Wood Green

Goodbye Kabaret

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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

 

One-night-only: vegan pub event in London

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Sorry for the late notice but this news only came to my attention today.

If you are in London on Tuesday May 24, 2016 you might want to think about making your way to The Salisbury Hotel in Harringay, North London.

Newly-launched vegan food creators This Is What We Are Made Of are taking over the kitchen of this popular pub for a night of totally vegan food.

Check out the menu below:

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You can RSVP to the event, invite friends and get more details over on Facebook.

How often do you get a totally vegan menu in a pub? Get along, people!

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Queer Vegan Disco special event: One night only

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London has never really known a party like Queer Vegan Disco.

This now-defunct monthly night was always the brightest and best celebration of the LGBT community, our friends, fabulous music and compassion.

If you were one of our regulars, or someone who always thought they would like to attend but never quite made it, there is some great news in store for you.

Queer Vegan Disco returns for one night only this summer!

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Your host Fat Gay Vegan (that’s me!) will be back from a 6 month stay in Mexico City and is desperate to resurrect this night one more time.

We will be playing a LOT of our favourite Prince tunes as a celebration of the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince, plus we will have our usual mix of indie, pop, alternative, rock, dance, 80s, 90s and more.

Of course the venue for this QVD return is the always 100% vegan Kabaret in Wood Green.

We expect turnout to be huge for this one time event, so you will most definitely want to buy your ticket in advance to ensure your entry.

Advance tickets are just £3 plus a small booking fee. If we have any space left on the night, door tickets will be £5. Click here to buy your ticket now.

You should also RSVP to the Facebook event and use the invite button to tell all your friends.

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Vegan music

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Music is one of my great loves, as is veganism. How cool that I get to combine the two!

As you know (because I never shut up about it), I am taking Australian band Love Like Hate on the road around the UK this July. Animal Equality are joining us for the shows calling at Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow, Oxford and London.

The final night of the tour is taking place at 100% vegan restaurant and nightspot, Kabaret. Of course we will be giving massive love to Love Like Hate before they fly back to Australia, but I’ve added another band to this final show line up and believe me when I say you don’t want to miss out.

Colour Me Wednesday are a fab independent punk/indie/pop band from West London. To put it in simple terms: they are fucking awesome.

Check out this insanely enjoyable song and music video.

Colour Me Wednesday aren’t just pumping out killer tunes, they are also dedicated vegans with a distinct disliking of sexism. They are my type of people.

July 31, 2015 is serving up probably the best vegan value you are gonna get for many years to come. I’ll be hosting. Two vegan bands will be storming through the entertainment. Animal Equality will be selling merchandise and signing people up. A DJ will be taking over the stage following the bands. Buy your ticket in advance and you also get two EP downloads from Love Like Hate!

All of this for just £5. I’m not fucking kidding you. Just £5.

You gotta book a ticket today. We are using funds raised to pay for the UK tour so please encourage friends to grab some tickets, too.

If you can’t make it to the final London date but would like to support the Vegan Roadshow tour, visit our Indiegogo campaign page to make a donation. Every single donation helps.

Check out Colour Me Wednesday on Bandcamp

Follow Colour Me Wednesday on Twitter

Like Colour Me Wednesday on Facebook

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We’re on the telly

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My inbox just blew up big time.

Every single person in the UK is desperate to let me know that my fab monthly party, Queer Vegan Disco, was mentioned on a Channel 4 program tonight. The Night Bus is a fly-on-the-wall docu-series that showcases the people of London as they attempt to get home on the night bus network in the early hours following the closure of the Underground trains.

Tonight featured the number 29 from Wood Green which means the wonderful Michelle and Mat were featured moments after leaving Queer Vegan Disco.

Check out the video!

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Eat at drinks

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London Vegan Drinks is a super fun monthly party, as you know.

What you might not have given much thought to is the fact that it isn’t just about booze. We also like to eat.

Turn up tomorrow (Saturday May 2, 2015) from 6pm for London Vegan Drinks at Kabaret @ Karamel in Wood Green and you will be met by the following menu:

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Guest hosts

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I am incredibly proud of London Vegan Drinks.

This party has been running since 2011 and has established itself (with a little bit of help from me) as one of the biggest and best monthly social events for vegans on the planet.

The current location (Kabaret @ Karamel) welcomes in excess of 100 vegans and their friends on the first Saturday of every month. With a 100% vegan venue, lots of friendly faces and late night sets from a rotating line up of DJs, London Vegan Drinks is a party not to be missed each month.

But I am missing it in February!

My insatiable desire for off-Broadway theatre and overeating is taking me to New York City on the day I should be hosting London Vegan Drinks in February, therefore I have sourced the finest guest hosts in the capital. Only the best for the best.

IMG_9616Meet Bob. Bob is a party planner not to be underestimated. She has had a hand in some of the biggest fashion events in the capital and (as she proved at my roller disco last year) is an extremely competent roller skater.

Bob won’t be on roller skates on Saturday February 7th, 2015 but she will be armed with name stickers and a giant smile.

You can follow Bob on Instagram.

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London Vegan Drinks is such a massive party, it needs reinforcements. Enter James and Angela of ethical boutique and vegan shoe store, The Third Estate.

The Camden/Kentish Town store run by James and Angela is a vegan landmark. People come from all over the UK and the world to shop with the compassionate duo. The blog post I published about The Third Estate is still one of the most viewed in the history of this site.

If you are new to London Vegan Drinks on Saturday February 7th, 2015 then cosy up to these two and they will make you feel like an old friend. Also marvel at the unrivalled song selection prowess of James as he takes to the DJ decks later in the evening.

You can like The Third Estate on Facebook.

London Vegan Drinks is going to be one heck of a party in February. Makes me kinda wish I wasn’t missing it.

Get all the details about the location and transport options here.

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World Vegan Day menu

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As you know, London Vegan Drinks taking place this month is also a celebration for World Vegan Day.

I am expecting to welcome more than 150 vegans and their friends to Kabaret in Wood Green this Saturday November 1st, 2014 from 6pm onwards.

Kabaret is the fabulous 100% vegan bar and cafe co-owned by Louise Wallis, the person who actually founded World Vegan Day. Louise will be behind the bar and doing a few DJ spots, so make sure you congratulate her and show your thanks.

We also have a very special guest who will be chatting with attendees. Vegan legend Colleen Patrick-Goudreau will be mingling throughout the evening and will have a few copies of her books to sell and sign.

And then the food!

Anarkali is the resident chef at Kabaret and she has created a super fun bar snack menu for the night.

Revellers at London Vegan Drinks will be well fed with the following:

Handmade gourmet burgers
– tofu burger and salad on bun (can be gluten free on request)
– garlic sausage burger and salad on bun

7″ pizzas
– classic with tomato, cheese and basil
– spinach and mushroom
– margherita
– Hawaiian
– pepperoni

Extra toppings available for pizzas

Home cooked wedges featuring sweet potatoes and rustic fries

Selection of relishes and sauces

Vegan champagne £30 per bottle

How exciting!

Come along on Saturday night from 6pm. All the details including directions and address can be seen by clicking here.

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Ethiopian dinner

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I love a tasty ‘one night only’ food event. How delightful to know the food experience you are part of will never be replicated in quite the same way ever again.

This is one of the reasons I run my special events and also why I think you need to know about this event put on by some talented chefs.

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Best news ever

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There is so much good news to cram into this blog post, I can barely sit still due to my excitement levels.

I’m just going to have to give it to you in bite size chunks in order for you to be able to take it all in.

Here goes:

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