As a boy growing up in England, my mother used to cook a Sunday Roast every week. It was always a big performance, with lots of ingredients, interminably long cooking time and a somewhat formal consumption ritual of sitting at the big table, usually reserved for guests. Sometimes, though, (when we could afford it) we’d go out for our meal and my memories are filled with those occasions: smiling restaurant staff, large plates of food and plenty of subdued light from the London skies.

I also look back with sadness on the cruelty that was on my plate: the flesh we so fancifully fried was quickly relegated to a meatona-non gratis as I became vegetarian and then vegan. Indeed, I abandoned Sunday Roast many years ago in despair of such meaty plates all around me.

Fast forward way too many years for me to remember, and I can gladly confirm that the Sunday Roast is back in my life with a vengeance – at Manna restaurant in Primrose Hill. In fact, special vegetarian Sunday menu items have been served at Manna since the 1960s, and more lately their Vegan Sunday Roast delivers a traditional, yet superior (and of course cruelty-free) offering that’s to die for.

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have you heard?! today is the first annual VEGAN PIZZA DAY. i hope you are celebrating with some delicious cruelty-free pizza! i know i am.

what kind of pizza are you eating today? i’d love to hear about it. please email me pictures of your vegan pizza, and i will post them on the blog. i know we talk a lot about los angeles on this site…but i wanna post pictures from all over. i don’t care where you are, SEND ME YOUR VEGAN PIZZA SNAP SHOTS! i’ll go first:

if you are in LA, check out the masa vegan drinks meet up, discounts on all vegan items (including dessert and beer) at pizza fusion, and vegan slices at zpizza.

VEGAN PIZZA DAY IS TOMORROW! you better get ready to party! to help you plan accordingly, we’ve compiled a list of the vegan pizza we’ve eaten in los angeles over the nearly 3 years of running this blog. when we started quarrygirl.com, there was ONE place to get pizza with vegan cheese. now there are over 20 places. for a complete list of places to get vegan pizza in LA, check out the vegan pizza day website. this is just a list of what we’ve eaten so far. enjoy! BTW, please email me pix of what you eat on vegan pizza day, and i will post them on the blog!

cruzer pizza

LA’s one and only vegan pizzeria is located in los feliz and makes incredible pie. check out their quarrygirl pizza (named after me!), and their awesome pasta dishes and appetizers.

pizza fusion

with locations in hollywood and santa monica, pizza fusion has got much of the town covered. they’ve got vegan pizza with your choice of daiya or follow your heart, tap beer, and vegan brownies for dessert. on vegan pizza day, they’ll be offering 10% on ALL VEGAN PRODUCTS! so just ask!

zpizza

zpizza is our go-to chain for vegan dining. all locations carry daiya cheese and gardein crumbles, and the pizza is fabulous. for vegan pizza day, they’ll be serving up vegan pizza by the slice!

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UPDATED 2/01/11: we tracked down the makers of the buttery “phase oil” that bj’s uses on their pizza, and the stuff is 100% vegan! we are good to go. as long as you order your pizza w/o cheese, you should be safe.

UPDATED 01/28/2011: HUGE UPDATE, people! mr. wishbone got on the case and found out some new info. you need to SPECIFY THAT YOU ARE VEGAN when you order this pizza and ask for it NOT to be brushed with butter. the pizza crust comes butter brushed by default, but BJ’s can sub olive oil instead. so be careful!

we’ve blogged about cheeseless vegan pizza at restaurant chains—from cpk here at home, to pizza express across the pond—and i can say without a doubt that the deep dish at bj’s brewhouse takes it to a whole new level. they’ve got locations scattered all over the country, so even if you live in a town where pizzerias don’t carry vegan cheese, you can still celebrate vegan pizza day at bj’s!

we have been going to bj’s for ages just to drink (did i mention they also brew amazing vegan-friendly beer on site?), but never thought to ask about food options until recently when we attended a celebration there for my mom’s 65th birthday. i emailed the restaurant in advance to suss out the vegan situation, and a very nice man named david got back to me with a handy allergen PDF. he also assured me that both the normal crust and gluten-free crust, as well as the sauce at bj’s contain no animal products…so we should be safe ordering cheeseless pizza. and that’s exactly what we did.

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vegan pizza day is less than 2 days away! how are you going to celebrate it? if you are in san francisco, i can highly recommend the vegan pie at escape from new york.

the small chain has 6 locations in SF, and has recently started carrying daiya. we found them by accident when we were vacationing last month, and the haight restaurant was just steps away from our hotel. the pizzeria is very new yorky-themed, from the name of the business, to the statue of liberty logo, to the massive thin ny-style pies and pizza by the slice.

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Ok, so you all know how much I love the Cat Bar here in Barcelona. And by now you also know it is Vegan Pizza Day on Saturday. Well us Europeans couldn’t stand by and let you “expats,” have all the fun, so we’ve nicked the idea… And come up with… WORLD VEGAN PIZZA DAY. Innovative no? And get this. Cat Bar have been beavering away on their pizza dough skills and experimenting with different baking trays and toppings… And guess what? Yup. Cat Bar now has pizza on the menu. The launch will be this Saturday, but as I’m one lucky Monkey I’ve had the chance to give them a go first!

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UPDATED: this special is so awesome, it will now run through sunday february 6th! eat up!

vegan meatball sub available this weekend only at native foods!

Italian sausage meatballs, marinara sauce, caramelized onions, roasted sweet peppers, pumpkin seed pesto, roasted garlic crema and homemade parmesan on a warm grilled baguette, served with an onion ring pileup. Ranch dressing on the sideline!

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it’s a great time to be vegan in los angeles! this week hugo’s restaurant is introducing tons of new animal-free options, and i can say from personal experience that they are beyond delicious. they’ve permanently brought back and improved some of everyone’s old favorite monthly specials, as well as added some extra good stuff.

the new menu will take effect in studio city today, and in west hollywood tomorrow. here is what you have to look forward to…

vegan carbonara: mushrooms, veggie bacon and garlic sauteed crisp. deglazed with white wine and finished with scallions, vegan cream sauce, and italian parsley. $13.85

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hey everyone, time for another field report from veganscraps! today she reviews a great little hidden place in lower east side manhattan called earthmatters. check it out!

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there’s no shortage of vegan cookies here in los angeles, but i can say without a doubt that the oversized chocolate chip treats from mardy’s munchies are some of the best.

the small neighborhood bakery based out of northeast LA was started about two years ago by montecito heights resident steve rossen, and his partner jana. while they only have one vegan item on the menu at the moment, it’s a damn good one and worth trying out…

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heads up, angelenos! BOTH pizza fusion locations in town (hollywood and santa monica) will be offering a 10% discount on saturday 1/29/11 when you mention vegan pizza day. hell yes—time to get your vegan pizza on at a reduced price!

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Hi, kids. JennShaggy of “Vegnize It…Don’t Criticize It” and author of the newly released cookbook “Veganize This!” Well, I feel luckier than overnight YouTube celebrity. Why, you ask? With the help of a vegan friend, I discovered FreeSoulCaffe on a recent trip to Tustin, CA. It’s an “Animal-Friendly, While, Sustainable” establishment that serves “Fine Vegan Foods and Organic Coffees & Teas” in a clean, gorgeous environment. An all vegan coffee café? Fuck’s yeah, dude!

Unfortunately for me, I went during breakfast hours…meaning only the breakfast menu was available. But the food we ate was so good, I was happier than a fat kid in a candy store.

For starters, check out this heavenly display of baked goods:

Here’s the selection of cakes and cheesecakes, including Pineapple Coconut Cake, Golden Chocolate Cake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, etc.

And here’s even more! This case includes Pumkin Scones with Spice Icing, Green Tea Pistachio Biscotti, Creamy Peanut Butter Cookies and FreeSoul Brownies:

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today’s quick bite comes to us from friend and quarrygirl reader patricia, who is also a bad-ass vegan certified massage therapist and yoga instructor (check her out!).

there has been a lot of talk in the vegan community about the new availability of gardein (an awesome vegan meat substitute) at yard house (our favorite chain of beer bars). here patricia addresses our concerns about cross-contamination, and explains why yard house doesn’t specifically classify any of their menu items as “vegan”. check it:

do you guys remember a while back when yard house was testing gardein in their restaurants? well, unlike Chipotle, it is now offered on their printed menu under a separate “vegetarian” section. i’ve been to yard house a lot and i always order the same amazing “chop salad” (without bacon) at the pasadena location. the salad has no lettuce but it’s a bunch of chopped delicious veggies: avocado, celery, corn, onions cucumber, and tomato. last night no one felt like driving so we took the metro to the downtown location which is about a four block walk from the 7th street station. the place was especially packed thanks to the clipper game that was happening literally next door. so i contribute the busyness, in part, to why i ended up with my usual chopped salad accidentally served with a few scraps of bacon. we were sitting at the bar and just so happens when i got the bartender’s attention to show him my salad the manager was standing right next to him. they were both very apologetic and i asked if i could order something different. i didn’t want to spend my time picking through plate of vegetables looking for bacon bits.

veggie fried chicken strips with fries. $9.65

so round two brought me the “veggie fried chicken strips” served with fries and i asked for it without the (non-vegan) sauce. here’s where the veganocity of yard house gets questionable. the manager explained to me that the fries are cooked in a separate fryer and although the “chicken” strips’ ingredients were vegan that they are fried in the same oil as chicken. well, clearly i’d prefer everything cooked separately but this time i just said “fuck it”…

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vegan pizza, we love it! and with vegan pizza day less than a week away, we wanna be sure to get you prepared by telling you about as many vegan pizza options as possible.

today’s vegan pizza comes to us from mythic pizza in san francisco…a small little take out and delivery joint on haight with awesome late hours (until 2am, and even open on xmas!). while mythic pizza doesn’t carry any fake cheese, they do have a clearly marked vegan option on the menu, and we became quite addicted to it last time we were in SF…

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vegan pizza day is just one week away, and zpizza is helping everyone get into the mood with vegan slices and a great giveaway!

here is the info:

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