You wanna talk about Reading?

I work hard to make London Vegan Potluck a success and stories like the following make it all worthwhile.

A few months ago I was contacted by a friendly person from Reading called Gemma. Gemma was planning a vegan potluck in her city and wanted some advice on how to get it together.

I am only too happy to help where I can when it comes to this sort of question. As I have said previously, vegan potlucks are invaluable when it comes to building social capital, supporting new vegans and strengthening the resolve of long term vegans.

Flash forward to yesterday and I received a lovely message from Gemma sharing the following information:

“So we had our potluck tonight and I thought you would like to see the pics. There were about 18 or so people I think. Thank you again for all your advice before. It really helped. Our next one is 5th August and everyone has said they will come to that one too, yaay.”

How fantastic. I tip my hat to Gemma and the Reading vegans for hosting the first of what I’m sure will be many potlucks. Hopefully I can make it along in the future!

Gemma has kindly agreed to let me use some of her photos from the Reading Potluck. Follow her Facebook page for further dates and details.

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London Vegan Potluck guest review: November 2011

The London Vegan Potluck was such a ridiculous success last night I have had to bring in a guest reviewer with a snazzy camera to whip up a pictorial review worthy of such a fine night.

Kick back, relax and enjoy the food-inspired ramblings and visual evidence gathering of The Vegan Butcher.

Potluck food

Last night was London Vegan Potluck 7 and if you missed it I feel very sad for you. It was a hell of a night, with tonnes of food from our event sponsor (Beanie’s Health Foods), lots of amazing vegan creations from the attendees, and an alarming amount of vegan booze (a trend I hope continues). Let’s recap, shall we?

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London Vegan Potluck 6 review

We did it! We moved the London Vegan Potluck to a new Central London location and many wonderful vegans and friends came out to celebrate.

The night was a delightful fusion of food, fun and fabulous people. Located just off High Holborn, the event took place in a large room generously supplied by Syracuse University London Program. Much gratitude goes out to the program for affording us the opportunity.

Potluckers had extra reason to be excited as world-class dessert chef Fran Costigan was in attendance with copies of her book and a sampling of her delicious truffles. Much love and thanks go out to Fran for taking time out of her busy schedule to visit with us tonight.

Fran Costigan chatting at the potluck
Fran's chocolate creations

The food didn’t stop with Fran’s truffles. There was plenty on offer and everything I tried was delicious. Before we get to the photos though, I must mention one thing…

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London Vegan Potluck 5 review

If you missed out on September’s London Vegan Potluck 5, you are just going to have to take me on my FGV word… it was a fantastic event. Seriously.

There were well over 50 potluckers in attendance and many more dishes on offer. The food was never ending and you could find almost any type of cuisine. We had lasagna, fruit skewers, mini burgers, seitan, tofu, tartlets, cheese platters, raw spaghetti, mole, chicken alfredo, hand-crafted truffles, cheesecake, falafel, spaghetti bolognese, iced tea, vegan wines, fruit drinks, dips, crisps, home-baked bread and much, much more.

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London Vegan Potluck 3 review

After such a successful potluck last month, it was getting difficult to believe part 3 could be bigger and better. But guess what? London Vegan Potluck 3 was bigger and better!

The vast array of delicious dishes on offer pushed our tables to the limit. With over 40 fabulous potluckers, there was an incredibly-diverse range of foods to choose from. It got so busy up in there I had to push my way through to the tables at one point.

The centerpiece was two massive trays of meatballs. These delicacies were made possible by the kind folk of the Redwood Wholefood Company. The award-winning, all-vegan food producers supplied us with a generous portion of their meatballs which were turned into Italian and English style dishes by the glorious staff at Ms. Cupcake. The Redwood meatballs are versatile, tasty and chewy. Thank you Redwood. You helped make our event extra special.

Proper gratitude must also be paid to Ms. Cupcake and her staff for all the hard work they put in to helping make the potluck the success it is, as well as allowing their space to be used once a month. A million thanks.

Following are a few photos of just a fraction of the food that was offered up tonight.

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London Vegan Potluck II review

London Vegan Potluck II

Last night was simply amazing. London-based vegans and their friends converged on Ms. Cupcake in Brixton for the 2nd London Vegan Potluck and what a night we enjoyed!

The company was engaging, the free Sweetbird smoothies flew off the table and the vegan food on offer was beyond amazing. Thank you to everyone who poured their heart into a dish. There is nothing like staring at a table of over 30 dishes and knowing everything is vegan.

Before we move on to looking at the photos, I need to say a massive thank you to Sweetbird for the sponsorship. Please tweet, message on Facebook or contact via their website to let Sweetbird  know how much you appreciate them getting behind our vegan event. If you tried one or more of their smoothies, let them know what you thought. They would love to hear from us. Keep an eye out for them in shops, cafes and coffee outlets too.

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250 strokes to beat it, I just can’t wait to eat it

Following weeks of planning (mostly me harassing people via Twitter), the London Vegan Potluck took place last night. It was a fabulous success.

London Vegan Potluck in Brixton

Held at the Ms. Cupcake store in Brixton, the potluck brought together vegans and non-vegans from all over London in a celebration of vegan food, vegan beer and fantastic people. Approximately 25 people gathered to try out dishes and drink beer kindly supplied by the good folk at Freedom Brewery.

The evening was a true community event. Old friends caught up and new friendships were cemented.

The selection of food on offer was wonderfully-diverse. Sweet cakes sat beside pasta specialties. Exotic salads jostled for attention with hearty stews. The choices were mind-boggling.

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This is your ticket to Freedom

Here is some excellent news to get you over those midweek blues.

Freedom Brewery is a fabulous producer of lager and beer operating out of Staffordshire, UK. They have been supplying drinkers with outstanding beverages since 1995 and all of their products are certified by the Vegan Society as suitable for a vegan diet. A little while ago, I published a short review of their lager and I have been enjoying this drink ever since I put that story out.

Now, here is the really good news…

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