London vegan news, reviews & events
Last night, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking at a Legal Vegan Network event, sharing my journey of blending activism, community building, and professional work to fight oppression and push for a kinder world.
Now this might be a little too niche for the blog, but you never know if somebody reading could benefit from knowing about this group!
Keep reading below.
If you love incredible vegan food, discovering ethical goodies, and generally being surrounded by like-minded, compassionate folks, then you need to get yourself to Coventry Vegan Festival on Saturday, 5th April 2025.
This anticipated event is being put together by Vegan Events UK, who are known for throwing some of the biggest and best vegan festivals across the country.
So, what’s in store? Keep reading below!
These semi-regular dining events I’ve been hosting at DAUNS Scandi cafe to raise funds for Made In Hackney have quickly become a favourite for London foodies.
The cosy and social atmosphere couple with some of the finest cuisine in the capital is a winning combination.
If you want to find out what all the fuss is about, the next event planned for Friday May 2nd, 2025 is the perfect opportunity.
Read about the special menu below.
You’ve seen the ads.
Happy cows grazing in lush green fields, playful pigs rolling in mud, and chickens basking in the sunshine. But we all know that much of what we see about animal farming in the UK is pure fiction, right?
The Animal Law Foundation has just dropped an eye-opening report exposing how misinformation about animal farming is everywhere. It’s on food packaging, in advertising, on TV, and even in Government communications.
The gap between what we’re told and the harsh reality of industrial farming is staggering, and it’s shaping public perception in ways that benefit corporations, not consumers (or animals).
Do you want to hear me talk about my vegan journey, my take on social justice, and how I feel about LGBTQ rights in 2025?
I was a guest on The Rainbow Remix podcast recently and I think it is a great conversation.
You can watch on YouTube:
You can follow The Rainbow Remix on Instagram.
You can order my book ‘Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t’ online now. It has been out a while now but is still a good read. You can also listen to the Audiobook read by me!
You can watch/stream my weekly podcast Tell Me Where I’m Going (Wrong) on YouTube and Spotify.
Follow me on Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Facebook, and Blue Sky.
Let me introduce you to semla, the Swedish cream bun that people devour in vast numbers around this time every year.
Traditionally, semla is a cardamom-spiced bun, sliced open and filled with almond paste and a ridiculous amount of whipped cream. Originally eaten just before Lent, this treat has become a seasonal staple in Sweden, with bakeries churning them out by the thousands.
But here’s the problem. They’re almost always not vegan.
Enter Dauns Scandi Café, swooping in like a glorious Nordic pastry hero with a vegan semla so good it’ll have you questioning everything you thought you knew about cream buns.
The following is an excerpt from Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t. (Nourish Books)
Why should vegans (and all citizens!) work hard to build healthy communities?
Community is not all about vegan beer festivals and eating as much as you can at a potluck. We vegans also need to take action for other members of our community in order to foster solidarity and resist oppression. That might result in you having to extend yourself into situations that don’t directly benefit you personally, but being part of a healthy community is sometimes watching your neighbours succeed or be lifted up instead of you.
Friends. This is a one day only kinda situation.
Take a look at this incredible vegan roast dinner and as you are admiring the plate, understand that it is available this Sunday only in London.
Tuesday is podcast day around these parts.
Every Tuesday morning, Josh and I post a new episode of our very DIY and low-effort podcast to YouTube and Spotify.
In episode 32, we discuss the concept of malicious compliance. This refers to doing the correct thing or following the rules even when it causes hardship or concern for someone else. I love this term so much and the discussion had me chuckling about an example involving ABBA’s Dancing Queen.
Take a listen!
You can also watch/stream on Spotify.
You can order my book ‘Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t’ online now. It has been out a while now but is still a good read. You can also listen to the Audiobook read by me!
You can watch/stream all past episodes of the Tell Me Where I’m Going (Wrong) podcast on YouTube and Spotify.
Follow me on Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Facebook, and Blue Sky.
Fifteen years ago when I started this very blog, if you wanted to be social as a vegan in London you had to make it happen yourself. There were no vegan pubs and certainly no high street chains with dedicated plant-based menus.
This wilderness forced me to launch London Vegan Drinks, a monthly gathering where we carved out a space for ourselves in a world that barely acknowledged we existed. London Vegan Potluck was another community-driven event I curated, where people cooked and shared food because there weren’t many places to eat out.
Back then, if you wanted a vegan meal, you might get lucky at Pogo Café in Hackney (if they were open and serving something edible) or a measly number of eateries that weren’t always great. Other than that, it was whatever scraps you could cobble together from independent health food stores and Holland & Barrett. There were no vegan ready meals, hardly any supermarket own-brand plant milks, and certainly no Gregg’s vegan sausage rolls.
Then the independent vegan revolution happened. Slowly at first and then rapidly.