Yesterday was World Vegan Day

And this is the post I meant to put up for it!



After a fairly uneventful journey back to the UK I've had to settle into the work plan for November and really get on with stuff. It's not coming easily to me, beset by worries that everything will go terribly wrong and panicking because although places for the dates in Nottingham and Ealing are going fast there seem to be no vegans or vegan-curious diners in the whole of the Milton Keynes / Newport Pagnell area. It's a worry and with just 10 days to go I need some new ideas for publicity.

Pictured above the Hazelnut Shortbreads to go with the Fruit Compotes and Ginger Ices on the Newport Pagnell menu. They worked quite well and I'll have another go to perfect the cooking times when the private Dress Rehearsal lunch takes place this Sunday. Guests for that are mostly coming up from London, although Alex who is hosting the Nottingham event with his husband will come down for the day.

I hate to beg but I'm going to. If you have any friends, relatives or contacts in the Newport Pagnell area (we're close to Bedford, Northampton and Milton Keynes too) and you think they'd like to try some Underground Dining (they don't have to be vegan, the food will stand on its own merit) then do let them know we have an event on the 12th November. Tickets are available here, I can accept email reservations at catofstripes@gmail.com and the menu and all details are also available at the Stripey Cat Supper Club website.


The vegetables for the mustard pickles, which are degorging before cooking and bottling.

Pop-up Underground

Tofu Scramble with dutch oven roasted potatoes - the potatoes are that odd colour because they have a lot of blue colour in them naturally.

I did a whacky and slightly scary thing today. I announced on twitter that I would be doing a pop-up restaurant event in the autumn. I've no idea what made me do it, but it's said now, so that's what must be happening.

What's a pop-up underground restaurant? It's pop-up because it's available for a very short time. Pop-ups typically appear in unused spaces or non-food locations and after one or two nights, the show is over and they're on their way. Underground restaurants serve meals open to the public but hosted in private homes. It's on the edge of legality and most underground venues release their location on a need to know basis. Successful underground restaurants may have regular calendar dates scheduled for meals.

There is either a charge per head or donations are taken for the cost of food and preparation. Alcohol can't be sold, that really is illegal, but patrons are allowed to bring their own. The menu is fixed, sometimes themed and served supper style with all guests receiving each course at about the same time. Sometimes tables are shared as space is usually very limited in a domestic setting.

Have a look at MsMarmite's blog - she was certainly the first underground restaurateur I came across and is a great read. But of course, I've never eaten there because the food isn't vegan. It's too much to expect small concerns, often one person bands, to make extraordinary efforts to feed vegans if their usual metier is more mainstream. Which is where I come in...

I'm hoping to do at least one event in the UK this autumn, more if venues can be found so that the vegan supperclub joy can be spread around the country a bit. This really is a project that's just hours old so nothing is fixed at all yet, but it's going to happen.

Watch this space.