vegan Hackney

Vegan kitchen for hire

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A quick post to share this fab news from my friends at Made in Hackney.

VEGAN KITCHEN TO HIRE – NEW CLIENT SPECIAL OFFER!

Are you a vegan food start-up looking for a 5-star food hygiene rated 100% vegan kitchen to hire? Look no further. Award winning charity Made In Hackney hires out it’s eco-community kitchen to vegan food companies and start-ups – meaning your hire fee helps fund amazing community work as opposed to going to a faceless landlord. The kitchen has three hob islands, a range cooker, domestic cooker, a dehydrator, vitamix and plenty of work surfaces. Freezer and storage space available with additional fees applicable.

Until the end of June 2017 we are offering all NEW CLIENTS an amazing never to be seen again day rate of £60 per day for a trial two month period. This is an amazing deal!  

If you’re interested read more here and contact venue manager Andi on: andi@madeinhackney.org

*Prices after the trial two month period has ended will be negotiated according to frequency of bookings.

Extra note: you can chat with Made in Hackney at this month’s Hackney Downs Vegan Market. Learn about all the great things they do for their community, discover the line up of cooking classes on offer and find out if you can get involved.

New monthly vegan brunch club in London

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Hey, do you all know about Pesky’s?

This completely vegan food provider is the resident restaurant at The Yard, Hackney Wick. They serve plant-based cuisine that looks superb and I originally wrote about them back here.

Well, now I have some new news about Pesky’s and it’s fabulous.

Once a month, commencing Sunday April 9, 2017, Pesky’s will host a vegan brunch club.

The brunch consists of two drinks (Bloody Mary or Mimosa) plus the main meal of either decadent pancakes or a full English breakfast (with dessert and sides) for £18 in advance or £20 on the day.

You can buy tickets for the launch event online here.

Stay updated with all future brunch dates by following Pesky’s on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Autumn Yard is vegan for a day

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If you are planning to be part of the first monthly Hackney Downs Vegan Market, you now have another option for dining.

As if all of the amazing street food wasn’t enough, you can now also plan on sitting down for a meal with onsite restaurant Autumn Yard. Like they did for the Christmas Market, the restaurant is switching to a 100% vegan food menu for the day.

Isn’t that fab?!

Would you like to see the menu?

That looks like a tasty line up!

Autumn Yard is a gorgeous setting inside an old warehouse and the perfect place to relax with a warming meal if the March weather is a little on the grim side. The food is exquisite and you might even be tempted by a cocktail or two.

You can visit Autumn Yard online and follow them on Instagram.

Check out the line up for Hackney Downs Vegan Market here.

Vegan capital of the world is not a city

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To be honest, I’ve spent a lot of time moaning about London and how it always seemed behind other world capitals when it came to vegan food. It always felt 5-10 years behind NYC, LA and Berlin.

However, things are now changing rapidly for the UK capital and nowhere is heralding in this plant-based revolution faster than the north London Borough of Hackney.

To celebrate it rapidly becoming veganised, I wanted to give you my top ten reasons why Hackney is the most-vegan neighbourhood/district in the UK and one of the finest plant-based destinations in the world.

10 Essential Vegan – Vanessa lives in Hackney and now has launched a six-week kitchen takeover with her Essential Vegan goodness in trendy neighbourhood bar, Haunt. If you love seitan burgers and cheesecake, head here as soon as possible.

9 Redemption Bar – I’ve never been to this venue but it does seem to be a popular choice for a lot of vegans on Instagram. Diners can get their fill of wholefoods and non-alcoholic drinks.

8 What The Pitta – if you need something to fill you up, this is the place. Actually, the kebab wraps are so huge you might actually struggle to finish one. What The Pitta now have a second location in Croydon, but the original location at the PUMP food court in Shoreditch means Hackney will not have to miss out.

7 Club Mexicana – this street food vendor has become a legendary staple of the London food scene and now with this ongoing residency inside Kingsland Road bar Pamela, Mexican-inspired cuisine is in Hackney to stay. While at their street stands you can enjoy tacos, burritos, loaded nachos and fried cheese sticks, this residency is taking things up a notch with handmade tortillas and fancy desserts. All drinks and cocktails served by host venue are vegan, too.

6 FED by Water – this Italian gourmet dining restaurant changed London forever when it switched from a meat and dairy laden menu to one that is now 100% vegan. Last time I checked, they even had a pizza named after me!

5 Made in Hackney – a crucial component of Hackney’s plant-based revolution, this charity funds community education and support work centred around vegan eating by hosting paid-for cooking lessons that can be attended by anyone.

4 Black Cat Café – this café is one of the food champions of the UK. If comfort eating is your thing, you will adore the regular and rotating dishes including burgers, cakes and breakfasts.

3 CookDaily and HOME – imagine two of the best vegan eateries in London being 10 metres apart. Both of these fast food outlets are packed solid with bowls of irresistible cuisine created by genius Chef King. Located upstairs at Boxpark Shoreditch.

2 Temple of Hackney – nothing has taken the UK by storm quite like this vegan fried chicken shop. The shop frequently sells out completely before the end of the day and you’ll often find a line of hungry customers down the street.

1 Hackney Downs Vegan Market – I know it’s a bit unfair to put my own new monthly market at number one, but it really does feel like such a big deal. This is the very first vegan monthly market in London and it is packed solid with some of the best vegan traders in London. The third Saturday of each month at Hackney Downs Studios with plans to have 10 or so food vendors on site each time we fling open the gates.

What do you think? Is Hackney the vegan capital of London? Is there another borough with more plant-based options crammed inside its borders? Have I missed any vegan Hackney landmarks?

The list above features only 100% vegan outlets. There are of course many more that are vegan friendly. There are also vegan places just blocks outside the Borough of Hackney boundaries, such as the wonderful Just Fab.

Get busy in Hackney!

Monthly vegan market in London

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This news is long overdue.

I am proud to announce Hackney Downs Vegan Market, a brand new monthly vegan market showcasing amazing plant-based food and goods.

Hackney Downs Vegan Market is a collaboration between Fat Gay Vegan and Hackney Downs Studios/ Eat Work Art, the site of my now infamous Vegan Christmas Market. On the third Saturday of each month, the vegan market will come alive with some of the finest street traders in the capital.

We will feature some regular, well-known traders in addition to a rotating line up of visitors.

As this is a collaborative project with Hackney Downs Studios, I am responsible for curating 75% of the stallholders.

In the spirit of inclusion and for the promotion of people often overlooked/sidelined at mainstream vegan events, I have earmarked my percentage of stalls for those traders who identify as BME, LGBTQ, people with disabilities and/or as women.

To clarify, this policy ensures that at least nine out of the twelve stalls each month will be owned or co-owned by someone who identifies as BME, LGBTQ, a person with a disability and/or a woman.

The remaining stalls will be filled with resident artists and manufacturers located within Hackney Downs Studios. This will allow for local, onsite traders to access the space even though they might not identify within the above outlines.

The very first Hackney Downs Vegan Market is scheduled for Saturday March 18, 2017. You can RSVP and invite people over on the Facebook event page. This is where I will be posting stall updates and news of available trading space.

If you identify as BME, LGBTQ, a person with a disability and/or a woman and would like to feature your market at Hackney Downs Vegan Market, you can email me at sean@fgvpr.co.uk to find out more information.

Unfortunately we won’t have space for every interested trader, but we will of course be keeping a waiting list and will work hard to include as many people as possible.