VEGAN LONDON

What a day!  More fun than you can shake a stick at!  LONDON DAY OUT!

Chosen Mission - FUN.  CAKE. VEGAN.

First stop October Cafe, London's 1st VEGAN tea shop. YES, a vegan tea shop.  My beating heart!  I had heard about the opening of this place whilst in California and I hot footed it here as soon as I had chance.  Peter, the owner, a Dubliner nestled in London since 2001, was there in his waistcoated finery.  Impressive!  Suited and booted, as they say in London land. 

Our sweet toothed, dapper host makes all his own cakes and pastries.  He'd had a busy run and few cakes remained so I didn't have chance to try his legendary, retro classic,  Black Forest Gateau. It was lounging in the kitchen, waiting to be dressed and the baked cheesecake was cooling off, still in it's tin.  My mouth watered at the thought of the cheesecake so I pretended I wasn't gluten intolerant and opted for that, over the Cream Tea, Parisian jammy dodger and Cup cakes.  I sipped green tea out of my china tea cup, and soon dug into the towering (ok, slight exaggeration) blueberry cheesecake.  It was sweetened to perfection, cloying, thick (in the way that good baked cheese cake is) and I rode widly on a sugar high that took me shore at my next stop....

Vx (pronounced V Cross).  Also known as SSOV  The Secret Society of Vegans.  Vx is a great little shop with a tiny cafe downstairs.  It had reclined on my 'to visit' list for ages.  When I found out super Vegan STARLETT Sarah Kramer of 'How it all Vegan'  & Vegan A Go Go was going to be there...I was on it.  Quarry Girl & VEGAN BACKPACKER had stepped over the threshold before and I wanted in on the action.  Now... lets talk chocolate eclairs VEGAN..Hello!  I honestly didn't hold out much hope for this stale looking creamy thing..But, BUT... it was GORGEOUS, the pastry was just like my mum used to make but VEGAN and the vanilla cream was totally DIVINE.  I apologise for eating half of it before taking the piccy but I was impatient to gorge on it.  A local vegan patissier makes the cakes ACCIDENTALLY VEGAN (genius!).  They had a plate of chocolate Rolo's, for us to sample,  that AV had made and they were beyond superlatives!

After topping up the sugar load I went to the Vx Cafe to see Mrs Kramer.  I thought I'd just say hi (not wanting to fall into the putting of a celebrity on pedestal trap) but Sarah and all the other people that gathered were so NICE and fun, I rooted myself in for a comfortable hour of happy chit-chat.  Sarah is LOVELY, fun and vivacious.  I adored her.  She is full of the joys and it was nice to meet lots of fellow vegan foodie obsessives.

So passionate is this chica that she had this tattoo done to help her to remember her baking conversions.  Way to go Sarah. 

http://www.tattoozoo.net/  Copyright.

 Melisser aka The Urban Housewife turned up to say hi too.  What a love!  It all became a bit of a tattoo fest and I felt quite naked with my body still the same as God made.  Her tattooed sleeve below is the story of some of her travelling life....which has now taken her over to the VEGAN friendly Berlin.  Hope to see her there one day soon.  What a lovely way to pass the day...I just wish I could have whisked us all to a huge designer kitchen to hang out and make busy with some food.

Tattoo.  The Urban Housewife .Copyright.