vegan London

New vegan pizza pockets in London

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HOLY SHIT!

It is a Hackney Downs Vegan Market exclusive tomorrow Saturday May 12, 2018. Young Vegans are debuting a new Pizza Pie Pocket menu ONLY at our market. Kinda like McDs fritters BUT VEGAN AND FUCKING AWESOME.

Menu:

  • The Barbie: Pan fried chicken pieces with house BBQ sauce and cheese cheesy
  • Red Bianca: Creamy ricotta, broccoli and our family’s signature marinara sauce
  • Willy Wonky: Melty chocolate with peanut butter (warning: messy!)

I’m sure these will be a smash hit, so get used to seeing these on their regular menu in the Camden shop in the near future.

Be one of the first people in London to try at the market. Full details here.

Follow Young Vegans on Instagram.

Vegan taco pop up in Brixton

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Hey, vegan taco lovers.

Here is a fab menu available for one night only at a super cool bar in Brixton.

The talented people of Jump to the Beet catering are hosting another glorious pop up event at The Sympathetic Ear on Tulse Hill in Brixton.

The taco pop up is taking place on Thursday May 17, 2018 between 6:30pm and 9:30pm.

You can simply show up (see bar location thanks to Google Maps) or contact the venue through their website to book a table.

But what about the menu?

  • Wild mushroom, pasilla chilli salsa, pico de gallo
  • Breaded paprika cauliflower, roasted red pepper & tomato salsa
  • Black beans, roasted sweet potato, smoked chipotle
  • Smoky aubergine, baby sweet corn, ancho chilli, cashew nut

Sounds amazing.

Follow Jump to the Beet on Instagram.

Mushroom masterclass

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There is a mushroom masterclass coming up this Saturday May 12, 2018 at Made in Hackney and if you can afford to attend, it looks like it will be extremely informative and useful.

“We will share our passion and knowledge of cooking and growing gourmet mushrooms, as well as practical tips and recipes, so that you can bring delicious umami flavours to your meals”

Mark Breen, Professional Chef & Cookery Tutor & César Hernán Rizzo Gómez, Urban Grower & Cook

The class will include:

  • How to cook different types of gourmet mushrooms to intensify their unique flavours and textures
  • How to bring out the delicious ‘umami’ flavour of mushrooms
  • How to grow gourmet mushrooms from used coffee grounds
  • How to store your mushrooms correctly to get the best from them
  • Various cooking techniques which will preserve the nutritional properties of mushrooms
  • Tasty ‘tried and tested’ recipes using mushrooms as a starter, a main or a side dish
  • A delicious organic plant based lunch and recipes to take home

César is an urban farmer and accomplished cook. He is the founder of ‘Article Number 25’, an Urban Farming Company aiming to change the food system, which grows different varieties of mushrooms from used coffee grounds and converts unused spaces into farms.

Mark is a professional chef and cookery tutor, working with various cookery schools across the capital. He also runs Seasonal Kitchen, a company offering unique dining experiences and private chef services.

Fee*: £70 (£55** Concession) includes a delicious organic plant based meal

  • This fee is used to fund the programme of free courses to vulnerable and low-income community groups. By attending a Made In Hackney masterclass you get a great day of learning AND you’re providing the charity with essential funds for them to continue their work with vulnerable community groups.

** Concessionary rate available for students, pensioners, unemployed and low waged

Click here to book a spot at this mushroom masterclass now! At the time of posting, their were only 8 spaces remaining.

New vegan coffee shop in Dalston

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I simply cannot keep up with vegan news flying out of London.

I adore hearing it all, but there is too much!

I’m thrilled to announce that a brand new 100% vegan coffee shop and deli is opening tomorrow (Tuesday May 8, 2018) on Kingsland Road.

Happy Cat Coffee has been trading for a while as a market stall and pop up concern, but the Dalston spot marks their first ever permanent shop.

The first 20 people to visit on opening day (7am until 7pm) get a free dairy-free coffee to celebrate!

Happy Cat offers oat, coconut, soya, almond and cashew milks, and while you are there you can pick up some bean-to-bar chocolate. Everything is vegan and in the next week or so customers will be able to grab vegan steaks, vegan sausage rolls, and pasties.

Happy Cat is located at 374a Kingsland Road Dalston E8 4AA in a super cute space next to a tailor. You can see the exact location on Google Maps.

You can follow Happy Cat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Final market for The Sunny Spoon

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This is an emotional post.

Hackney Downs Vegan Market is more than a place to buy food. For many of our traders, it has become an extended family.

Every single week I receive messages from market visitors who want to tell me that they loved the friendly, community feel of the event.

We work hard to make sure our traders feel happy, comfortable and cherished, which in turn helps create a positive atmosphere that flows onto the punters.

So, it is one big happy family but sadly sometimes people leave home.

Saturday May 5, 2018 is going to mark the final appearance of Clarisse and her superstar vegan patisserie The Sunny Spoon.

Clarisse has decided to follow up with a career opportunity which means she will no longer be able to trade at Hackney Downs Vegan Market.

Of course the food from The Sunny Spoon is spectacular, but it is the human behind the brand which is making us really feel the loss.

Clarisse has been more than just a friendly trader. She has worked tirelessly to make Hackney Downs Vegan Market a destination to which people want to return. The Sunny Spoon was one of the businesses to show up through the brutal winter months and Clarisse never stopped smiling.

Clarisse is not a person to rest on past glories. Her patisserie was already exquisite when I first met her but it is proof of Clarisse’s dedication to her profession that she never stopped working to take it all to the next level.

And as sad as I am to be saying goodbye, I know it is exactly these wonderful qualities that will take Clarisse onto even more rewarding and amazing adventures.

Thank you, Clarisse. You have been an important part of our market and you will be missed dearly.

Visit Hackney Downs Vegan Market this Saturday May 5, 2018 to say thank you and goodbye (for now) to Clarisse. Please follow The Sunny Spoon on Instagram to keep updated with her adventures.

London cafe going vegan

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A little piece of news just arrived and I thought a few of you would like to know.

There is a new, completely-vegan café opening in north London!

Room 29 is currently undergoing a refurbishment and is due to throw open its doors in May in the heart of Holloway.

I am yet to see the menu but some of the teaser posts being shared ahead of the launch look tasty.

You can like the Facebook page of the café online here and RSVP to the Facebook event page for the grand opening.

The message behind Room 29 sounds extremely heartwarming. They want to make a difference for animals and their local community, so I say they are a fabulous addition to London’s vegan scene.

Let’s get behind them!

Meet the traders

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The wonderful people of WinkBall Interviews have made a small collection of videos so you can meet the traders of Hackney Downs Vegan Market.

Check them out below and get all the info on the next market here. It happens every Saturday!

Ten vegan things you should eat in London

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I love doing these little wrap ups.

Every now and then I like to put together a list of food items I believe every respectable vegan should eat in London.

It is becoming tougher and tougher to make these lists due to the rapid pace with which the London vegan scene is expanding. There are so many things I would like to add to this list, but alas I only have ten spaces.

These aren’t in any particular order, so let’s just dive straight in.

  • Rueben on rye at Rudy’s Dirty Vegan Diner in Camden

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhWUVCRl4MM/

  • Bacon Double Cheeseburger at Temple of Seitan (three locations)

  • Slow cooked Brazilian feijoada at Essential Vegan Café in Shoreditch

  • Fried Chicken Torta by Club Mexicana at The Spread Eagle

  • Seitan Guiness and Mushroom Pie at Cafe Van Gogh in Brixton

  • Parmigiana Chicken Pie at Young Vegans in Camden

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh50cF9FWb2/

  • Chocolate Hazelnut Sauce & Oreo Pizza at Purezza in Camden

  • Chocolate coated vanilla ice cream & salted caramel at JuiceBaby in Chelsea

  • Mushroom & broccoli frittata at Arancini Borthers (Kentish Town branch)

  • Beer battered tofish at The Brook in Hackney

Hackney Downs is HUGE

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This is a post to say thank you to all the traders and attendees who made this past Saturday at Hackney Downs Vegan Market such a huge success.

The winter months have been tough work for our traders who have been down there week after week. There was only one week where the ice was too treacherous to go ahead.

Our loyal customers have been wonderful and crucial when it comes to keeping the market vibrant. Even on some of the coldest days, people came from all over the city and even further afield to have fun and support independent business.

This past weekend was like a huge celebration with sunshine and warm, dry weather. Our traders who have been shivering through the cold finally got to enjoy a bright day and some had their busiest trading day ever.

Hackney Downs Vegan Market is more than just somewhere to get good food.

It is a collaborative approach to community and business, taking into consideration how we all need to be more inclusive and aware of diverse needs. Our market does the following:

  • The pitch fees we pay Hackney Downs Studios help keep their vibrant art and creation spaces affordable for resident artists.
  • Our independent traders have started to find a way to turn their passion into a living, with some using our market as a springboard to go onto bigger and better things such as opening their own shops.
  • The market helps keep money in the local community by giving trading space to local people.
  • We are actively challenging oppression by making spaces available for women traders, non-white traders, traders from LGBTQ+ communities, and disabled traders.

When you attend this market, you are making a difference.

I really can’t thank you all enough for making this ‘vegan-run event for vegans’ such a rewarding community space. Our message is to stop animal suffering and we try to do it while being kind to humans.

We have also organised Queer Vegan Yoga to take place on the first Saturday of the month inside The Well Garden, the onsite yoga studio. This is body positive yoga led by a queer vegan teacher. We have created this for people who feel locked out of yoga classes for any number of reasons. Click here to see the dates and book.

We have some other exciting developments coming up for the market, so stay tuned. RSVPing to the Hackney Downs Vegan Market Facebook event page is a great way to see news or follow me on my FGV Instagram account.

Extra note: Hackney Downs Vegan Market will not be taking place on Saturday July 14, 2018 due to the site being used for our 6th annual London Vegan Beer Fest. This is a ticketed event so if you would love to be a part of our big party, book early bird tickets online now.

Now, let’s enjoy some photos from last weekend!

Another vegan potluck event

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A few weeks ago, a lot of people enjoyed a vegan potluck event in London.

Anna and Amy took over Jaz & Jul’s Chocolate House near Angel for a collaborative food event. A bunch of people shared homemade food and had such a wonderful time, they are doing it all again on May 5, 2018.

This Saturday afternoon food club will run from 4pm until 7pm.

You need to book tickets in order to participate, so click here to book now.

You can also RSVP via the Facebook event.

Share food. Make friends. Get involved!