On Saturday February 1st, 2014 between 5pm and 8pm, my pal Sara is hosting an afternoon tea packed full of herbal tea, Italian coffee and sweet and savoury Italian finger foods with a British twist.
You MUST check out the menu below:
vegan
FGV guide for single men
Hey! Yes, you. Single, straight vegan man. Come over here for a moment. I have something I would like to talk to you about.
You know how tough it can be as a single vegan, right? It is difficult to find time and situations for romance. You want to be in a relationship and you can’t imagine fostering intimacy with a non-vegan.
You might be thinking the answer to this situation is to go to as many vegan social events as possible and approach as many women as you can.
Wrong. Treating vegan social events as your own singles hotline leads to women feeling harassed, annoyed, objectified and unsafe.
But maybe you have no idea what I am talking about. Well, good news follows below.
I have taken time out of my intensive eating schedule to lay down some common pointers on how you can be a valuable and valued member of your local vegan community. The tips detailed below will help you rise from the ranks of creeper and sex pest to the lofty heights of respected and respectful member of your social group.
Fat Gay Vegan’s Guide for Single Straight Vegan Men
Snack
Vegan snacks. I eat a lot of them and one of my favourites is this tub of piri piri houmous by Sainsbury’s. It is true that I would probably eat most things with a clearly-visible vegan symbol, but this is special in it’s own right. My advice: best eaten with corn chips.
Are there dips and spreads you think I should try? I’m always willing to experiment for the sake of the blog!
Reward for you
What’s better than a gorgeous vegan meal in a convenient central London location? A 10% discount off your total bill at the end of your meal, that’s what!
I had the pleasure of working with Saf Restaurant & Bar to help deliver a memorable dinner party on New Year’s Eve and now I get the thrill of offering a special discount to all my readers.
Saf reached out to ask if my readers would like a discount to dine with them until February 28th, 2014 at a 10% discount. I said, “Of course!”.
The restaurant has an attractive menu featuring raw starters, hearty mains, irresistible desserts and an impressive selection of vegan drinks. I truly believe it is the leader of the pack in London at the moment for vegan dining.
How do you get the discount?
Burger
You know I adore Saf. I love them so much I even worked with them to host a New Year’s Eve dinner and now I have even another reason to be a fan. Their mouthwatering burger is now available for £4.50 as a bar snack. Perfect for a quick bite. Maybe you can even find the time to wash it down with a vegan beer or cocktail. I see a lot of these burgers in my future!
See this and other photos over on my Instagram account.
Stew
Dinner tonight was this lovely vegan meatball stew I threw together using VBites meatballs. I flavoured it with plenty of chipotle and hot sauce while my rice stack in the centre was packed with coriander.
My pal Messy Vegetarian Cook was over for the meal and her Instagram photo took into account our drinks for the evening, including two bottles of red wine and some shots of delicious mezcal. Check it out!
Don’t hold the cheese
One of the greatest fears for a lot of people looking to make the leap to a vegan lifestyle is the lack of pizza. Surely humans cannot exist without this crucial dish? Fortunately for wannabe vegans, Basilico make it possible for you to be able to consume pizza without hurting anyone.
The giant pizzas at Basilico are legendary. The first time we ordered an 18 inch delight, I squealed with joy. We have been enjoying the cheese-less margherita on and off for a while now but had somehow overlooked the fact the pizza crafters also make a mouth watering roasted vegetable pizza with vegan cheese. Oh yes.
I apologise if you are hungry. These photos are going to be difficult to view. Put yourself out of your misery and order an 18 inch vegan vegetarian pizza featuring Veganic grated cheese today. Basilico will even deliver it for you if you are local to one of their eight branches.
New Year’s Cheer
24 hours on, I am still a bit worn out from hosting my vegan New Year’s Eve dinner for 70 people at Saf Restaurant & Bar. It was a lot of hard work, but well worth it. Every single guest looked to be having a fantastic night out.
My pal Luke has kindly offered to stop by and give you his take on the evening. You can follow Luke on Twitter and check out his blog.
Tell us what you thought, Luke.
Chillin
My Vegan Ice Cream Wars feature is only sporadically updated due to the lack of diversity in the UK vegan ice cream market. We need more variety.
It is this lack of choice that is forcing me to include gelato in this category. However, the gelato flavours at Oddono’s Italian ice cream parlours are not going to make it appear as if I have stretched the category too wide.
Oddono’s is a company with half a dozen locations scattered around central London and almost-central London. They make all their vegan and non-vegan desserts on site and you can even peek into the preparation areas at some of the locations to see the magic in action.