You know when you think something is vegan because the company has told you it is vegan, so you have been drinking it for years and then you find out it probably never was vegan to begin with because it contains gelatine?
Yeah, that.
Vegans are angry. It has transpired via social media that Rekorderlig cider uses gelatine during the production process but told people it was vegan. These claims of the drink being vegan-friendly were made to consumers via Twitter and email over a period of time stretching back a few years.
Apologies to my loyal non-Californian readers who have been suffering through post after post about vegan food well out of their reach. Maybe you can think of it as the motivation you need to scrape some savings together and get away on holiday. Make Southern California your next vacation destination.
So really, these tempting posts of decadent dishes are a public service. My civil duty to inspire the plant-inclined people of the world to broaden their horizons.
To carry on in this completely selfless fashion, let me tell you what you are missing by not eating at Doomie’s Home Cookin’ in Hollywood.
Doomie’s is the FGV version of heaven. Vegan pulled pork sandwich served with mac and cheese? Check. Cocktails and cold beer? Check. Decadent vegan desserts and sweet treats? Double check.
If I lived in Hollywood, I would most certainly develop an unhealthy emotional relationship with this meat free restaurant. Their menu is what you would show someone wanting to understand the term comfort food.
The only thing that I can’t approve of is the fact Doomie’s offer cow-derived cheese on request. Their food is so utterly delicious and out of this world, offering dairy seems such an unnecessary concession. I can’t imagine that any diner would feel short changed by eating the vegan versions. It is all staggeringly good.
Check out my meal photos below, including the bonus photo of the jumbo vegan burger Doomie’s served me during the Los Angeles Vegan Beer Festival.
I have been busy catching you up on the amazing meals I enjoyed during my recent Southern Californian vacation, but a lot of what I consumed wasn’t from any restaurant.
Check out the photos below of all the vegan snacks I got my chubby, queer hands on. There is a huge range of plant-based products featured, some of them are my old favourites and some are newly discovered tasty treats.
Do you like the look of any of the following snacks? Are any of your faves featured? If you could only pick one, which one would it be?
Being a frequent traveller, I am used to the exorbitant prices charged for food items at airports. I am not sure if the food vendors are paying a premium for the space or they have just discovered people will pay anything because they are trapped in that location.
Let’s play a guessing game.
How much do you think I paid for this vegan salad at Los Angeles International Airport last week? The answer is below the photo in US dollars. Take a guess and then scroll down to see how close you were.
Along with a lot of other west London based vegans, I often complain that not a lot happens for plant eaters on this side of the city.
Well, here is one event.
Angela Malik has just opened a culinary school in Ealing and is set to host a vegan cooking demonstration next week on June 5, 2014. The event will be a chance for attendees to watch a vegan Chinese meal be prepared from scratch before diving in for some tasting.
The event website states that you will observe the creation of wood ear salad with coriander, pock marked old woman’s tofu and stir fried Chinese greens with sizzling oil. Then you will eat it!
The tickets are available now. I would love to hear what this event is like if you go along.
Let’s hope this is just the start of more vegan events in the forgotten western part of the capital.
I honestly struggle to keep track of all the new vegan events and festivals popping up around the UK. It is wonderful to see the explosion of plant based activities taking place all over the country.
Grab your calendar and circle June 7, 2014 because we have another event to add to this ever-expanding list.
The North West Vegan Festival is a bumper event with more than 100 stalls that will feature all the usual activities such as cooking demos, educational discussions, film screenings and lots of vegan food. Oh yeah, there will also be vegan beer!
Get all the information you need from the event website and drop by the Lancaster Town Hall from 11am on June 7 for a big day of compassionate socialising.
Here’s a quick post to let you know I made it back to my favourite place to eat in the USA and it was perfect.
Native Foods Cafe is a rapidly-expanding restaurant chain in the USA with locations far and wide. News of a huge financial investment deal means they are now set to appear in even more cities over the next few years.
I would be the happiest FGV in the world if they could find a way to open a London branch. I would eat there every day. Honestly.
Follow Native Foods Cafe on Twitter and then check out my most recent feast below. The Oklahoma cheese burger is the stuff of legend and the Native wings are crunchy sticks of irresistible glory. I threw in some polenta bites and lavender lemonade to make sure it was a well-rounded meal at their Santa Monica location.
If you are in London this week and are not attending London Vegan Drinks, I have two questions for you.
Question the first: why the heck not? Question the second: it’s because you are going to this fabulous vegan Italian supper club, right?
My pal Sara is a much-loved food creator and she has once again put together an eating experience for hardcore foodies. Sara has just arrived back in the UK following a vacation in South Africa and she is fired up, ready to put some serious food on the dinner table this week.
Check out the menu.
STARTER – Farinata – baked chickpea pancake with red onions served with handmade vegan garlic mayo
MAIN COURSE – Handmade Beetroot Ravioli filled with Fava Beans in cheesy cream
SECOND COURSE – Artichoke and Asparagus Gratin
SIDE – Blood Orange, Beet and Fennel Salad served with handmade sourdough
DESSERT – Caramel Tiramisù
Sounds lovely, right? If you are reading this soon after I posted it, you need to act quickly to book your ticket.
A little while back, Josh took over with a blog post about a vegetarian cafe in the heart of the Bloomsbury neighbourhood that serves up tasty meat-free meals during academic term time. Read about his love of the place here and then scroll down below for a shot of my tasty lunch there today.
The Mary Ward Centre Café is a long-standing favourite of students, staff and visitors to this learning complex, as well as visitors and staff from the nearby Great Ormond Street Hospital. The prices are maybe some of the lowest you will find for vegan options in central London.
Here is an Instagram snap I took of my lunch today. I thoroughly enjoyed the borlotti bean pie topped with creamy mash and the lentil stew with crispy potato wedges. Both plates of food just over £4 each.
I make no secret of how much I adore the Cool Chile Co. This London based business is my main supplier of essential ingredients needed to get my Mexican food fix.
They sell it all. Kits that take the mystery out of cooking the perfect black bean dish. Chiles that are chopped, diced, dried and powdered. Spicy chipotle ketchup. Sweet salsa verde. Their enormous tortilla machine churns out thousands of the soft, round things every week (I wrote about the machine here). They even have a chorizo spice kit that comes with instructions explaining how you can use a meat substitute if you like. I love it!
But something makes the Cool Chile Co. extra special. The people who run it.
Director Dodi and General Manager Kelly are some of the most down-to-earth, unassuming and outright friendly people I have met in London. Even if their Mexican products weren’t the best in the country (which they are by a mile), I would still want them to be a roaring success because of what decent people they are.
Mexican ingredient champions
It makes it all the more enjoyable to announce that I am partnering with the Cool Chile Co. for my huge vegan Mexican dinner taking place this week. Dodi and Kelly are getting behind UNA CITA by making sure we have the freshest tortillas in the country to make my three taco plate a dish you do not want to miss.
Cool Chile Co make this possible
As a thank you to the company for coming on board with my event, I am giving them a pair of tickets for UNA CITA to give away to one fortunate Twitter follower. You need to follow them and retweet THIS tweet to be in with a chance to snap up the tickets for this Friday’s event.
Love Cool Chile Co. and be in with a chance to win!
Limited tickets for UNA CITA also available to buy here.
