London Vegan

Wild food walk in London

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Hey! How about a fun and informative wild food class that also raises funds for a crucial vegan charity?

Read more.

Saturday 18th December 2021

10:30am – 12:30pm

Cost

£40 (£30 concession/£12 unwaged).  All proceeds help fund the Made in Hackney community meal service which continues to provide free nutritious, tasty meals to households struggling to access food.

Location

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Southern Grove, Mile End, London E3 4PX (a short walk from Mile End Tube Station in E3)

Join wild food enthusiast, Ken Greenway, for a foraging experience at the amazing award-winning Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, one of London’s Magnificent Seven Victorian Cemeteries. Closed to burials since 1966 and a designated public park and Local Nature Reserve, the park has an extraordinary diversity of both woodland and meadow plants.

The event will include:

  • A guided walk to safely identify wild foods and enjoy samples of the plants along the way
  • Tips on where and how to forage
  • Learning to identify edible plants
  • Take samples home to turn into your own wild creations
  • Information on the health benefits of wild foods
  • Opportunity to ask Ken questions
  • Digital foraging info recommended by the park supplied after the walk 
  • Numbers limited to 15 with Covid-19 safety guidelines in place


Ken Greenway is site manager of THCP and is also an accredited Humanist celebrant, Horticulture Manager for Grounded Ecotherapy and the course leader on Forage London’s event ‘Wild Food, Wild Nature’. Ken studied Environmental Biology at the University of Greenwich and has worked at THCP since 2002 where he has developed his intimate knowledge of the site as well as his passion for wild food and foraging. Ken is also a Come Dine with Me winner!

Fee: £40 (£30 Concession/£12 unwaged*) inclusive of VAT. Please come weather-prepared (the class will not be cancelled in case of wet weather).

Doesn’t this all sound wonderful?

Learn about foraging from an expert AND raise funds for this community kitchen that works hard to feed vulnerable people in our community.

Click here to read more and book your spot.

Wednesday November 10 podcast

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The weekly podcast is up and I have a lot of news to discuss and stumble over.

I talk about the world’s best vegan chicken, a pop up vegan restaurant off Brick Lane, and a new monthly vegan social starting in London.

Take a listen.

FGV mini news round up December 28, 2022 – final of the year – Fat Gay Vegan

As the year ebbs away join me for a chat about the tough task of going home, Whitney Houston, and vegan food on QANTAS planes.
  1. FGV mini news round up December 28, 2022 – final of the year
  2. FGV’s Mini News Roundup December 7, 2022
  3. FGV’s mini news roundup – news, views, and reviews from the plant-based world and beyond
  4. Fat Gay Vegan mini news roundup March 17, 2022
  5. FGV mini news roundup December 23, 2021 – vegan news and reviews

If you are interested in finding out what I eat, you can also follow me on Instagram.

Temple of Seitan new vegan chicken

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If you hang around these parts of the Internet often, you will probably know that I have been doing some work with legendary vegan fast food business Temple of Seitan.

I really couldn’t have picked a better time to be aligned with the London eatery as they have just released a brand new version of their vegan chicken and it is truly sensational.

You will be blown away by this stuff.

You might be thinking that there was no room for improvement when it came to the Temple of Seitan chicken, but they have somehow managed to take it a few levels higher.

Rebecca has been working on this new recipe for a long time and has been unstoppable in her determination to create the best vegan chicken on the planet.

She has succedded.

The new recipe uses significantly less wheat gluten than the original recipe, making it lighter and more chicken-like. The pieces actually tear like chicken and the texture and taste are both incredible. So succulent.

I also find that because it is lighter, I am able to eat more of the stuff. I love that!

You gotta get along to one of the Temple of Seitan locations ASAP to get your paws on the new recipe chicken. All their locations and opening hours can be found on their website.

You can also follow Temple of Seitan on Instagram.

New vegan pizza in West London

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West London, it is your turn to be excited.

Good Belly is three friends who make delicious vegan pizza and they are delivering on the west side of town!

Launching a month ago, they are currently delivery-only around and nearby the W8 part of London and are hoping to be available in more areas soon. They’re available to order through Deliveroo (and UberEats from next week) between Thursday until Sunday.

Their best-sellers are the Truffle Mac (ft. homemade truffle mac and cheese), Buffalo Soldier (ft. homemade buffalo cauliflower), and Crazy Rich Asian BBQ (ft. homemade BBQ jackfruit). They also do House Ranch, Truffle Mayo and Kimchi Mayo!

You can see the full menu online here.

You can follow Good Belly on Instagram.

Vegan salon in Hackney

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Hey friends.

Did you know about the vegan hair salon and barber in Hackney Central?

As I noted when I originally shared this photo on my Instagram account, Whip is located directly across from the Temple of Seitan shop on Morning Lane.

Everything the salon uses is vegan including colours, treatments, and shampoos. To get a cheeky look inside the salon, check out my original post on Instagram and click through the images.

You can follow Whip on Instagram.

Yay for vegan hairdressers!

New vegan eatery in Balham

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This is fantastic news.

A brand new vegan comfort food outlet has just opened in Balham. Yes, that’s right friends. Something opened south of the river in London!

The menu at Wicked Kitchen sounds more than delightful.

They are serving up fast food that makes me wanna be there right now and it includes:

  • Jackfruit burgers
  • Wraps
  • Sweet potato and skin-on fries
  • Wings
  • Mac n cheese
  • Nachos
  • Shakes and smoothies

You can follow Wicked Vegan on Facebook and Instagram. See their exact location thanks to Google Maps.

UK vegan food businesses head to LA

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The HUGE Eat Drink Vegan beer, food and wine event that takes place in Los Angeles each year is simply legendary.

What started in a parking lot in West Hollywood as the Los Angeles Vegan Beer and Food Festival (the inspiration for our little old beer events in the UK, BTW) is now a super-sized mega event held at the Rose Bowl once a year.

If you ever have the chance to get along to this event, it is mind blowing and you should do it. It is taking place on May 26 in 2018 so you still have time to plan your trip.

For extra incentive, the food line up this year (which usually runs to about 100 food businesses!) includes some of our favourite UK traders as well.

Included in the line up:

I’m super thrilled to see these businesses invited to trade at what is surely the most fabulous and respected vegan event on the planet.

All of these people above have worked relentlessly to promote veganism and have shown deep kindness, commitment and love for our vegan community in the UK.

They deserve their place in the sun.

Click here to get all the info on Eat Drink Vegan and follow the event on Instagram.

Festive Vegan Deli traders for December 21

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As you you can tell from these photos, the previous nights of Festive Vegan Deli were incredible.

We had food, we had fun, and we had a fabulous time talking with friends.

If you missed out, never fear as night three is almost upon us. Festive Vegan Deli is back in Camden Market on Thursday December 21, 2017 between midday and 8pm.

But be warned. This is the final Festive Vegan Deli of the three night series.

Wanna see the line up of traders for the event? Keep scrolling below.

Trader list for Festive Vegan Deli Thursday December 14, 2017:

  • Nutkin – handcrafted vegan cheese in superbly handsome packaging
  • Cafe SoVegan – take home packs of burgers, cheese sauce and more
  • Plant Based Artisan – stunning range of vegan honeys in glass jars
  • The Third Estate – unique ethical gifts and collectibles from this adored London boutique
  • The Cashew Family – gorgeously packaged vegan cheese ready for the festive period
  • La Buenaventura – vegan chorizo an Spanish omelette to take home for the Christmas table
  • VeganHQ – whipped cream, jackfruit, condensed milk and more festive pantry items
  • The Sunny Spoon – stunning French patisserie selection including festive gift boxes
  • Black Arts Vegan – the new kid on the artisan cheese block
  • I AM NUT OK – gorgeous spread and pate made from nuts
  • VegaMama – gorgeous animal-friendly vegan tuna and more
  • Mouse’s Favourite – one of the most adored vegan cheese companies in recent memory
  • SmileyVegan – sweet treats from this brand new business having their first day trading with US!

Festive Vegan Deli is the place to pick up all of your festive food needs. Stock up, take them home, and impress your guests.

If you are looking for food to eat before or after visiting our pop-up shop, there are many places to eat inside Camden Market including Young Vegans, Club Mexicana, Spice Box, Hash Green, VBurger, Magic Falafel and more.

You can RSVP to the Festive Vegan Deli Facebook event page and use it to invite friends.

The exact location of the shop can be seen here thanks to Google maps.

Extra news: don’t forget that Hackney Downs Vegan Market is also celebrating the festive season with a 3-day market on Friday 22, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 December, 2017. The Facebook event page is here.

Free sound and mixing opportunities

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This is VERY cool.

Steve of Friendship Vegan Shoes wanted me to share some amazing information with London’s vegan community.

I’ll let him explain it in his own words.

I don’t know if you know but before Caroline and I set up Friendship Vegan Shoes, I had 41 years in the Music industry as a recording engineer and some of that time was spent directing and producing TV shows.

I retired and went into vegan shoes but we recently set up a world class surround mix studio as we get invited to mix for film and TV commercially.

Now we get empty days in the surround studio so Caroline and I want to give these studio days away free of charge (and include an engineer where and when needed) to film and programme makers we would align with such as vegan animal rights and environmental action groups.

Here is a link to the studio page and the photo (below) shows the Fairlight EVO system control desk.

The studio can mix content from Mono to 7:1 surround and is acoustically treated and very comfortable to work in, and without fear of repetition we offer it free of charge to film and programme makers when we agree with their mission.

I’d be really grateful if you can share this message. My experience is when budget gets tight the first thing that suffers is audio post production, but nowadays audio is half the picture!

Follow Friendship Vegan Shoes on Instagram and reach out to Steve and Caroline if you are in need of sound mixing for your ethical project!

Fabulous vegan Chinese pop up

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Listen to me. You need to book a ticket for this event as soon as you finish reading.

The tickets are going to fly out.

Mao Chow is a vegan pop specialising in vegan food that they bill as inauthentic American Chinese.

Their next event is taking place in Dalston on October 15, 2017 and the menu looks like the stuff of dreams.

Check it out below.

Every single item on that amazing menu is vegan and it sounds delightful.

Tickets are £30 plus booking fee and you need to buy them online here.

If this sells out before you get a chance to book, you can follow Mao Chow on Instagram for news of future events.

Get booking!