Grey Area: podcast exploring ambiguous topics in veganism

From Vegan Student Association Amsterdam comes this podcast series discussing ‘topics within veganism that could be interpreted in different ways or are seen differently by vegans’. In every episode the three hosts discuss a different topic in an intelligent and nuanced way, like should you be 100% vegan, how to think about ex-vegans or the topic of relationships and veganism. So far five episodes are online, approximately one new episode every month. Because of corona, the podcast is being recorded over Zoom.

All episodes are in English. You can find Grey Area on Spotify, check out the latest episode below!

 

 

Flo’s Appetizing – vegan options at this legit bagel place

flo's appetizing

Edit Sept 23 – currently the bagels itself are not vegan as they use honey in the poaching process, but they’ve let me know they will switch back to malt again in the near future

Of course we all know Bagels & Beans, been around since forever, ten years ago one of the few places in town that had vegan options and could make you a coffee with soymilk (!). But late last year Flo’s Appetizing opened, specialised in real-deal NYC style bagels, American expats and bagel lovers are raving about it ever since! Here they make the bagels fresh on a daily basis so when the bagels are finished for the day, that’s that.

Flo’s started by American expat and baker Heather Eddy, who grew up on the eastcoast of the US. Here in Amsterdam she missed the quality bagels she was used to, as well as the charm of the bagel stores. She started as a pop-up offering bagels but then through a crowdfunding campaign she managed to open Flo’s as an actual store! It’s named in honour of her grandma Florence (whose portrait is hanging in the store). The word appetizing refers to the traditional Jewish stores that sell fish and cream cheese to put on top of a bagel. Read more

Best falafel in town – at Javastraat!

One of my favourite streets in town, Javastraat in Amsterdam Oost. The people in the street reflect the cultural diversity of Amsterdam and the bars, restaurants and shops are of an equally pleasantly diverse mix. One of the interesting shops worth a visit is Tigris & Eufraat. It’s a store with all kinds of Middle Eastern food and also houses a modest take-away, with some seating available.

Here they offer Middle Eastern streetfood, including outstanding falafel! At Tigris & Eufraat they roll it in a Syrian flatbread, which is the preferred way for me compared to a pita bread. Besides falafel they add to it pickled vegetables, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, mint, tahin sauce and hot sauce. Just tell them no yogurt sauce. Read more

Het Ketelhuis: cinema with a vegetarian restaurant

The menu at Het Ketelhuis was not always fully vegetarian, but they always had a lot of vegetarian options. But in their quest to become more sustainable they realised that meat is putting too much pressure on the environment, organic meat included. And from all the dishes ordered at the restaurant, most people were going for vegetarian options anyways. So, early 2020 they made the switch to a fully vegetarian menu! Read more

New vegetarian food store at Haarlemmerdijk!

Food store Klein The Grocer recently opened at Haarlemmerdijk, and stands out by it’s strong visual appearance and aesthetics. Which you will note when cycling past in the street and even more so when you enter the shop. No wonder that owner Neil has a background in graphic design! He is originally from South Africa and has his own design agency there. But he always liked Amsterdam and was ready for a change.

Four years ago Neil went vegetarian. He always preferred the vegetarian option, but it was after watching documentary What The Health and eating amazing vegetarian food during a trip to Thailand that he made the switch: “I decided, that was it.” Now by opening his own food store he has the opportunity to devote his time to another passion in his life: good food. Read more

New vegan icecream place in the west!

In these challenging times sometimes you have to think outside of the box. Yogastudio Bluebirds can’t give yoga lessons for a while, so decided to start a vegan icecream place at one of their locations! At their yogastudio / store at Jan Evertsenstraat they set up an icecream showcase where they offer six flavours, like coconut lime, straciatella and banana-pecan-caramel! Also the cones are vegan. The icecream shop will be there all summer, and perhaps return the next year! Read more

All vegetarian Middle-Eastern cuisine

Sajj & Mezza’s opened end 2019 by Nabil and Sari. They always had a passion for cooking and so were dreaming of opening up their own restaurant. Because of their shared Middle-Eastern background (people working in the restaurant are from a.o. Iraq, Syria, Lebanon) it would only make sense to put dishes from that cuisine on the menu. With one difference, only vegetarian dishes, since they want to put the focus on healthy food. “We want to offer traditional Middle Eastern dishes, but adapted to the west,” tells Sari. Read more

Monte Pelmo expands their range of vegan ice cream!

One of the classic icecream places in Amsterdam, Monte Pelmo has been around since the fifties! Located in the heart of the Jordaan area it’s a very popular spot in summer. Like most icecream places they’ve always had vegan options namely sorbet icecream. But they’ve recently came up with a few vegan non-sorbet flavours as well, by popular demand! Currently they offer hazelnut, pistache, coconut and dark chocolate. And of course several fruit flavours (sorbet) as well (like limoncello or spicy strawberry heeeeey). Read more

New all vegan food store with Pakistani deli!

Vegan Shop Shop opened end 2019 by Barbara and Ali, who are vegan with Pakistani roots. You might remember Ali from the vegan pop-up Vegan Snack Shop he was running a few years ago at Beukenplein! Now with Vegan Shop Shop they broadened this concept to include a store as well. They are selling various brands of vegan cheese, macarons and other baked goods by Baking Bunny and an eclectic mix of organic packaged food. They prefer to offer local and social products. Read more

Closed during corona but their food is available for delivery! Within the area bounded by highway A10 (‘binnen de ring’). Call to order.