The Cruelty Gratis Shop

February 20, 2014

Brunswick St has already established itself equally a vegan hotspot alongside the Vegie Bar, Yong Green Food, Madame K's, Lord of the Fries together with Berrissimo all clustered but southward of Alexandra Parade. What amend topographic point to ready the begin bricks-and-mortar outlet of the Cruelty Free Shop?

The Cruelty Free Shop opens officially for trouble organisation tomorrow, Sat Feb 21, but nosotros were lucky to larn a sneak peek at their launch. Inside nosotros found slap-up white shelves stacked alongside hundreds, if non thousands, of vegan groceries.

Fridges nearly groaned alongside the weight of vegan cheeses, icecreams, mock meats together with frozen snacks similar bao together with jump rolls. Shelves were lined alongside convenience meals stocks together with soups, including a few unfamiliar brands together with products (ready-made kokosnoot bacon! sample packs of Tartex!). Amongst the puddings, cake mixes together with sweetness flavoured milks I was delighted to detect a produce root of soy condensed milk.

There's materials for vegan minds together with bodies also equally their digestive systems - books, cosmetics together with pare care, shoes, wallets together with bags. I'm feeling a twinge of regret over the vegan leather wallet I bought a pair of months ago, 'cause these ones are existent cute.

The Cruelty Free Shop aims to stock products that are intentionally vegan, together with oft made yesteryear vegan companies. It's non a house to root volume biodegradable detergent or dried legumes - instead it's all close the luxury goods that confirm vegans aren't missing out on anything.

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The Cruelty Free Shop
385 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
9495 6673
http://www.crueltyfreeshop.com.au/

Accessilibility: I mean value the entry was flat, if a petty narrow. Floors within are apartment together with corridors should endure clear together with moderately broad when non crammed alongside people at launch time. Some stock is located on rather high shelves.

Vegie Mum

July 4, 2018

Note: nosotros arranged this dinner intending to pay our neb inward full. We received 1 entree together with a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling vino without accuse during our visit.

We were both excited together with wary when Vegie Mum Doncaster restaurant, but tin flaming the Brunswick St eatery strip actually back upward some other veg restaurant, allow solitary more Buddhist-style mock meat? I swung dorsum solely to excitement when Steph spontaneously invited me together with Danni to part equally many dishes equally possible amongst her during their opening week.

The atmosphere was real celebratory, amongst the eatery possessor owning the flooring all night, red-ribboned good-luck bouquets spilling out of the foyer, together with many customers recognised equally family, friends, together with customers of the Doncaster restaurant. We were treated to a twain of costless items, together with it's unclear whether they were extended to all diners that night, or a piffling something extra because Danni allow sideslip that in that place was a blogger at our table.

The Pei King duck ( $9) was all our idea, though. This wasn't the dense, 5-spice-flavoured duck I'm most accustomed to, but a lighter layered yuba amongst a frail crispy skin.

Soon after, the possessor cheerfully pressed a bottle of Mango Tango sparkling potable on us together with urged us to sample a Chinese salami that the chef has been playing around with. It had the dots of fatty that evoke smallgoods, together with to a greater extent than of that crispy yuba peel I was cracking on, non to advert an impressive carved carrot garnish.

The balance of the repast was our choice. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 bowl of Mapo Tofu ($18) was only mildly spicy, amongst veges rather than a mock mince. By comparison, the Char Kuay Teow ($13) was studded amongst at to the lowest degree ii kinds of mock meat, together with the best variety of slippery-smoky noodles.

The eatery possessor together with Steph exclaimed together over the Nyonya Fish ($15), together with they were justified inward doing so. I think, though, that Danni together with I were ultimately to a greater extent than excited yesteryear the Shanghai sugariness together with sour pork ribs ($19), picking them off their wooden 'bones' together with dragging them through equally much sauce equally nosotros could.

We'd strategically over-ordered to have got leftovers home, together with had only plenty room to part dessert. The banana fritter ($8) does the job, together with is served amongst dairy-based icecream (though Steph duly informed them near the tardily vegan alternatives available only downwards the street at the Cruelty Free Shop).

And that's the 1 fry warning: although most of the bill of fare is vegan (and I suspect that it is all vegan adaptable), it's non clearly labelled. Speak upward when they're taking your gild together with there's a expert lead chances all volition endure well. Coeliacs volition likely have got a tougher fourth dimension of it.

We, at least, had a terrific fourth dimension of it. While I'm certain that first-opening exuberance volition calm downwards over the coming weeks, I'm hopeful that Vegie Mum volition found itself equally a welcoming together with well-attended veg*n eatery inward this competitive neighbourhood.

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You tin flaming besides read near our first together with second visits to the master Vegie Mum in  Doncaster.

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Vegie Mum
72 Johnston St, Fitzroy
9417 6688
entrees, soups & 'seafood'; other mains & dessert; banquet menu; drinks
https://www.vegiemum.com.au/fitzroy

Accessibility: There's a stride upward on entry. The interior is apartment amongst moderately crowded furniture. We ordered at our tabular array together with paid at a high counter. We didn't watch the toilets.

Alfajores

March 1, 2014

I stocked upwards on vegan caramel cans inwards the in conclusion weeks of The Cruelty Free Shop reassured me that I needn't hoard them whatever longer. I broke 1 out to fill upwards these alfajores, assembling as well as sharing them 'round piece watching movies alongside friends. 

Alfajores are a Spanish/Latin American sweetness as well as I intend this Viva Vegan! recipe most resembles the Peruvian style: flat, circular biscuits sandwiched together alongside dulce de leche. Romero offers chopped almonds circular the border equally an optional extra, but I idea pistachios would live fun instead. Her biscuit recipe is gorgeous as well as slowly to travel with, yielding great white shortbread biscuits fragrant alongside lemon, vanilla as well as nighttime rum. They're a piffling dry out on their own, but would live prissy alongside a loving cup of tea as well as are genuinely magical in 1 trial they run into the caramel as well as nuts.

Alfajores
(based on a recipe inwards Terry Hope Romero's Viva Vegan!)

3/4 loving cup margarine
2/3 loving cup icing sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 cups patently flour
2/3 loving cup cornflour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
generous pinch of salt
1 tablespoon soymilk
1 tablespoon nighttime rum
340g tin vegan caramel
1/2 loving cup pistachios, roughly chopped

Place the margarine inwards a large bowl as well as sift over the icing sugar. Beat them together until well-mixed as well as fluffy alongside an electrical mixer. Scrape the mixture from the sides of the bowl, add together the vanilla as well as lemon zest, as well as compaction it all approximately more. Sift inwards the flour, cornflour, baking pulverization as well as tabular array salt as well as compaction it all together, starting on a depression setting, until the mixture is crumbly. Pour over the soymilk as well as rum as well as compaction the mixture a in conclusion fourth dimension to shape a cohesive dough. Turn the dough onto a slice of plastic wrap, twine it upwards as well as refrigerate it for at to the lowest degree thirty minutes.

Preheat an oven to 160°C as well as business 1-2 baking trays alongside paper. Set out a large canvas of baking newspaper on a bench, suspension off one-half of the biscuit dough as well as house it on the paper. Fold over one-half of the newspaper as well as curlicue the dough to nearly 5mm thick. Use a 4cm diameter circular biscuit cutter (or a small-scale glass, perhaps?) to cutting out biscuits as well as accommodate them on the baking trays. Repeat alongside the remaining dough, curlicue upwards whatever scraps as well as proceed going. Bake the biscuits for 12-14 minutes - y'all don't desire them to larn golden, as well as hence trace them out equally presently equally y'all bring out a hint of coloring on whatever of them. Let the biscuits cool for v minutes on the tray earlier transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Place a spoonful of caramel onto the centre of a biscuit, as well as sandwich it alongside approximately other biscuit. Roll the edges alongside pistachios, I pressed most of them inwards yesteryear hand. Repeat alongside the remaining biscuits as well as serve ASAP.

5 Years, Yet No Beef

Today marks v years since our commencement post hither at where's the beef?. It's getting hard to hollo upwardly what nosotros did alongside ourselves inwards our blog-less days alongside only a dial-up connecter to cheque our email. (I intend I read to a greater extent than books... together with I suspect Michael watched to a greater extent than sport.)

In that fourth dimension we've written virtually 401 dissimilar restaurants across 563 posts together with tried 602 vegetarian recipes. That includes 75 breakfast venues together with 25 pubs, 31 flavours of home-made ice-cream, 42 soups together with tofu cooked 56 ways inwards our kitchen alone.

We've to a greater extent than problem counting the friends that we've made, the things that we've learned, or the release of days inwards that fourth dimension that convey been cheered past times your comments, tweets together with emails. As a thank-you for your support, we'd similar to run a giveaway for our Australia-based readers this week. The prize is a $60 gift voucher to pass at the Radical Grocery (if you're inwards Melbourne) or at the Cruelty Free Shop (if you're anywhere else inwards Oz)... PLUS we'll donate an additional $60 to the World Food Programme inwards your name. We visit these folks all create swell run together with we'd live on proud to back upwardly them on your behalf.

To enter, move out a comment on this post telling us what or where you're most looking frontward to eating this spring. It could live on a seasonal ingredient, a recipe only non quite correct for winter, a favourite picnic spot or beer garden... at that topographic point must live on something that you've been hanging out to convey these mutual frigidity brace of months! If yous create non already convey an e-mail address or twitter problem organisation human relationship attached to your commenting profile, delight transportation us an e-mail entry likewise to wheresthebeef_blog[at]yahoo.com.au, together with hence that nosotros tin contact yous inwards the upshot that yous win. Entries unopen at midnight ending Sat August 28 together with the winner volition live on randomly drawn together with announced on Dominicus August 29.

Between forthwith together with the prize depict we've got a few posts for yous next the five-year theme. Cheers!

Mad Cowgirls Vegan Grocery

August 8, 2015: Mad Cowgirls accept shut down

January 2, 2014

While those of us inwards Brunswick are mourning the recent closure of The Radical Grocery Store, Preston's vegan stocks accept risen alongside the Dec opening of Mad Cowgirls Vegan Grocery.

At the minute they're offering a wide withal selective arrive at of goods - fresh produce; tofu, tempeh as well as mock meats; non-dairy cheeses, milks as well as H2O ice creams; pre-made meals as well as pantry staples; cleaning products as well as toiletries.

We appreciated the baskets at the entry as well as took pocket-size samples across their grocery range. Once the Mad Cowgirls' EFTPOS motorcar is upwards as well as running (due later on this month) it'll live on fifty-fifty easier to pass upwards big.

It's exciting to run into the vegan grocery baton picked upwards as well as then swiftly on the northside. We've got The Cruelty Free Shop to await forrad to inwards Fitzroy this yr too.

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Mad Cowgirls Vegan Grocery
2/93 High St, Preston
9943 9184
facebook page

Accessibility: The entry is standard-width as well as flat. Interior shelves extend upwards to my shoulder peak as well as are surrounded yesteryear a lot of space. We paid at a depression counter.