VV TV Star Blogger Viva! Founder Juliet Gellatley 🙂
In the last nine months, no less than NINE new vegan and vegetarian restaurants and cafes opened in Viva!’s back yard: Bristol. This is an illustration of the excitement and change that is happening nationwide – vegan is in! Vegan is cool. Vegan is the solution to many of the planet’s most pressing problems and the message is hitting home. 
And you know you are winning when the rather slow, cumbersome process of lobbying restaurant chains starts to pay off! The surge of interest is mounting day by day.
In just the last few weeks, national Italian chain, Zizzi, launched a menu with vegan garlic bread, bruschetta and pizza with a rice-based melting mozzarella. Let the trumpets sound, for we vegans have waited a long time for this! (Ask for their Allergens menu, there is a Vegan section).
Las Iguanas, the Latin American themed chain revamped their extensive vegan menu and now include a rather lovely and light ‘Mojito jelly set in a cocktail glass, with lemon & lime sorbet’. And, not to be outdone, the Japanese Yo Sushi, has added more delicious vegan options.
My friend, Justine Butler, and I have been on a mission to improve Jamie Oliver’s Italians. It started when we ate at his Bristol restaurant after hearing Jamie say “the future is about a plant-based diet”, only to find a measly two choices! After several months of enthusiastic contact by Viva! and Jamie’s bud, vegan Tim Shieff, I am delighted to say that his new menu has six dishes that can be made vegan.
You can choose from Roasted Squash Bruschetta, Turbo Penne Arrabbiata, Veggie Tagliatelle, Wild Mushroom & Winter Greens Risotto, Harrisa-Spiced Aubergine and JI Super Food Salad… about time!
CEO of Pret a Manger, Clive Schlee, is floating the idea of opening vegetarian branches of the popular food chain. He blogged:
“I regularly look at Pret’s sales mix to see which food categories are growing and which are shrinking. Recently, there has been a distinct shift towards vegetarian. The top selling SuperBowl in our latest salad launch was Beets, Squash & Feta, beating chicken, salmon and crayfish alternatives. This would have been unheard of five years ago. Of course there are good reasons to eat less meat (I’m trying!). Aside from the animal welfare arguments, the UN says that the single most important step an individual can take to reduce global warming is to adopt a meat and dairy-free diet.”
When I started campaigning on vegan issues almost three decades ago, this mainstream recognition of the urgent need for the world to eat vegan was unheard of.
And the change isn’t just in the UK. Last month, New York’s celeb restaurateur Ravi DeRossi is on a mission to turn all 15 of his bars and restaurants into vegan hotspots. He told me:
“If we’re going to do something to help this planet, it needs to start now.” This summer, The Bourgeois Pig—known for its not-at-all-vegan cheese plates, fondue, and charcuterie—will reopen as a vegan wine and tapas bar called LadyBird. Following up will be vegan restaurant, Avant Garden, in Williamsburg this autumn, including cocktails, vegan menu, a tasting table, a vegan butcher (who obviously slices and dices food of the plant-based variety), and a commissary kitchen.
Back to our homeland – M&S have just told me that they are introducing a better range for vegetarians and vegans. And Quorn are launching a further three vegan products!
It has been a lot of work and there’s a long way to go, but the vegan revolution is starting, here and now!
VEGAN-FRIENDLY CHAIN GANG
Here are restaurant chains that offer at least one vegan option. Ask staff for their allergens and vegans list (eg staff often give the main menu only at Las Iguanas – ask for their Vegan menu and there is lots of choice)
• ASK ITALIAN
• BELLA ITALIA
• BOSTON TEA PARTY
• CAFÉ ROUGE
• CARLUCCIO’S
• CHIQUITO
• FRANKIE & BENNY’S
• GIRAFFE
• HANDMADE BURGER COMPANY
• JAMIE’S ITALIAN
• LAS IGUANAS
• LEON
• LOUNGERS
• NANDOS
• PIZZA EXPRESS
• PIZZA HUT
• PRET A MANGER
• PREZZO
• SUBWAY
• TOBY’S CARVERY
• WAGAMAMA
• WETHERSPOON
• ZIZZI
• YO SUSHI
With thanks and love to Juliet Gellatley super VeggieVision TV star blogger and Viva! founder.
Viva! La Vegan Chain Revolution
