Veggie-tables - the rise of plant-based dining in Glasgow

A couple of years back, PETA (The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) voted Glasgow to be the most vegan-friendly city in Scotland. Taking a walk through the West End, perusing menus in search of a good lunch, it’s easy to see that. Gone are the days when being a vegetarian relegated you to a lifetime of eating sad lettuce for every meal - with Glasgow’s flourishing food scene at the helm, we’re ushering in a new era of conscious, plant-based eating in Scotland. Take it from this curious carnivore with an increasingly-gnawing conscious; vegetarian eating these days is anything but boring or bland. 

“The rise of veganism is definitely the future,” said Victoria Bryceson, organizer of the upcoming Glasgow Vegan Festival, which is taking place May 27 and 28. “People are becoming more and more health-conscious, taking better care of their diets, and eating healthier.”

According to her, this can also be credited with an increase in public knowledge about how poorly animals are treated in traditional meat and dairy industries, as well as the environmental ramifications of these industries. 

In response to this rise of collective consciousness, there is more of a demand for vegan and vegetarian-friendly food than ever before. Look around at some of the West End’s favourite restaurants and cafes: the beloved student spot Tchai Ovna serves a completely vegetarian menu alongside their array of teas (many of which boast holistic properties); The 78 in the city’s culinary mecca of Finniston boasts cosy, pub-style comfort food, and is completely vegan; The Hug and Pint, which was voted one of Scotland’s best restaurants of 2016 by The Herald, concentrates on fresh, inventive vegan Asian fusion; and the newly-opened V&V Café takes holistic, healthful eating to heart with vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free offerings. Not to mention the addition of plentiful vegan and vegetarian options on the menus of not-specifically vegetarian restaurants like The Hanoi Bike Shop, The Ox and Finch, and Usha’s Indian Street Food - some of the best restaurants in the city. 

“This has nothing to do with a trend and we’re not here to preach,” said Saffy Reid, owner of The V&V Café on Great Western Road, which opened it’s doors to hordes of hungry herbivores on March 6. “This is about how we view our place in the world. We start by one person at a time, and understanding how we can make an impact on the environment, for the better treatment of animals, and for ourselves.” 

For Reid, a main concern was not to alienate anybody - the opposite in fact - she aims to cater to meat-eaters as well as vegetarians, by proving that plant-based food can be just as filling and hearty as meat, but with a whole lot of added health benefits. 

Reid, who has two young children with severe dairy and wheat allergies and follows a plant-based lifestyle, understands the difficulty of living with dietary restrictions, and wanted to provide a place for people to eat where they could trust that the ingredients were organic, fresh, fair-trade, locally-sourced, as well as truly delicious. And delicious it is - the roast veggies with hummus on fresh, thick-cut granary bread was flavourful, succulent, and stick-to-your-sides hearty, and the vegan lemon and blueberry cake will surely satisfy anybody’s sweet tooth, guilt-free. 

They make all their food fresh every morning, source their produce daily from Roots, Fruits, and Flowers down the road, their breads from local bakers, and what dairy products they do use come from free-range cows. For now, they have several gluten-free options and wheat-free breads, and are looking to expand on this as business picks up. They also look forward to offering workshops and seminars in the evenings after closing, including a weekly vegan society where curious people can come and learn about how to adopt the lifestyle. 

Places like V&V are making it easier to be a vegan in Glasgow, to be sure, but it can still be difficult to find completely holistic vegan products (and that doesn’t just include food) in your average grocery chain or corner shop. 

“I have two main goals for the Vegan Festival,” said Bryceson. “Firstly to provide vegans with a place where they can come and do one-stop shopping with everything vegan under one roof and to be able to know that everything is vegan without having to check ingredients or ask. And secondly to encourage more non-vegans to come along to see how fantastic it is to live a vegan lifestyle.” 

To that effect, the over 50 participating vendors at the Festival are hand-picked so as to provide a good variety of food and products. “I look for a wide range of hot food, cold food, raw food, sweet and savoury, as well as clothing, skin care and makeup, gifts, homeware, charities and more,” said Bryceson. 

For Bryceson, Reid, and the new generation of vegans and vegetarians that are crawling out of the woodwork these days, providing healthful vegan food and products to the masses isn’t about being evangelical, but rather is about living the principles they believe in, and making it easier for others to do the same. Surely, that’s an ethos anybody can get behind. 

“We might never make our million but we sleep at night,” said Reid. For her, that’s all that matters. 

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The Glasgow Vegan Festival will take place on May 27 and 28 in Trade’s Hall from 11am-5pm both days.

The V&V Café is open Monday to Sunday from 8am-6pm. Check out happycow.net for a comprehensive list of veggie-friendly places to eat, wherever you are.