vegan

Friends reunited

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London can be a beating.

Living in such a huge city of course has its advantages, but you can also get swallowed up in the sheer scale of things. I have friends who live on the other side of the city and I can get through an entire calendar year without seeing them. Everyone is busy and it can take hours to get across town.

One victim of London’s gigantism is Saf. This 100% vegan restaurant is one of the finest places for plant eaters to dine out in the capital, but I rarely make it along. One of the last times I visited was for this blog post from April 2011. That is far too long between visits.

This week I decided to bridge the gap between myself and Saf. I slipped in on my own for a quick lunch and my choice of main was exquisite. I adored my Summer Risotto featuring  organic Arborio rice with a miso cream, fresh broad beans, grilled courgettes, roasted garlic and saffron all topped with a shaved fennel salad.

£11 is a fair chunk to pay for a main meal but the quality and freshness of my meal warranted the price tag. It was delicious and felt as though someone had really considered the combination of ingredients.

Risotto at Saf
Risotto at Saf

I am so glad I have reconnected with Saf. I promise I won’t let London come between us ever again.

Visit Saf online

Vegan feast in a Royal park

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London, get ready to experience Mexican food like you have never experienced it before.

I am proudly partnering with esteemed restaurant group Peyton & Byrne to present a Mexican inspired vegan supper club held in the gorgeous surrounds of St. James’s Park.

On Thursday August 8th, 2013, food enthusiasts will have the rare chance to be immersed in a 100% plant-based Mexican meal on the covered balcony of Inn The Park. I am working alongside the staff of this Oliver Peyton-owned eatery to deliver a sumptuous and exotic range of dishes inspired by the hustle and bustle of the streets of Mexico City.

Booking details at bottom of page.

Inn The Park (1)

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I go ahead and Smile

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You know when you go to a small town or city and you find nothing to eat? What a sinking feeling, right?

This did not happen to me during my recent trip to Southsea.

Earlier this week I posted about my wondrous experience at Coco Chocolate Boutique (read about it here) and it just so happens you can also get a pretty decent vegan savoury meal on the very same street in Southsea.

Smile Cafe is as amiable an establishment as you can get. Every person working in the place was friendly, down to Earth and helpful. Their menu features vegan options clearly marked, which is highly unusual in this small cafe/diner style set up in the UK. Even though Smile is an omni eatery, I felt completely at home.

Smile of Southsea
Smile of Southsea

Check out what Josh and I enjoyed.

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Loco for Coco

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You don’t find yourself in the position of being a fat, gay vegan without knowing your way around a drop of chocolate or two. I love bars, coated sweets and anything containing vegan chocolate. It’s part of the territory when you are a FGV.

Imagine my delight a few weeks ago when I found myself standing in a cute-as-a-chocolate-button store in Southsea, surrounded by vegan chocolates. I was in heaven!

Coco Chocolate Boutique is a gorgeous specialist store crammed full of decadent, handmade delicacies just minutes from the seafront. Even though they aren’t exclusively vegan, the Coco shelves and cases hold an impressive array of animal-free fare.

Coco Chocolate Boutique of Southsea
Coco Chocolate Boutique of Southsea

There are vegan fondants, cherries oozing in brandy, dark chocolate shards in several flavours, chocolate covered Turkish delight and even solid dark chocolate skulls.

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Get ready to be happy

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Hey. You. Yes, you.

You sitting comfortably in your front room, eating baked beans on toast or a bag of salted crisps and feeling quite smug with yourself. You might be a fussy vegan but there you are eating tasty treats normally assigned to ‘the normals’ of the world. You can eat whatever you like because there are vegan options for most things now. You are such an accomplished eater and you don’t even have to think about it anymore. It’s so easy, right?

Well, hold onto your hemp hats. I make no apologies for blowing your tiny, vegan world apart with this next announcement.

Comfortably-numb plant eaters of the UK, I give you The Mighty Fork. Eating just became interesting again.

TMF_logo_yellowbg

The Mighty Fork is the brainchild of hot dog hero Rita Fontes and she is certainly going to make UK vegans more appreciative of their food choices.

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You wanna talk about Reading?

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I work hard to make London Vegan Potluck a success and stories like the following make it all worthwhile.

A few months ago I was contacted by a friendly person from Reading called Gemma. Gemma was planning a vegan potluck in her city and wanted some advice on how to get it together.

I am only too happy to help where I can when it comes to this sort of question. As I have said previously, vegan potlucks are invaluable when it comes to building social capital, supporting new vegans and strengthening the resolve of long term vegans.

Flash forward to yesterday and I received a lovely message from Gemma sharing the following information:

“So we had our potluck tonight and I thought you would like to see the pics. There were about 18 or so people I think. Thank you again for all your advice before. It really helped. Our next one is 5th August and everyone has said they will come to that one too, yaay.”

How fantastic. I tip my hat to Gemma and the Reading vegans for hosting the first of what I’m sure will be many potlucks. Hopefully I can make it along in the future!

Gemma has kindly agreed to let me use some of her photos from the Reading Potluck. Follow her Facebook page for further dates and details.

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Totally Lush!

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Thinking about attending London Vegan Potluck this July 3rd but need another reason? I have got a good one!

The wonderful management and staff of Lush South Molton Street are coming along to pamper and treat potluck attendees with lip balm and cruelty-free make up demonstrations. Attendees can chat with the Lush experts as they try some of the finest vegan personal products on the market.

But’s that’s not all. Of course there is a prize on offer.

Attend London Vegan Potluck, have a chat with the Lush crew, sign up to their email list and you will instantly be in the draw for a fabulous prize to be given away on the night.

And what a prize it is!

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Buy this bar

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Here’s a quick FGV recommendation.

Buy this bar.

Tasty goodness
Tasty goodness

Chocolate topped oats rarely get beaten in the taste and satisfaction stakes and the new Trek cocoa oat flapjack is staying true to this rule. Trek have mastered the perfect mix of chewy and sweet. I’m going to investigate buying these beauties by the box.

Find this product & enjoy!
Find this product & enjoy!

If you need further convincing to part with your money in exchange for a new Trek protein flapjack, be aware their parent company supports the crucial work of Animal Aid. Tasty and ethical. Talk about a winning combination.

Check out the full range of flapjacks online

Mystery writer Lomez tantalises

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I am thrilled to welcome Lomez to the fold as a guest contributor to Fat Gay Vegan. This post about eating vegan in the Netherlands is a fascinating and entertaining read that will leave you desperate to get to the land erroneously known as Holland.

Take it away, Lomez.

Ah, the Netherlands, more commonly (and incorrectly) referred to as Holland. Land of tulips, clogs, cycling, Gouda, Edam, Leerdammer… (for those of you so deep into veganism that dairy doesn’t exist, the last three are cheeses.)

My partner and I have been to the Netherlands a few times over the past year, and we’ve managed to eat vegan throughout. We’ve learned so much on our travels, and have so many vegan tips, that it’s difficult to know where to start!

So why don’t I begin with the best? If you only go to one restaurant in the Netherlands, go to Veggies on Fire.

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Keep on truckin’

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I need your help.

The unthinkable happened today. I saw a new vegan food truck located in Camden Lock Market and I didn’t buy any food. My stomach was beyond capacity following epic eating sessions at both Mr. Falafel and Cookies & Scream. I simply couldn’t fit in another morsel.

So you see, you need to assist me in getting information out to the vegan masses.

Your task, if you accept it, is to get down to Camden Lock Market and locate Rupert’s Street Food truck. Once you have found the food vending van, buy vegan savouries, cakes and drinks before reporting back on this very page.

Can you handle it?

Rupert's Street Food
Rupert’s Street Food
Tempted?
Tempted?

Visit Rupert’s Food Truck online

Follow Rupert’s Food Truck on Twitter

Like Rupert’s Food Truck on Facebook