London

Vegan food in hospital

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Guest post by Mirel.

Hospital food has had a bad reputation for decades. Never mind vegan hospital food, which I’ve never had to try and find before now. I recently had an operation which required an overnight stay in a London hospital. Ahead of time I contacted the hospital to put in my request for vegan meals and hoped for the best.

They confirmed vegan meals would be provided for me but couldn’t give me exact details of what would be available. I had the lowest of expectations and asked my loved ones to be on standby to source a packed lunch from outside if needed!

The day came, the operation was a success and this was my post-op meal, a combination of lunch and dinner due to the timings on the day.

They brought me round a jacket potato with double beans, a hummus sandwich on brown bread with crisps and a side salad. Dessert was a fruit bowl with melon, grapes and pineapple pieces. I was impressed! Nothing here was groundbreaking but it was thoughtfully put-together, healthy, tasty and filling.

Even my visitors were impressed! Though perhaps this was because there was no need for anyone to do an emergency dash to the nearest food retailer.

The real fun came the next morning when breakfast arrived. They brought me avocado on sourdough toast, a large bowl of porridge with maple syrup, another round of toast with peanut butter and another fruit bowl.

It’s one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had, which was extra welcome in the circumstances!

FGV note: this stay was in a private hospital.

Black Cat has a second London venue

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The team behind Black Cat, Hackney’s oldest and arguably finest vegan café, have taken over the kitchen at Roadtrip & The Workshop.

Although London can luckily claim a few vegan pubs, this is the first time a bar, and a late night one at that, is catering a fully plant-based menu. (FGV note: I might argue that Karamel in Wood Green is the first)


The aim is to offer approachable vegan food to the multifaceted clientele of the Old Street location, from gig-goers to the followers of sports on the big screens to those looking for a meal to go with their night out in Shoreditch.

Black Cat will be serving up “tapas without borders”, a menu combining vegan versions of traditionally Mediterranean dishes with hints from other parts of the world.

The menu has been tested and served at their Hackney premises, and some have even been served at benefit gigs, music venues, gatherings, and special events.

Regulars to Black Cat need not be disappointed on their first jaunt to Roadtrip & The Workshop: Black Cat’s burgers will be also available and new dishes will appear weekly on the specials board.

Prices range from £3 for freshly-cut chips to £8.50 for the delicious cashew buttermilk corn-crusted seitan burger. The small sharing plates average around £6.

This will be the first vegan residency at Roadtrip & The Workshop, and the venue has gone to great lengths to ensure that diners can not only eat plant-based foods, but that the drinks menu matches the ethics behind the food!

All wine and beers behind the bar are vegan, as is most of the cocktail menu, which is clearly labelled while the venue works with existing suppliers and brands to clarify and find alternatives for its full back-bar of spirits and liqueurs.

Black Cat’s head chef, Nacho, commented: “We’re delighted to be able to bring our food to Old Street, and the whole team are excited to reach as many people as possible to highlight how going out eating vegan is affordable, easy, and most importantly, it can be enjoyed by anyone!”

Carla, who manages the café with Nacho, added: “We’ve been on the lookout for a second site for Black Cat, and when Paul from Roadtrip & The Workshop got in touch, we knew this was the perfect place to bring our tapas menu to. We are super excited and thankful for this opportunity given to us by the venue.”

Both Black Cat venues will be open simultaneously and can be booked for large parties, birthdays, or other celebrations.

Follow Black Cat on Instagram.

Photos used in this post were taken by Al Overdrive.

Zero waste market returns for London

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Following a successful launch in 2018, London’s first plant-based, zero waste market is back! This is a not-for-profit initiative with all profits going to Animal Equality, a leading animal protection organisation.

Dedicated to all things eco, Zero Mkt is a one-stop shop with over 40 stallholders. You can purchase bulk grains and fresh produce, upcycled accessories, soaps, candles, cosmetics, vintage clothing and much, much more – all under one roof!

And you get to enjoy tasty vegan food and drink as you browse.

There will also be free workshops taking place throughout the day, including a cooking demo from plant-based, zero waste chef Max La Manna; a talk from Humane Society International (UK) about the environmental impacts of animal agriculture; and an eco embroidery workshop with Offset Warehouse.

Zero Mkt is all about:

  • Zero animal products
  • Zero single-use plastics
  • Zero waste

Surplus meals will be donated to City Harvest and leftover food will be composted and used by the venue’s Gardening Club. Trees will also be planted by event founders, as part of a carbon offsetting mission.

Zero Mkt is taking place on Saturday April 13, 2019 between 10am and 5pm at Saint Thomas More Language College on Cadogan Street, Chelsea.

The nearest underground station is Sloane Square. Lifts and disability accessible toilets are available on site.

Entry into the event and all workshops is totally FREE. Simply download your free ticket in advance on Eventbrite to guarantee entry.

You can follow Zero Mkt on Instagram.

Vegan restaurant chain opens 4th location

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Superstar vegan restaurant chain Arancini Brothers now has a fourth location in London, this time south of the river!

The 100% vegan restaurant chain is famous for its Sicilian risotto balls, flavoursome wraps, and decadent burgers. With much-adored outlets in Old Street, Kentish Town, and Dalston this fast and nutritious food chain has already established a solid hold north of the river.

Owner and founder Dave told me:

“We are opening our fourth location at Arch 34 Maltby Street, Bermondsey. We have come such a long way since we started with a simple street food concept in Brick Lane Market almost ten years ago!”

You can eat with Arancini Brothers at their Maltby Street location between 9:30am and 9:30pm, 7 days a week. The location is good for dining in, taking away, or having food delivered.


In other huge news, Arancini Brothers has become the first ever UK chain to offer a franchise opportunity.

Yes, it is your chance to franchise a vegan restaurant!

Arancini Brothers are now looking for franchise partners to open and run versions of their wildly successful business all over the UK and the planet.

If you think you have what it takes (including the funds!) to open a location of this popular vegan food business in your area, click here to read more about the franchise opportunity.

Be sure to get into the Bermondsey location as soon as you can in order to eat some amazing vegan food and congratulate Arancini Brothers on their deserved success.

You can follow Arancini Brothers on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to visit their website.

Extra news: to help Arancini Brothers celebrate the opening of their fourth London restaurant, I am running an Instagram follower drive. I am trying to get them to 15,000 followers! They are just short of 10k so we need to work hard to get them there. Follow them on Instagram now.

London university bans live animal displays

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Shayna Weisz and fellow students at Middlesex University have won a hard-fought campaign to have live animal displays banned on their campus.

This inspirational story shows what hard work and a belief in being kind can achieve. I am thrilled for Shayna to tell the story in her own words below.

Reindeer on display at Middlesex University

Our victory by Shayna Weisz

I am thrilled with this news.

It’s taken such a lot of hard work over the past year. They really didn’t make it easy for us – I joined Middlesex University in North London last year, and as soon as I heard about their upcoming Christmas market featuring live reindeer, I started off writing politely to the event organisers about my concerns and encouraging others to do the same. They simply dismissed us, so I decided to organise a peaceful but powerful protest where myself and others stood with signs and handing out leaflets surrounding the reindeers’ pen at the event, where the poor animals stood with no stimulation for 8 hours straight, surrounded by the noise and the crowd. We also noticed that they were transported to and from our campus in the back of a van.

Student protest at Middlesex University

Most people attending the event easily saw the validity in what we were doing as soon as we explained it, and agreed with our stance – including teachers and professors who stopped by and praised us for what we were doing. This was very encouraging, so following that we started a university-wide petition – although there were so many rules in place for how and when and where we were allowed to collect signatures, that it took a full 6 months to gather the required amount for it to pass.

We were informed that it was the biggest petition ever run at the university, and that the motion now had to go to a referendum. So we had to campaign again, but finally, with 60% of the students voting in favour of our motion, it passed just last Friday – specifically calling for a ban on all live animal use as entertainment on campus. For the first time in 12 years there were no reindeer at their annual Christmas market and this will also eliminate the future use of owls who are usually chained to little stands on World Book Day and caged exotic reptiles on Easter.

Reindeer on display at Middlesex University

Moving forward

For more information about the suffering of reindeer at festive events, you could check out Animal Aid’s recent campaign where they’ve done a while undercover exposé of the industry, and have lots of facts about the detrimental effects on the animals’ health and wellbeing.

I’m over the moon that all this hard work has paid off and that my University won’t be having live animal events anymore, but I really think it’s also important to get the word out there about this important step they’ve taken, in the hope that other institutions will be inspired to do the right thing and follow suit.

FGV is now verified

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Here is a super short post to tell you two things:

  1. I have a fab Instagram account that you might like to follow
  2. My Instagram account has just been verified and now sports a super smart blue tick

Yep, it’s official.

There is only one FGV!

My Instagram account is the perfect place to see the latest news from my vegan markets, keep updated on my food adventures in the UK and Mexico, plus see the occasional drunken story from when I venture out to trashy gay bars.

What’s not to love?!

You can follow me on Instagram and check out some recent posts below.

British Library goes vegan for a day

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The British Library is embracing veganism by offering staff and visitors an exclusively all-vegan food and drinks menu at its Kings Library Café this Thursday (August 30, 2018).

The world’s oldest library is supporting The Vegan Society’s Plate Up for the Planet campaign that encourages people and businesses to take up to a seven-day vegan challenge.

The King’s Library Café, located in the Kings Library, will be serving dishes such as mock chicken katsu curry, Caribbean jerk tofu and pandan panna cotta, as well as hot drinks with soya milk between 10:45am and 5:00pm.

Louise Davies, Head of Campaigns, Policy and Research at The Vegan Society, said: “We are very excited to have such a respected institution as the British Library promoting the environmental benefits of the plant based diet with a vegan offering at its café.

“With the weight of evidence showing that going vegan is the most significant thing an individual can do to reduce impact on the planet, it’s time people and companies alike took action on this issue.

“We need to be far bolder with our food choices if we are to protect our precious planet, and our Plate Up for the Planet campaign encourages people to do just that.”

Chantelle Nicholson, chef and author of vegan recipe book ‘Planted’, will give a free vegan cookery demonstration at 1pm on the day and sign copies of her book.

The Vegan Society will hold a stall by the café, handing out literature and giving out flavoured roasted peas from Brave Foods to people who sign up to their seven-day planet-changing challenge.

You can find the café by the King’s Library, located on the first floor of the British Library.

You can see the exact location of the library thanks to Google Maps.

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.

One night only musical event

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It’s not all cupcakes and beer around these parts.

I’m breaking with regular blogging to share some non-vegan news with you.

I’m sad to not be seeing Loserville the Musical for its one-off return this weekend.

It was one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever seen on stage. When I saw it a few years ago, I was so taken by the musical I saw it twice.

All my love and support to the cast and crew as they return for just one night on January 28, 2018 to raise funds for charities supporting young people dealing with thoughts of suicide and young performers in low-socioeconomic situations.

If you are in London, please consider grabbing a ticket for this weekend to help raise funds for these charities and pay tribute to Chris Hardman, one of the original cast members of this musical. Chris ended his own life in 2015 after living with depression.

Buy tickets by clicking here.

Vegan BBQ cooking class

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I want to give you some info about a fab cooking class happening soon in central London.

My friend Nishma is a kind, compassionate and smart person who runs a vegan business called Shambhu’s. You probably recognise that name because of the hundreds and hundreds of events Nishma has catered around the UK.

Nishma is taking a day away from the festival circuit to share some of her kitchen expertise with a small number of food fanatics.

On Saturday April 1, 2017 between 2:30pm and 5:00pm, you can join Nishma and just 11 other students for an afternoon of vegan BBQ cooking instruction (and eating!) in Islington.

Included for the ticket price of £45:

  • printed recipes for items featured in the class
  • complimentary tea & coffee
  • opportunity to taste dishes
  • opportunity to take away any left over food at end (containers provided)

In this class you’ll learn the following barbecue-friendly dishes:

  • Marinated tofu & vegetable skewers
  • Cassava bites
  • Marinated tofu in potato parcels
  • Spicy vegetable masala toasted sandwiches

This will be booked solid and with only 12 spaces available, it will fill quickly.

Click here to book your spot.