No matter if your Valentine’s Day is going great or less than desirable, this news is guaranteed to make it better.
Superstar purveyors of plant-based comfort food Young Vegans are launching a bottomless vegan brunch at their pizza restaurant in Bethnal Green, London!
What is a bottomless brunch?
Don’t worry, you get to keep your pants on. Bottomless brunch means you get to drink and eat as much as you can/want from a selected menu for a set amount of time.
The Young Vegans bottomless brunch features unlimited pizza AND unlimited Prosecco or beer for 90 minutes for a flat rate of £30 per person!
The bottomless brunch is available only via advanced bookings on the Young Vegans Pizza Shop website or Open Table for times between midday and 5pm every Sunday, starting on Sunday February 16, 2020.
Some of the rules for the bottomless brunch:
You must eat everything (no leftovers/takeaway)
Doesn’t include any side dishes
Only one pizza at a time per two people
I love the sound of this bottomless brunch!
The drink menu also features organic wines and cocktails (such as a gorgeous Bloody Mary), Aperol Spritz, gin and tonic, and their special Hackney Mule for extra cost. The beers are from Hackney Brewery, which brews just 15 minutes from the restaurant.
I love a success story, especially when it comes to vegan businesses.
What The Pitta is one of the true runaway success stories of the London vegan food scene.
Cem and Roj crash landed on the Shoreditch landscape a few years ago with their peerless doner kebabs and have gone from strength to strength ever since. The fast food heroes now have What The Pitta locations in Shoreditch, Camden, Croydon, and Brighton.
What The Pitta is one of the finest places on the planet if you are interested in vegan comfort food. Their kebabs and chip boxes are simply legendary.
And it isn’t just us vegans that think they deserve recognition.
What The Pitta have been nominated in the Best Takeaway in London category in the 2020 British Kebab Awards.
Yes!
The vegan chain is the ONLY vegan business nominated across a huge line up of possible winners.
We need to combine out vegan super powers and make sure they win their category. Click here to vote for What The Pitta.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6vMI2UpYAB/
Visit What The Pitta online to see their menu and location details and be sure to follow them on Instagram.
How often do you get along to the gorgeous vegan spot in Brixton called Café Van Gogh?
This not-for-profit social enterprise enjoys a legendary reputation with locals, while a lot of people further afield often make the trip south of the river to enjoy the delicious cuisine.
I’ve popped on here today to let you know about the brand new monthly menu released by Café Van Gogh for February.
Check it out.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8EtNN-JTqO/
The above menu is the evening menu, so grab a few food friends and make it a night out.
Café Van Gogh is open Tuesday to Friday midday until 4:30pm and then 5:00pm until 9:00pm, Saturday 10:am until 9:00pm, and Sunday between midday and 4:00pm.
The café is dog friendly and you can get in touch with them for bookings via 07593 010 566.
Multi-award winning vegan pizzeria Purezza extends its Camden venue using recycled and eco-friendly materials.
Purezza, the UK’s first vegan pizzeria, is extending its Camden branch. The new branch will be one of the biggest vegan restaurants in the UK, and is the first part of the restaurant’s expansion plans for 2020.
Purezza’s Camden branch first opened in March 2018. The company, which also has a branch in Brighton & Hove, went on to win National Pizza of the Year following its London opening.
The new restaurant is three times bigger than its previous Camden branch. It boasts a new sheltered garden area with live plants adorning the walls, making it perfect for alfresco-style dining no matter the weather. It also has a large extended bar, where diners can enjoy a range of drinks and cocktails along with light nibbles such as Purezza’s famed vegan Cheese Dough Balls.
Purezza’s focus on sustainability in its food has extended to the build and interior of the new restaurant. Furniture is from both Purezza’s previous restaurant, and discarded items from other restaurants. The plaster on the walls is made using sustainable hemp. Upholstered furniture uses vegan leathers and inner foams made with recycled plastic bottles. Mirrors and lighting were made with recycled and reclaimed materials using sustainable methods of production. Purezza even used the flooring from their previous Camden restaurant for seating booths, and doors were sourced from an old chapel.
The restaurant has seen steadily growing demand, which it credits to the combination of growing interest in plant-based food and innovation, and its unwavering commitment to quality.
Tim Barclay, co-founder and co-owner of Purezza said “our flagship London restaurant has been struggling to keep up with demand throughout 2019. The single biggest complaint we receive is that it’s almost impossible to get a table most nights. It’s a good problem to have, but providing exceptional customer experiences is one of our core tenets at Purezza, and by tripling the size of our Camden restaurant we’ll be able to meet the demand.”
The new Purezza opens on 3rd February in Camden at 45-47 Parkway, NW1 7PN. Click here to see the exact location thanks to Google Maps.
With all the intense and feverish attention given to mainstream non-vegan restaurant chains serving vegan options, I wanted to take a step back and give some space to the true legends of the vegan food scene.
I’ve compiled a list of my top ten favourite vegan restaurants and eateries on the planet as a way to celebrate the people who put animals first.
This list is current as of February 2020 and is as accurate as I can recall. Some places would have made this list had they not sadly closed. I also am aware that I am missing a whole bunch of amazing vegan spots that I haven’t had a chance to visit, so please feel free to add your suggestions in the comments.
Are you ready for FGV’s Ten Favourite Vegan Restaurants On The Planet?
Por Siempre Vegana Taqueria (Mexico City, Mexico)
Tacos are more than just food in Mexico. They are an inextricable part of the culture. Late night and early morning taco stands are on every corner, making this cuisine the most popular and most eaten in the city.
Por Siempre launched a vegan version of a traditional taco stand six years ago and it quickly became one of the absolute must visit locations for vegans. The business has recently expanded and now boasts a second spot featuring chairs and tables.
Temple of Seitan is more than just a place to get irresistible comfort food. It is a food company that has become world-famous and unquestionably legendary.
The first location of this fried vegan chicken powerhouse turned the world of plant-based eating upside down when it opened in Hackney, East London. With a second spot in Camden and more expansions soon to follow, Temple is set for world domination.
If you haven’t dined with Vedge, I promise you haven’t dined with the best vegan restaurant on the planet.
Until Kate Jacoby and Rich Landau launched their super swanky (yet still incredibly welcoming) Vedge restaurant, I wasn’t certain that I had ever truly eaten exceptional vegan cuisine. My multiple trips to the Philadelphia-based restaurant have forced me to reconsider everything I know about good food.
This restaurant located at Mermaid Beach on Australia’s Gold Coast means more to me than I can effectively express. Living in nearby Brisbane wasn’t always amazing for vegans (it has changed BIG time) so Tian Ran was my sanctuary.
Their menu is overflowing with some of my favourite dishes on the planet including olive fried rice, crispy bean curd, noodles, and drumsticks. I adore Tian Ran and I miss them deeply.
Veggie Grill (multiple locations, United States of America)
The first time I actually adored a salad instead of eating it out of duty was probably at a Veggie Grill location.
This chain of casual quick service restaurants is consistently high quality. They serve the perfect mix of comfort dishes (wings, burgers) with decadent salads packed with kale.
Veggie Grill is expanding rapidly around the USA. Eat with them when you can for pure happiness and satisfaction. Extra note: make drinking their strawberry lemonade a priority.
Plant Power Fast Food (multiple locations, United States of America)
Vegan junk food (junk is not a bad word!) is a reality thanks to Plant Power Fast Food. With seven locations and a food truck spread out across Southern California, the chain is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in the fast food industry.
Plant Power recreate all your favourite foods of pre-vegan times without hurting any animals, including breakfast muffins, shakes, fries, and stacked burgers.
Not only are Carla and Marco dear friends of mine, they are also bloody talented food creators. Their pie and mash outlet in Camden, London is unquestionably one of the best places to eat on this planet.
Crispy pie shells, hot savoury fillings, creamy mash, and decadent gravy will be your reward if you make the effort to visit the shop. I would eat there every day if I could.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6fcYzjHbZi/
Napfényes Étterem (Budapest, Hungary)
During my first visit to this Hungarian restaurant and gourmet bakery, I almost started crying from the pure joy. Seriously. It was an intensely emotional experience for me.
Traditional Hungarian cuisine turned vegan by their impossibly talented chef makes this the finest vegan restaurant in Europe. The glass cases near the restaurant’s entrance are piled high with pastry items that cannot be bettered in my opinion.
Imagine traditional Italian food bursting with flavour. Imagine gnocchi. Imagine creamy tiramisu. Fried pasta. Ravioli. Now imagine this all done vegan.
So What? is the restaurant of your dreams if you adore Italian food. I was so shocked at how utterly delicious everything was during my visit, I kept pinching myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo0_FhaiNme/
Doomie’s Home Cookin’ (Hollywood, United States of America)
Imagine being the happiest you can be. Imagine your happiest of happy places. Where do you see yourself?
When I close my eyes and think happy thoughts, I picture myself sitting at a table in Doomie’s with a vegan chicken basket in front of me and a jumbo soda off to the side.
Comfort food rarely comes more delicious than at Doomie’s.
Since 1991, The Fry Family Food Co has been making meat alternatives and recent data sees the brand ranked as the 7th largest meat-free brand by retail value, growing at an astonishing +211% year on year.
Yay for vegan food and yay for animals!
But the bad news?
After stocking Fry’s for the last 6 years, Ocado online supermarket has decided to stop selling the brand.
Those who rely on home delivery for their shopping in the UK will now find it much harder to access the full Fry’s range.
The Fry Family Food Co is hoping their supporters and fans can show Ocado how many customers they are disappointing and get them to reconsider the sudden decision.
If you want to get involved with asking for a reversal of this decision, tag Ocado in your social media posts. You can also write to Ocado directly at ocado@ocado.com with your opinions.
Beer company BrewDog has announced an exclusive deal with vegan fried chicken pioneers Temple of Seitan to feature their signature seitan wings and burgers in BrewDog Bars across the UK available from Tuesday January 14, 2020.
I’m thrilled to hear my friends at Temple of Seitan are experiencing this phenomenal success.
But I’m not a BrewDog fan.
I genuinely hope BrewDog has morphed into a much more considerate and compassionate company following on from some of their thoughtless and unkind marketing campaigns and controversies of the (not too distant) past.
See examples here (sexism) and here (using dead animal bodies as promotional tools) and here/here (transphobia) and here (they were taken to an employment tribunal) and here (they sold a half meat/half meat alternative burger) and here (sexism mixed with misogyny) and here (explicit sexism and misogyny) and here (pay disputes and suggestions of intellectual property mishandling).
I will never personally drink a BrewDog beer again in my life however I wanted to report this news on behalf of my friends at Temple. I do not support the BrewDog company due to ethical and political reasons, but I love and support Rebecca and Patrick of Temple of Seitan even though I personally would have made a very different decision.
I wish they had found a less problematic beer brand for a partnership. I know this blog post makes me sound like a hypocrite by saying I don’t support BrewDog but here is some information about BrewDog.
I’m not the boss of vegans so I’m giving you the info and you can do what you want with it. Perhaps you can walk into a bar and only buy the Temple food? LOL.
And perhaps by reporting this news spliced with commentary on their shitty marketing, I might get BrewDog to take a little bit of notice. Perhaps it will encourage other vegan consumers to say ‘thanks for the vegan wings from a legendary vegan company but please be better people as well’.
If you are a BrewDog customer and are excited to dine with Temple of Seitan while in one of the bars, perhaps you can also take the time to voice your opinions to the company whenever they do something shitty.
Patrick from Temple of Seitan said they were sold on the deal due to BrewDog paying Living Wage to their employees.
BrewDog is launching this partnership with Temple of Seitan in their UK bars before expanding the supply to their European locations soon.
Temple of Seitan has been featured in ‘best of’ lists across numerous publications – from Time Out to Easyjet Traveller. In 2017 Temple of Hackney won the best UK restaurant in the public voted VegFestUK Awards and in 2019 the ‘Nashville Hot’ burger was the number one selling vegan item on Uber Eats, London.
YEDA just told me that they serve food that is good for you and the planet at their Covent Garden location.
The grab and go restaurant opened its doors just before Christmas, in the vibrant Seven Dials in Covent Garden, London. The full address is 55 Neal Street, London, WC2H 9PJ.
YEDA focuses on delivering good food on the go. They serve delicious satiating food that is good for you, the environment, and the planet. The place was developed by Elena, a 27-year-old UCL graduate, who felt London was missing delicious vegan food available on the go.
On the menu YEDA has loaded salads, several tasty sandwiches and wraps that can be toasted in a grill, and an already popular Breakfast Burrito. The selection of hot mains includes shakshuka, creamy mac and butternut squash, chickpea and coconut curry, and a sweet potato jackfruit waffle.
There are two elements to the YEDA space: the ground floor that is all-hands-on-deck for quick grab and the lower ground floor lounge with comfy seating and a relaxing atmosphere. The shop itself is bright and vibrant with natural woods, terrazzo tiles, and modern chic fittings.
The food is not the only passion YEDA wants to share with the city. They are trying to do their bit to be kind to the planet by using recyclable and compostable packaging that is both practical and Earth-friendly.
The White Hart is the legendary beer-focussed pub in South London that is turning its kitchen vegan for January 2020 with a little help from a gorgeous street food business.
What The Fattoush? is well-known for serving up delicious plant-based food inspired by Palestinian cuisine, culture, and people. The compassionate foodies started their business in order to support charities and groups working to improve lives of the people of Palestine.
For the entire month of January 2020, you can buy and devour the delicious cuisine of What The Fattoush? and drink beer at The White Hart in SE14.
What does the vegan food menu feature?
Hummus and Chilli confit £6.5 – Creamy hummus topped with smoked chilli oil (mulato, pasilla, ancho), chargrilled sweet peppers and smoked paprika served with warm Arabic bread
Fatteh (Middle Eastern style nachos) £10.5 – Pitta chips loaded with a chunky tomato, pepper and aubergine stew, Gazan guac (avo, sumac & sesame seeds) and pickled chillies
Imam bayildi and vermicelli rice £9.5 – Slow cooked aubergine. Red pepper and chickpea stew in a rich and silky tomato sauce served with vermicelli rice and chopped salad
Black lime ‘lamb’ and courgette with vermicelli rice £12.5 – Chunky ‘lamb’ pieces, courgette, and our 7 spice mix served with vermicelli rice and chop salad
9″ Loaded Arabic flatbread with either falafel / seitan shawarma ‘meat’ £10.5 / £12 – Arabic bread topped with hummus, chopped salad and pickles with either falafel or seitan
