Hackney

Highlights from London Vegan Beer Fest

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I’m a little worn out after a big day, but the sore feet and weary eyes seem completely worth it when I look back over these photo highlights from the 5th annual London Vegan Beer Fest.

Hackney Downs Studios came alive in an explosion of beer, food and a hell of a lot of friendly people.

Thanks to the Studios for hosting the giant event and huge appreciation to our sponsors Follow Your Heart.

One million offerings of thanks to all the wonderful people that worked hard and volunteered their time to make the event a runaway success.

Next stop? Sheffield! Now onto the London photos.

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London Vegan Beer Festival! #lvbf17

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Loving my #lazyboykitchen mac&cheese and my black beeble stout #lvbf17

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Happy weekend frens ❤️ #lvbf17 #beer #morebeer #evenmorebeer

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OMG ❤️ @peanutbutterbakery

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Vegan Beer Fest in our neighborhood! #lvbf17 #veganmexicanfood #hackney @clubmexicana

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#London #vegan #beer fest 2017 #LVBF17

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@peanutbutterbakery vegan donuts galore. #vegan #veganeats #vgang #whatveganseat #donuts #lvbf17

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#Vegan chilli cheese fries from @lazyboykitchen at #lvbf17 #vegang

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My 4th London Vegan Beer Fest and the best so far – thanks @fatgayvegan

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#lvbf17

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#lvbf17

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This pint of Detroit Sour City by @twistedbarrelale is outstanding. At London Vegan Beer Fest #lvbf17

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The #vegan fish and chip truck @battered_v are doing a roaring trade at London Vegan Beer Fest #lvbf17

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London Vegan Beer Fest is amazing this year. Look at the @brasscastlebrewery beer hall! #vegan #lvbf17

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Only all the fab people at London Vegan Beer Fest today. @heartofcakelondon #lvbf17 #vegan

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I’m drunk and being taught to pull a pint at London Vegan Beer Fest. #lvbf16 @brasscastlebrewery

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The best thing about London Vegan Beer Fest was the people. Everyone was so lovely and friendly. #lvbf17

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And we’re off!!! #veganbeerfest2017 #fatgayvegan #followyourheart

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BREAKING NEWS: fried chicken location

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When I broke news of Temple of Seitan announcing plans to open the UK’s first ever fried chicken shop, it set off shock waves around the vegan Internet.

People went absolutely wild for the news.

In keeping with my tradition of bringing the most fun news first, here is the scoop on just exactly where the fried chicken shop will be AND the official opening date.

Temple of Hackney

Grand opening: Saturday January 14, 2017 at midday

Address: 10 Morning Lane, Hackney E9 6NA

How amazing is the name?! What you can see above is a sneak preview of the inside wall of the shop.

I asked Rebecca of Temple of Seitan (and of course Temple of Hackney) how she was feeling ahead of the launch. Here is what she told me:

It is equal parts excitement and anxiety! We can’t wait to share the fruits of our labour over the last 3 months. The past year of doing stalls and festivals has gone so quickly and we almost couldn’t believe it was real when the signage and graphics went up today. In store, people can expect the usual fast food experience, except that they will be free to attack all items on the menu without having to worry about ingredients. Hopefully, we can fool a few omnis who stumble in as well.

Temple of Hackney, people. Make it your place of worship.

Click here to see the shop location on Google Maps.

Follow Temple of Seitan on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

All the food

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Vegan Christmas Market is days away and food menus are starting to roll in.

Do you want a sneak preview of what the vendors will be serving up?

Keep scrolling to find out!

Essential Vegan – Bounty cake, Blueberry cake, eclairs, cheesecake, almond crunchy cake, lemon peanut butter cake, coffee walnut cake, coconut biscuit, “honey” cake bites, lebkuchen, cookbook and cheese (two flavours)

Mouses’s Favourite – Artisan nut based cheeses in five varieties

Sgaia Vegan Meats – Food to take away: artisan mheat and cheeze sandwiches with sage & onion mayo, charcuterie, smoked provolone, cranberry sauce. Retail packs: our Christmas Fillets, steaks, charcuterie and award winning bacon

Heart of Cake – Festive Cupcakes, macarons, chocolate pie and boozy mince pies

GreenBay Supermarket – Christmas hampers, chocolates and cookies

Young Vegans – Hot pie and mash (pie fillings: seitan and ale + GF shepherds pie) + GF peanut butter brownies + mince pies

Temple of Seitan – Roast Chick’n + Crackling Roll, Fried Chick’n Strip Roll

Club Mexicana – BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Burritos & Tacos, Fully Loaded Cheezy Nachos, Deep Fried Cheeze Fries

Just Fab – Side panelle, lasagne, fries, Xmas bombs, mini arancini, panelle burger, Just wrap, Vegamisù

Clarkshaws Brewing – limited edition white IPA on draught along with a range of regular ales and lager, and bottles and gifts to take home

Arancini Brothers – 3 x different vegan burgers, smoky paprika fries. Risotto balls with tomato Chutney

Rupert’s Street – Sweet Potato Cottage Pie, Cashew Curry, Roast Vegetable Soup, Beetroot Latke

Viva La Vegan – statement wear tees, badges, Christmas cards, accessories

Battered – Fish and chips, Half a fried chicken, battered sausage, battered pies, mushy peas, curry sauce, tartare sauce

58 Gin – Mulled cider, Gin, chocolate negroni and bars of chocolate

Moodley Manor – retail packs of bacon, burgers, roasts and garlic mayo

Peanut Butter Bakery – Brioche donuts with various toppings, brownies and gift package brownies

Happy Cat Coffee – coffee, tea and hot chocolate

Do you think you can get through all of that?!

Onsite non-vegan restaurant Autumn Yard is turning their food menu 100% vegan for the day. See details here.

The market starts at 11am on Saturday December 17, 2016. Check this page for more details and RSVP to the Facebook event.

Bring cash and card as some vendors don’t accept both. There are plenty of gluten free options and will be marked clearly.

London vegan café burgled

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Horrible news but we can help.

Universally-adored Black Cat Café of Hackney was broken into last night and burgled. Followers of the vegan eatery were startled this morning when the café posted the following photo to social media.

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I don’t need to say how upset all of the Black Cat co-op members are following this incident. They pour their heart and souls into making the café not just one of the best vegan places to eat on the planet, but also a vital hub that supports their community.

They give opportunities to independent chefs. They sell vegan groceries. They allow space for a veg box scheme for local residents. They raise money for charities. Heck, they even let me host my annual Day of the Dead dinner in their space.

To put it simply, London is a better city thanks to Black Cat and their tireless commitment to doing better for animals and people.

To show them how much we love and support them, I have set up a JustGiving page in order to help get them back on their feet as soon as possible.

Some of the expenses they could use our help with include:

  • repairing front door
  • replacing stolen cash
  • replacing or repairing stolen till system
  • covering lost revenue due to the café being closed on the busiest day of the week

As you can see, this is going to be a very expensive ordeal for Black Cat. Yes, some of the expenses might be covered by insurance but as we all know this can take a long time to be sorted.

This is about taking action now. We need to get this money to Black Cat as soon as possible. We want them to feel supported by their community, just as they have supported us for years.

Please give what you can and help the campaign by sharing widely.

I have set the target at £1,000 but any extra money raised over the target will be given to Black Cat to help them with any other expenses related to improving the space. When £1,000 is reached, Josh and I will pay Black Cat with our own money in order to get it to them urgently. We will claim this cash back from the JustGiving funds once the campaign is over, while donating any extra to the café.

Click here to donate now.

Vegan Sausage Fest

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I am jealous.

Jealous that I didn’t think up something as glorious as Vegan Sausage Fest 2016. I’m also jealous that I will be busy running Glasgow Vegan Beer Fest this weekend and will be 300 miles away from this incredible get-together.

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The wonderful people behind Cafe SoVegan are also the wonderful people behind Sausage Fest 2016.

The cafe runs as a permanent pop-up inside the locally-adored Royal Sovereign pub in Hackney. They serve tasty savoury food and, more importantly, cake.

On Sunday August 28 and Monday August 29, 2016 you SHOULD get along to this event that will run between midday and midnight both days.

Here’s a little insight into the event from Cafe SoVegan:

So what is Sausage Fest? I know the standard definition but that’s not what this is!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you may have noticed that the country has gone a bit to sh*t lately. I think a lot of people are feeling a bit blue, not knowing what to do about it. What we propose is not a solution to all these problems but to bring people together to celebrate the humble sausage (in it’s many vegan forms)!

I’ve grown up in Hackney, it’s my home, my mum’s an immigrant, it’s her home. Lots of my neighbours are immigrants, it’s their home. The Sov is my home away from home and also a microcosm of Hackney, in short my favourite place to be! So to make us feel better (hopefully you too), and to bring people together and have a good time we’ve decided to throw a party. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like a good sausage and a two day party, so why not combine the two?!

We don’t want to exclude anyone which is why this is a free event. There will be a collection for the acts who are performing for their dinner. The money made will be put into keeping the cafe going and providing a place and events for people to come together and have a good time.

Hope to see you all there! XX

Amazing!

All manner of vegan sausages to buy and consume fresh from the BBQ, plus an incredible line up of local musicians. What’s not to love?

In addition, there will be a collection of food, clothing and tent donations for refugees in Calais. Do something good for someone else as you devour vegan sausages. You will be a winner.

Click onto the Facebook event page for more info and to let them know you are coming.

Get along to the Royal Sovereign both days if you can but especially on Monday as it is International Vegan Junk Food Day. This is the perfect way to celebrate the annual event and make sure you use #ivjfd16 to share all your sausage photos on the day.

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Good looking vegan food

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I don’t know about you, but the following photos are some of the best looking vegan food I’ve ever seen in London.

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Those pics are just about enough to make me wanna fly back from Mexico.

Do you recognise where these scrumptious dishes are being served?

Read on!

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Nut cheese masterclass

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Love nut cheese but not sure what in the world you would need to do in order to make it?

This class is for you, London!

My friends at Made in Hackney have organised a superb sounding vegan cheese masterclass in partnership with raw chef and nutritional therapist, Bruna Oliveira.

Bruna says of the event:

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New vegan food in Hackney

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I know what you are going to say.

East London doesn’t need more vegan food and people should spread the plant-based love to other parts of the city and the UK.

Well, you might be retracting your complaint when you read about how awesome the brand new Café SoVegan is and you’ll probably be thankful it exists, even if it is in Hackney.

SoVegan logo bandw cutout

On hearing about the impending launch of the cafe, I reached out to co-owner Davina Pascal-O’Mahoney to get the lowdown on this new food business and this is what she shared with me:

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Better and better

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Some vegan places are happy to rest on their laurels, serving up the same quality of food and the same menu month after month.

But not Black Cat Café in Hackney.

I have been incredibly impressed by the food served up by Black Cat over the past two years. The menu changes regularly to reflect seasonal availability and old menu items are brought back with slight tweaks and improvements.

Check out these glorious dishes served to me recently.

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On the map

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I have recently been on and on about the vegan Italian food business housed in a double decker bus. If you have been anywhere near this blog or my Instagram account these past few months, you would have seen me absolutely singing the praises of Just Fab.

The cuisine created by Chef Myra is some of the best vegan food in the country and everybody I ask to join me for a meal on the bus walks away awestruck by the delicious experience.

Just Fab has been trading every Saturday on Shoreditch High Street (you can read my original glowing review here) but the rest of the week left fans of this superstar Italian kitchen high and dry.

But things have changed! The Just Fab bus has a permanent location where it will be serving delicious vegan food all the time. Yep, you can get the best vegan Italian food in London six days a week.

just fab vegan bus london

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