Vegan supper club at Cable Street

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Beiroot is a vegan Lebanese food business which aims to educate people on the importance of what they are eating. They believe in supporting a region heavily affected by conflict by using Zaytoun (a social enterprise which supports Palestinian farmers) products and donating a percentage of their profits to Kitrinos Healthcare (a charity providing medical relief to refugees along the Greek coast).

To mark the end of Veganuary, Beiroot will be hosting their first supper club at 10 Cable Street on Saturday 27 January, 2018. The evening will feature traditional Lebanese food and will also support a region deeply affected by conflict by using Zaytoun products, to support Palestinian farmers, as well as donating 2.5% of profits to Kitrinos.

The menu for the night is:

Starters

  • Mixed mezze platter of; traditional soured yoghurt i.e. labneh (made with cashew nuts), hummus and baba ghannoush all served with olives, a medley of herbs, vegetables and Arabic flatbread

Mains

  • Shawarma- A traditional pita sandwich made with thinly sliced ‘meat’, veggies, and a tahini and garlic sauce
  • Hindbeh bil Zeyt- Lebanese style sautéed kale drizzled with fair-trade Zaytoun Olive oil and seasoned with Pink Himalayan sea salt
  • Maghmoor served with burghul- Lebanese moussaka made with grilled aubergine tossed in sautéed onions, garlic and chickpeas which will be served with bulghur wheat
  • Fattoush: A classic Middle Eastern salad made with fresh, crispy greens tomatoes, crunchy toasted Arabic flat bread, dressed with a zesty lemon and summac dressing

Dessert

  • Maamoul- Semolina cookie stuffed with fair-trade Zaytoun dates and flavoured with orange blossom
  • Atayef- Traditional Lebanese yeast pancakes stuffed with a medley of nuts and served with orange blossom syrup
  • Mint tea- A refreshing hot drink to end the night and help you digest your meal

This is an absolutely outstanding menu and tickets are going to zoom out.

Please click here now to book your tickets. You can also follow Beiroot on Instagram to stay updated on future events.

FGV cupcakes

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Here is a super quick post to say thank you to south London cafe, Cupcakes & Shhht.

The Elephant and Castle cafe hosted an intimate get-together today to celebrate the launch of my book. It was a lot of fun chatting and getting a chance to say hello to a few friends and news faces, but the crowning glory of the evening was the cupcake selection.

The gorgeous vanilla and coconut cupcakes had mini edible front covers of my book on top of the frosting.

Check it out!

Please take a moment to follow Cupcakes & Shhht on Instagram so you can keep updated on their latest news, including an upcoming pop-up in Old Street!

You can join me at one of the book events coming up this week in London and Coventry. See all the dates and events online here.

If you would like a copy of my book, you can order online here.

New chicken flavour vegan cheese

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I thought I had seen it all but then I saw chicken flavour vegan cheese.

I was shopping and eating in VeganHQ located in South Ealing when this unusual product caught my attention.

Check it out.

At first when I picked it up, I thought Violife had released a chicken-style deli slice.

When I opened it to taste, I was extremely confused because the slices have the taste of vegan chicken slices but a texture somewhere between vegan meat and cheese.

They were tasty but I couldn’t work out what they were. Vegan meat or vegan cheese.

Josh sorted out the mystery of meat/cheese by making pan fried toasted sandwiches. The Violife Chicken Flavour Slices are most definitely a vegan cheese product. They melted perfectly.

I was pleasantly surprised by these slices and would recommend if you are looking for a melty cheese-style slice with a unique flavour.

New vegan food at Pret

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Pret a Manger has released some more vegan options so I’m doing my duty to let you know about them.

Cauli & Sweet Potato Dhal Hot Pot, £6.25 (vegan)

A warming, mildly spicy, coconut dhal, with chunks of roasted sweet potato, roasted turmeric cauliflower and baby plum tomatoes. Top it off with the pot of fresh spinach, toasted seeds and a squeeze of lemon.

Apple & Almond Butter Bowl, £1.99 (vegan)

Customers have been asking for more vegan snacks. Pret has kept this recipe nice and simple: crisp, green apple wedges with a generous dollop of almond butter.

Falafel, Avo & Chipotle Flat Bread, £3.99 (vegan)

Sweet potato falafel and freshly sliced avocado with a dollop of chipotle ketchup. Topped with pickled onions, crunchy red peppers, fresh coriander and charred corn and black bean salsa. Available in shops from Thursday 4th January until Monday 5th March.

A non-vegan place turns vegan: Day one

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I am super excited about getting down to the newly-vegan Old Street branch of Arancini Brothers tomorrow (Thursday January 4, 2018) for their grand re-opening.

It is also the official launch of my book and they just shared this post of the stock arriving:

I reached out to owner Dave to see how the soft opening went yesterday and he said:

Even though this area is a ghost town at this time of year, we had a queue out the door between midday and 2pm. There were lots of customers loving the FGV Burger and we didn’t get a single complaint from our regular meat eating customers. It has been a great start to our vegan project!

Such good news!

Click here to see the full menu plus some food photos. Hopefully I’ll see some of you at the grand re-opening/book launch tomorrow. If you can’t make it tomorrow, Arancini Brothers Old Street will be 100% vegan for the entire month of January and maybe longer if it works out for them.

You can also order my book online here.

FGV book tour

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Join me for some events to celebrate the launch of my first-ever book, Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t. 

 You will be able to buy a copy of the book AND hopefully grab something to eat.

 The dates and venues are:

  • Thursday January 4
  • 11am until 2pm
  • Arancini Brothers Vegan Opening
  • Buy the book, eat from the new vegan menu and say hello to me as the Arancini Brothers Old St location turns completely vegan. This date has its own Facebook event.

 

  • Saturday January 6
  • 6pm until 8pm
  • Cupcakes and Shhht
  • Come and hang out with me at this newly vegan cafe in Elephant and Castle.

 

  • Sunday January 7
  • 3pm until 5pm
  • Veganhq
  • Stop in for a bite to eat and buy a copy of my book at this South Ealing location.

 

  • Monday January 8
  • 5pm until 7pm
  • The Green Unicorn Vegan Store
  • Join me in this fabulous Coventry grocery store. They will be selling the book and the event even has its own Facebook event: click here!

 

  • Wednesday January 10
  • 6pm until 8pm
  • Ms. Cupcake
  • Buy the book AND buy some special FGV themed baked goods at the Brixton shop.

 

  • Thursday January 11
  • 7pm until 9pm
  • The Canvas Cafe E1
  • Hosted at this Brick Lane newly vegan cafe, you will be able to buy a copy of the book from my publishers who will be on hand especially for the event.

If you are unable to make any of these events but still want a copy of the book, please click here or on the banner below to buy online. Also look for the book in your independent book stores, health food stores and major book retailers. If they don’t have it, you can ask them to order it for you.

The Facebook event for the tour can be seen here.

Introducing the FGV Burger

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News you can eat.

As you have probably heard, Arancini Brothers Old Street location is turning 100% vegan for January 2018.

The entire menu is becoming plant-based for Veganuary (and hopefully longer) and to celebrate, they have added a burger they are calling the FGV Burger.

Check it out.

The FGV Burger features the famous mushroom zucchini risotto patty inside an organic bap plus double cheese, pickles, crispy onion, ketchup and mustard.

I’m absolutely drooling.

This is the burger of my dreams and I’m thrilled to see my name on their new vegan menu.

You can get your hands on the FGV Burger at Arancini Brothers Old Street location all month long. See the full vegan menu online here.

The soft launch for Old Street turning vegan is January 2, 2018 with the grand vegan re-opening in conjunction with my book launch is Thursday January 4. I’ll be there on January 4, so please say hello.

Hope to see you in store where you can grab an FGV Burger and an FGV book!

If you would like to buy the book but cannot make it to this celebration, you can buy a copy online here.

Best nine of Instagram 2017

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As I do at the end of each year, I like to share the most popular photos from my Instagram account from across the previous twelve months.

As you can see from the list below, Wagamama made the list three times and bizarrely the same dish made up two of those posts! If you work at Wagamama and you make a lot of money, I won’t say no to a monetary showing of appreciation. I didn’t post those pics for my own financial return, but holy shit did you people get some incredible PR from me this year.

Some of the entries are surprising (that popcorn chicken in at number 3 and those tiffin bites appearing AT ALL?!) and it is extremely telling that eight of the nine photos feature products from huge, non-vegan multinational companies.

If you need proof of how mainstream and commodified veganism and plant-based eating has become, this list might just come in handy.

Enjoy reliving these most-liked moments from 2017 and if you don’t already, follow me over on Instagram for new adventures in non-animal living in 2018.

Here we go, starting with number nine and counting down to the most popular:

Number 9.

Number 8.

Number 7.

Number 6.

Number 5.

Number 4.

Number 3.

Number 2.

Number 1. The most-liked photo of 2017 on the FGV Instagram account

And finally, here are the top nine in a handy grid for a recap if you need it.

See you all next year!

Another FGV book reading

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Here is book reading number 3 from my VERY SOON to be released book, Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t  (you can see readings number 1 and 2 online as well).

You can order your very own copy of my book online here.

Stay tuned for more readings and book launch events such as the official launch at the Arancini Brothers vegan reopening celebration on January 4, 2018.

Vegan NYE in London

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Are you in London with no plans for New Year’s Eve?

Gabriel Moreno and the Intrepid Bard Society are hosting a New Year’s party to remember with some of the top performers from The Lantern Society London and Poetry Brothel London.

They will entertain you until 11:45 pm performing the most refreshing music and poetry in the London Underground Alternative folk, troubadour, singer songwriter scene.

Headline performances by:

  • Adam Beattie
  • Gabriel Moreno
  • RADIO PICTURE
  • Holly Augustine

After midnight they will have top music from the darkest and most vibrant corners of the human psyche with a DJ set including music by Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Calexico, Marc Ribot, Wilco Bill Callahan, The National Congreso, Band of Horses, Patti Smit, Warren Zevon, Franco Battiato, Neil Young, Morphine, Georges Brasens, tindersticks, Tom Waits, and more dark and upbeat classics.

£10 entry (CASH ONLY)

They will also take requests for their New Year’s Playlist but you need to let them know in advance. Place your requests on the Facebook event page.

The venue will be open from7pm, serving vegan food (tapas style) and prosecco for a very moderate price.

To reserve a place for this night send an email to with your name, amount of people coming and a telephone number to gabrielangelmoreno@gmail.com and then have a fab time!