vegan

Bwyty Fegan Newydd – New Vegan Restaurant

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Post by:

josh panel

Forgive the (possibly dodgy) Google translation in Welsh, but I was really excited about a new 100% vegan restaurant in Bangor, Wales. I reached out to the owners to find out what it was all about and here’s what they had to say:

We decided to open a vegan restaurant simply because it’s the right thing to do. We were tempted to hide behind the vegetarian safety net but decided to be brave and follow the heart. The support has been amazing and it turns out that there is certainly a demand for this modern cuisine. People are most certainly waking up to the effects our meat and dairy consumption is having on the planet. Also the health implications that processed meat is having and the disgraceful treatment of animals is appalling and needs to stop. We can’t always barge into slaughter houses or testing labs to protest but we can produce businesses that oppose such things. We can create easier ways for people to find cruelty free food.

Voltaire is vegan food but not typical vegan style, the food is actually more in keeping with regular restaurant food, it just happens to be vegan. Our meals are fusion, worldly and totally delicious! We wanted to create indulgent food, not just healthy. Food to treat yourself with! Creamy mushrooms and crispy battered cauliflower. Summer fruity curry with warmed naan, or Tibetan fried noodles with a choice of caramelised parsnip or non meat pieces. We love comfort food at Voltaire and our customers are our family.

I’m so pleased that they decided to take the 100% vegan route and the food sounds right up my alley. Check out the picture they sent me and another one I found on Instagram. I can’t wait to make my way to Bangor and get some of that beer-battered cauliflower!

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Like Voltaire on Facebook.

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Vegan restaurant owners not vegan

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There has been quite a bit of upset in vegan circles this week about the founders and majority owners of Southern California vegan restaurants Gracias Madre and Café Gratitude selling beef products (i.e. dead cows) from their family farm.

I reached out to the PR firm for Café Gratitude to find out a little more information about the situation. One of my main concerns was whether the plant-based menus were ever going to start serving meat.

Here is their response:

“We want to assure all of our supporters that Café Gratitude and Gracias Madre have always served and will continue to serve 100% organic, plant-based cuisine prepared with ingredients sourced responsibly from vendors and farmers who share our commitment to preserving the integrity of the environment.

Founders Matthew and Terces Engelhart do not personally follow a vegan diet. They reside on their privately-owned Be Love Farm in Vacaville, California where they practice regenerative agriculture, and harvest organic produce for personal consumption for friends, family and neighbors in the area.

Given the growth of the restaurants in Southern California, the majority of produce served at Café Gratitude and Gracias Madre is supplied by local farms with the exception of organic peaches in the summer, and organic butternut squash in the fall and winter months, which are both sourced from Be Love Farms.

To learn more about regenerative agriculture practices visit www.belovefarm.com and regenerationinternational.org.”

Apart from the horrible irony of animals being killed on a farm called Be Love, do you see a problem with eating at one of these restaurants? Is it effective to put financial pressure on the restaurant chain because the co-founders raise cows for food on their own farm or is this also putting unnecessary pressure on other co-owners who are are vegan or risking the jobs of vegan workers.

I eat at many vegan restaurants and from many vegan food companies where the owners or CEOs are not vegan. I could name half a dozen or so just off the top of my head. The CEO of Veggie Grill is not vegan. The owner of VegBar in Brixton is not vegan. Not everyone in a management position at Fry’s Family Foods is vegan. Some of the biggest vegan food brands on the planet are making profit for non-vegan investors who spend said profits on animal product consumption.

And what about our 100% vegan businesses with vegan owners? Should we be demanding that they do not buy produce from farms that also raise and kill animals for food?

This post is certainly not an attempt to tell people how to react to the Café Gratitude situation, but to create thought and debate. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic. Should these restaurants stand alone and be celebrated for their plant-based menus or should vegans be demanding the founders and co-owners change their other business practises by applying financial pressure via a boycott?

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Ask FGV video March 2016

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Each month I take questions from some of my Patreon supporters and I try to give helpful answers.

Check out the March 2016 video below and be sure to find out how you can get involved with these questions (and get early access to my cooking videos) over on my Patreon page.


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Clothing-optional vegan pop-up in London this weekend!

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Post by:

josh panel

Well here’s something you don’t see very often.

This Saturday and Sunday there is a pop-up sauna in South Tottenham with vegan food provided by The Magic Cauldron and the Facebook page for the event says that swimwear is optional! Housed in a converted horse trailer, the sauna is open to all interested people and towels can be hired for £3. Interested yet? If not, then let me tell you about the food.

The Magic Cauldron will be at the pop-up event providing 100% vegan food. Here’s the flyer for the event:

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It all looks and sounds divine:

  • Baked turmeric falafel
  • Red Cabbage Vietnamese Rolls
  • Sweet potato, carrot & courgette fritters
  • Creamy roasted red pepper curry & rice
  • Roasted beetroot & fennel hot lentil salad

So if you’ve always fancied getting your kit off and getting stuck into some tasty vegan food, then this weekend could be right up your alley!

Like The Magic Cauldron on Facebook.

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London, you are losing awesome vegan food

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Oh no!

Vegan friendly pub kitchen Phil T’s in Camden in closing in a few days. You have just one week to get there and sample some of their outrageously-tasty savoury goodness.

This is the announcement made by the kitchen on their Instagram page:

It is with great regret that we have to announce that Phil T’s at the Black Heart will be closing with our last day being Saturday the 26th of March. Phil has a big new project that will be taking up most of his time and though we wanted to keep the kitchen going we have been unable to find the right person to run it for us. So even though it was a hard decision we have decided that instead of letting the quality of the food and service suffer it’s time to bow out. Thanks to all of you who have come in and supported us and enjoyed our food. Hopefully it’s not the last you’ve heard of Phil T’s but in the meantime we’ll let you know about Phil’s new project once it’s up and running.

Now there’s only one thing left to do and that’s for Phil to get back into the kitchen for the last week and dish out all your favourites and a few daily specials! So if you want to have one last taste of Gourmet Trash Food at its best then you’ve got eight days to eat your fill. Hope we’ll see you there! (Opening Times: 2pm-10pm today, 12pm-10pm Sunday 20th, 3pm-10pm Mon 21st-Thurs 24th, 12pm-10pm Fri 25th-Sat 26th)

Vegan crab cakesBuffalo cauliflower wings with blue cheese dip

Get on it, people.

Crab cakes, buffalo cauliflower wings and more: done vegan and done well until this Saturday and then it’s GONE.

Follow Phil T’s over on Instagram in case they pop again in the future.

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Liverpool gets a new vegan eatery

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Remember when I wrote about GIVE Kitchen and their vegan food delivery service? 

Well it seems things are going well for the food enterprise as they are set to open the doors to their very first vegan eatery in Liverpool.

Check out what the official press release says below (and drool over the photos):

The UK’s first, award winning, one for one giving, plant based, whole food, online delivery service are expanding by opening their first Inspiration Centre, Eatery and Organic Shop in Liverpool, next month.

The doors to GIVE Kitchen’s first One for One giving, Inspiration Centre, Eatery and Organic Shop, will officially be open to public at 10am on Monday 4th April, 2016.

For every meal sold in the new eatery, one will be given back to a homeless person in the UK or a starving child abroad through their registered charity (No.1164433) the GIVE2040 Foundation, which aims to eradicate hunger, poverty and disease by 2040, through donating plant based nutrition to those in need.

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GIVE Kitchen’s Inspiration Centre aims to spread the word and educate on the health, wellbeing and environmental benefits that come from leading a plant based lifestyle. The stylish eatery has been designed as a welcoming and comfortable space for guests to relax and enjoy a wide selection of delicious, plant based, whole food breakfasts, large and small plates and desserts, inspired by flavours and spices from around the world.

The original and creative menu has been developed by their spiritual and soulful Head Chef and will be hand-made in their state-of-the-art kitchen and prepared with ‘love and vitality’.

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Co-Founders Paul Hampson and Dario Curcillo’s own-branded, organic, fair trade certified coffee, along with a selection of quality, vegan beverages will also be on offer. The on-site shop, which benefits from ample, free car parking will stock a wide range of fresh and frozen, healthy, vegan and organic groceries.

Co Founder Paul Hampson said. “GIVE just want a greener, cleaner and more caring planet and to give back to those who really need it. We hope that our guests will leave not only feeling satisfyingly full but also great knowing that they’ve really helped someone out who is less fortunate.”

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Co Founder Dario Curcillo added, “We’re extremely excited to be opening GIVE Kitchen’s first of many Inspiration Centre’s, Eateries and Organic Shops, particularly in Liverpool where we’ve received an overwhelming and positive response from people, since announcing our expansion. We’re very much looking forward to welcoming in our guests and treating them to GIVE Kitchen’s unique and delicious, plant based, whole food experience.”

GIVE Kitchen is based at Unit 5, Glacier Buildings, Harrington Road, Brunswick Dock, L3 4BH.

Opening hours are Monday to Sunday 10am to 10pm.

You can follow GIVE Kitchen on Twitter and visit them online.

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Vote for a vegan restaurant

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Let’s put our collective vegan power behind this cause.

Lovely vegan restaurant El Piano in York has been nominated for a mainstream food award and you can vote for them by clicking here.

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What are you still doing here? Get voting!

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Hottest new vegan burgers in London!

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Post by:

josh panel

A couple of weeks ago I saw something on Twitter about a new veggie burger pop-up at Brick Lane. I reached out to Hot Boyz Veggie Burgers and discovered that they are 100% vegan. Their food looks delicious – check out some pics from their social media channels:

The Hot Boyz are in Town! If your around come down!! Brick Lane Upmarket #vegan #vegetarian #foodies #foods #foodie #foodporn

A photo posted by Hot Boyz Veggie Burger Joint (@hotboyzvburger) on


Hot Boyz Veggie Burgers will be at the Sunday Upmarket in Brick Lane this Sunday from 10am-5pm. Go along, check out their burgers and report back!

Like Hot Boyz on Facebook or follow on Twitter and Instagram.

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Review: Bar Bombón in Philadelphia

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Post by:

josh panel

Last month I was in Philly and was keen to visit a vegan Puerto Rican/Latin-inspired restaurant that opened last year called Bar Bombón. A browse of the menu sounded promising so I headed downtown together with my brother, sister-in-law and two nieces.

We had a hard time picking from the menu so quickly did the most sensible thing and ordered pretty much everything available. There was five of us and we were hungry. Don’t judge! Here’s a breakdown of what we had:

Bar Bombon - dips and chipsSalsa Roja, Salsa Verde y Guacamole with fried corn tortillas.

Bar Bombon - fried yucaYucca Frita with Maduro sauce

Bar Bombon - empanadasEmpanadas de chick’n and beef

Bar Bombon - tequila seitanTequila Seitan Skewers

Bar Bombon - enchiladasEnchiladas de ‘pollo’

Bar Bombon - brussels tacosBrussels Sprout Tacos with fried avocado

Bar Bombon - broccoli tacosBroccoli Tacos

Bar Bombon - cubano clubCubano Club Sandwich

Bar Bombon - galletteAnjou Pear & Squash Gallette

Bar Bombon - tres lechesTres Leches Cake

Bar Bombon - arrozXocolatl rice pudding

I wish I could say that everything was delicious but we all left feeling slightly underwhelmed with the food. There were some standout items (the fried yuca, Cubano club sandwich and the incredible Tres Leches cake) but everything else seemed to be somewhat lacking in flavour and composition. I hate to be too critical because I’m sure that much time and love has gone into creating these dishes but I really didn’t feel like my expectations were met at Bar Bombón.

Add to that the Center City Philly prices, and I don’t think any of us would head back there in a hurry.

Except for that Tres Leches cake which was truly memorable.

Visit Bar Bombón online, like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter or Instagram.

Plant based with eggs?

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Much excitement was experienced when I got this photo tweeted at me this morning:


Wow. A plant based bar and restaurant opening this month in London. I was giddy with joy.

Giddy until I went over the the Instagram page of Farmacy.

Their definition of plant based is slightly different to mine in that it seems to include eggs. Eggs aren’t event close to plants, right?

I have commented below one of the Farmacy Instagram posts to ask if they are using ‘real’ eggs. I suppose there is a very slim chance that they have created a plant based food stuff that looks exactly like chicken egg when cooked, but I’m not hopeful.

So it seems you have ANOTHER almost vegan eatery to add to your list, London. Farmacy is set to be located on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill.

Click here to follow Farmacy on Instagram. Scroll past the egg photos, of course.

Extra note: here is a link explaining why we shouldn’t eat eggs, even eggs from rescued birds in backyards.

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