8 without bringing a dish) and spaces are limited so grab yours while they’re fresh out the oven!
Please message one of us to secure your place 🙂

Jaz & Jul’s is located on Chapel Market, close to Angel Underground Station.

You can RSVP and get all the necessary details over on the Facebook event page.