London vegan news, reviews & events
Here is book reading number 3 from my VERY SOON to be released book, Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t (you can see readings number 1 and 2 online as well).
You can order your very own copy of my book online here.
Stay tuned for more readings and book launch events such as the official launch at the Arancini Brothers vegan reopening celebration on January 4, 2018.
Are you in London with no plans for New Year’s Eve?
Gabriel Moreno and the Intrepid Bard Society are hosting a New Year’s party to remember with some of the top performers from The Lantern Society London and Poetry Brothel London.
They will entertain you until 11:45 pm performing the most refreshing music and poetry in the London Underground Alternative folk, troubadour, singer songwriter scene.
Headline performances by:
After midnight they will have top music from the darkest and most vibrant corners of the human psyche with a DJ set including music by Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Calexico, Marc Ribot, Wilco Bill Callahan, The National Congreso, Band of Horses, Patti Smit, Warren Zevon, Franco Battiato, Neil Young, Morphine, Georges Brasens, tindersticks, Tom Waits, and more dark and upbeat classics.
£10 entry (CASH ONLY)
They will also take requests for their New Year’s Playlist but you need to let them know in advance. Place your requests on the Facebook event page.
The venue will be open from7pm, serving vegan food (tapas style) and prosecco for a very moderate price.
To reserve a place for this night send an email to with your name, amount of people coming and a telephone number to gabrielangelmoreno@gmail.com and then have a fab time!
The Brook in Wallington, Surrey is one of those places that I never stop hearing about.
People who love this eatery REALLY love it. It definitely ranks in the top ten restaurants that I am contacted about by people wanting me to mention it.
The Brook has been a vegan staple of its community but that very community is now feeling sad due to the planned relocation from Wallington to Hackney.
Yes, bloody Hackney! LOL.
I asked owner Thea to give me a little info about the move. This is what she said:
We’re moving to Hackney in the new year (opening 18th Dec). We have a temporary space for 6-12 months. After four years in Surrey we’re itching to bring our food and drink to the London peeps. And from there we’re planning world domination… naturally.
We are also the headline sponsor at Vegan Life Live at Alexandra Palace in February, running the main bar, a catering stand and the live music stage, so it’s going to be a busy new year!
Take a look at some of these food, cake and cocktail photos below and be sure to follow The Brook on Instagram and Facebook.
And here is a cheeky little graphic to show you the new Hackney location for The Brook.
I’ve only just recovered from the mammoth three-day Hackney Downs Festive Vegan Market held at Hackney Downs Studios.
Not only was the market a great opportunity for people to buy some of the best street food in the UK, it also marked our one year anniversary of hosting the market in this location.
I want to say a massive thank you to Eat Work Art for giving this market a home.
Hackney Downs Vegan Market has become one of the most iconic and loved destinations for vegans and their friends on the planet.
Thank you to all the attendees who have visited during 2017 and of course extra special thanks to our traders. Until you have done a day on the market, you can’t imagine how hard they work to bring fresh and exciting food to thousands of people each week.
The market returns weekly on Saturday January 6, 2018.
The Hummingbird Bakery is introducing a vegan cupcake option to the counters of its seven bakeries.
In response to high customer demand, The Hummingbird Bakery will be selling vegan versions of its most popular products, launching the range with its bestselling Red Velvet. It will be available as a vegan cupcake in-store as well as a cupcake and whole Red Velvet Layer Cake online from 8th January 2018.
The Vegan Red Velvet Cupcake will be available at their seven bakeries located across London and Surrey, including their newest branch opened in summer 2017 on the Guildford High Street.
Tarek Malouf, founder and Managing Director of The Hummingbird Bakery, said:
Customers told us they wanted a vegan option of our cakes and we listened. We wanted to offer an amazing vegan cupcake that is every bit as delicious and authentically American tasting as the Red Velvet cupcake we introduced to the UK in 2004. The Hummingbird Bakery’s new Vegan Red Velvet Cupcake compromises nothing from the original recipe, we are really proud of this vegan version of our bestseller. With our new website launching in January 2018, we are delighted we will be able to showcase a new whole vegan Red Velvet Layer Cake on here as well for those wishing to celebrate a special occasion with the highest quality vegan baking.
Established on Portobello Road in 2004, The Hummingbird Bakery is best known for its Red Velvet Cupcakes with a deep red sponge flavoured with a hint of cocoa.
I am super proud of Hackney Downs Vegan Market.
This now-weekly street food market has taken London by storm. It has a whole bunch of imitators and it has developed a strong, loyal following of attendees.
I’m writing this post as we drive home from day one of the three-day festive version of the market and I couldn’t be happier with how it went. Food vendors sold out and visitors left with smiles on their faces.
If you are coming along on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24, please arrive early to avoid disappointment. Trading starts at 10am and runs until 6pm on Saturday and 5pm on Sunday.
Please stop by my stall to say hello to me and Josh, and pick up one of the official Hackney Downs Vegan Market tote bags made from organic cotton.
They are gorgeous and cost £5 each.
See all the trader info for the next two days by clicking here.
BREAKING NEWS
I am thrilled to be the first to announce that adored London fast food chain Arancini Brothers is set to transform one of its locations into a 100% vegan eatery for January 2018, making it the first non-vegan restaurant chain on the planet to commit to having a completely vegan outlet.
Forget vegetarian sandwich shops and vegan side menus, Arancini Brothers Old Street is going all in on veganism and will be completely free of animal products.
Arancini Brothers started as a street food stall on Brick Lane back in 2009 and since then has become one of the most-celebrated fast food chains in London.
In recent years, vegan and vegan-curious customers have become enamoured with the plant-based options on the menu and their burgers have become the stuff of legend.
What do Arancini Brothers serve that is so special?
Big grains of rice are mixed through slow cooked onion, garlic and herbs, before vegetable stock is added to make a firm, delicious risotto. They mix through flavours like parsley and lemon before hand rolling into little balls, coating in rice flour then frying.
I spoke with David Arkin about his company’s decision to turn one of his restaurants vegan in January.
This is what he told me:
It’s something we have always wanted Arancini Brothers to be. Our food has always been based around a vegan/vegetarian diet and now we want our customers to experience our full vegan flavour with nothing getting in the way.
Even though this is for Veganuary we would love to make it a permanent change. If it does well, our Old Street branch will stay completely vegan.
Our non-vegan customers already love and regularly order our many vegan options on the menu and I’m sure they will support us. I feel veganism is here for the long run and is not just a trend, so we want be on the frontline of the movement serving up our delicious, healthy food.
The Arancini Brothers Old Street vegan menu will include (* denotes gluten free):
Arancini (served with mayo + chutney)
Wraps served with Risotto Balls + today’s salads + crispy onion
Salad Box served with 3 Risotto Balls + today’s salad + seeds
Hot Stew served with Risotto Balls + rice + rocket + chutney + seeds
Risotto Burger served with our famous mushroom zucchini risotto patty and organic bap
Breakfast served 9:30am until midday Monday – Friday
Brekkie Wrap served with risotto balls, crispy onion and breakfast mayo
Breakfast Bap (served in an organic bap)
Sweets
EXTRAS
Arancini Brothers Old Street will re-open as a vegan outlet on January 2, 2018 for a soft launch.
The official vegan grand re-opening day is set for Thursday January 4, 2018. The store is open 9:30am until 4:30pm from Monday until Friday each week.
You can follow Arancini Brothers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
EXTRA NOTE:
January 4, 2018 is not only the grand re-opening of Arancini Brothers Old Street as a vegan outlet, it is also the date that my first ever book is published.
To help Arancini Brothers celebrate their huge commitment to promoting vegan food, I will be in the restaurant most of the official launch day to chat with people and enjoy the new menu. The restaurant will be selling copies of my book, Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t, and if you can’t grab a copy on the day they have also committed to selling it ongoing.
I’m also thrilled to announce that Arancini Brothers will be selling an FGV Burger as part of their regular menu at the Old Street location.
If you plan on coming along to the vegan grand re-opening to celebrate Old Street going vegan and the launch of my book, you can RSVP to the Facebook event page.
If you would like to pre-order a copy of my book online, you can click on the panel below.
Today is a poignant day for vegan London.
Vegan trailblazers Louise Wallis and Frank Hutson started Kabaret @ Karamel three years ago and today is the day they say goodbye to the project (the venue will change management and stay vegan).
The breakneck speed at which the vegan scene is expanding in London might be enough to fool you into thinking we’ve had it as good as we do for a long time. However, Louise and Frank were downright pioneers when they launched this venue.
Kabaret quickly established itself as a welcoming space that not only served tasty vegan food, but also operated as a nightclub, live music venue, performance space, and art gallery.
We all want to do positive things for our community, but Louise and Frank truly made a profound impact on London. Their venue built social capital and inspired our community in immeasurable ways.
It gave us London’s first 100% vegan bar and nightspot. It was home to our monthly Queer Vegan Disco party. It was a place that tried its best to make us all feel like we belong and that we all valuable and worthy. Indie bands, DJs, guest chefs, spoken word artists, poets, and all manner of creative people found an open door waiting for them at Kabaret.
Louise and Frank. I love you both for your personal sacrifice made in the name of improving outcomes for non-human animals. I’m indebted and inspired by your fight for social justice. I’m thankful for the work you have done to elevate the voices and realities of the at-risk and vulnerable in our community.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for Kabaret. Your contribution to vegan London will be missed more than can be measured.
Love FGV xx
Earlier today I was a guest on BBC Radio London as I was invited to discuss the massive three-day Hackney Downs Festive Vegan Market taking place on December 22, 23 and 24, 2017 at Hackney Downs Studios.
You can listen to my segment by clicking here.
You will need to scroll forward to the 50 minutes 45 seconds mark.
Much love to Jo and Simon for having me on their breakfast show.
Black Cat in Hackney is one of my favourite vegan places to eat in London.
Not only is the food tasty and served in generous portions, but the people who run the place are the some of the nicest people you will meet anywhere.
Check out this latest endeavour by the compassionate eatery.
Hackney Soup Kitchen on Friday December 22, 2017 from 5pm until close
Nobody will be refused food and for those that can afford to pay for it, they’ll have a donation pot available to support the work of a local Food Not Bombs group who do great work by finding surplus food, making tasty meals, and distributing them on the streets.
Please help Black Cat spread the word so they can feed as many people as possible and provide a warm space for the evening where people can escape the cold.
Black Cat want to give a special shout-out to some of their suppliers that will be supporting the evening by donating food: Ted Veg, Clean Bean Tofu, Growing Communities, and E5 Bakery. These suppliers have been donating stock throughout the year for other fundraisers and benefits Black Cat has hosted.
a cooperatively run, 100% vegan café
76A Clarence Road, Hackney, E5 8HB
www.blackcatcafe.co.uk
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