Better Know an Austin Vegan:
Brendan Good, Event Coordinator & VNA Communications Director

April 19, 2013 Written by Pete

Author’s note: This is the second entry in an occasional ongoing series.

Brendan Good is a busy man. As Communications Director for the Vegetarian Network of Austin, he’s responsible for co-organizing twice-monthly meet-ups for the long-running group, as well as heading up their podcast and quarterly newsletter. He also helped create the VegATX.com portal, a comprehensive event calendar that can also be seen on this very blog. On top of all that, he co-organizes the Lone Star Veggie Chili Cook-off (which a certain blog team did quite well in, by the way) and the semi-annual Gathering of the Tribes, Austin’s largest vegan potluck – the spring version of which is being held tomorrow, on Earth Day weekend. All are encouraged to come down to Pease Park, chow on some great food, hear some speakers and live music, and get in touch with the rest of the vegetarian community.

After months of full schedules (mostly him) and flat-out procrastination (mostly me), Brendan and I sat down on a warm Austin December day to chat. Add a few more months of procrastination by yours truly, and it’s finally up. Brendan and I discussed his background, his involvement in event coordination, and ways to help bring our large community together. Since the interview was more of a two-way discussion – it was also being recorded for the VNA podcast – I have edited it heavily for the sake of brevity. Enjoy.

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Vegan News Bites

April 18, 2013 Written by Marie

Mock Meat Bonanza

New Grocery Products:
- Upton’s Naturals Bacon Seitan has been spotted at Wheatsville Coop! Some of you may remember my post about this product published over a year ago, begging for this product to hit shelves, and now it has! There’s a bevy of fakin’ bacon products out there from coconut bacon, to grain bacon, to tempeh bacon, but no one has made a commercial seitan bacon until now. I can’t wait to make BLTs and benedicts with it!
- Beyond Meat is finally here as well! Technically, it’s been here for a few weeks, so you’ve probably seen it on the shelves at stores around town, but I know that both Rabbit Food Grocery and Wheatsville definitely have it in stock!
- Sophie’s Kitchen’s lineup of vegan seafood products just keeps getting bigger and bigger! I spotted coconut shrimp and fish sticks at Wheatsville the other day, right alongside their vegan crab cakes, fish filets, calamari and prawns. Is there a seafood product they can’t make out of konjac?

New Menu Items:
- Have you had a chance to check out the adorable little East side bakery Sugar Circus yet? Well if you haven’t, this is the perfect excuse: vegan cake balls! These little moist marvels come in three vegan flavors: double chocolate, vanilla chocolate and cookie dough. Eat one or eat a dozen, it’s up to you!
- My favorite local tempeh company and my favorite local Indonesian restaurant have teamed up to bring you tons of tasty tempeh creations! Head on over to Java Noodles on E Oltorf, and add organic tempeh from The Hearty Vegan to any dish!

Restaurant News:
- We’ve got not one, but two vegan ramen options up in this town! I reviewed the ramen at Ramen Tatsu-Ya last week, so I thought I should stop by Daruma Ramen to compare. The two ramens couldn’t have been more different. From what I can gather from people who know more about ramen than I do, Ramen Tatsu-Ya’s vegan ramen is a more traditional take, while Daruma Ramen tries to do something a little different with a sweet potato broth and salad toppings. If you have a chance to check out both, let me know what you think.
- The Daily Juice in Hyde Park is now a Juiceland, and while I’m super sad that they got rid of all the awesome menu items like the nachos, I’m super happy with the new items in the salad case. I hope I see more food options from them in the future, cuz sometimes it’s nice to grab a meal to go with my ice cream.
- You may have seen them at Texas VegFest, but did you know that Unity Vegan Kitchen is planning on opening up a vegan food trailer sometime this summer? After trying their vegan cannoli at VegFest, I for one, am very excited to see what they plan on bringing to the Austin vegan scene.

Upcoming Events:
- Free this Saturday, April 20th? Why not head on over to the annual Gathering of the Tribes at Pease Park? It’s a large vegan potluck that gathers a good chunk of the different Austin veg groups together in one place. It’s the perfect opportunity to meet some new friends!
- The 2013 World Wide Vegan Bake Sale in Austin is going to be held on Sunday, April 28th at not one, but two locations! Sign up to bake something here, then head over to MonkeyWrench Books or Counter Culture to drop off your goods. The money raised will go towards helping the animals at Sunny Day Farms!
- ATX Vegan Drinks goes south of the border next month with a special “Drinko de Mayo” event at the Vegan Nom on Friday, May 3rd! Come join us for piñata smashing, food specials, music, and BYOB fun.

New Websites:

- ForAnima.com is a new all-vegan online marketplace. With food, beauty, clothing and home goods all in one place, you can conveniently browse for new and exciting vegan products. They have a blog, recipe, service directory and community section of their website too, so you get a little bit of everything, all from one site.

- Vegan Food is Everywhere is an interesting new food mapping website that shows, in a very visual way, that in fact, vegan food is everywhere. The Austin section is lacking, though, so if you have some free time, get on there and let the world know how much awesome food we offer!

Texas VegFest 2013

April 15, 2013 Written by Daniel

Our Texas VegFest 2013 photos are finally up! This year’s Texas VegFest was bigger, better, and a ton more fun with over 5,000 people coming to enjoy the vendors, speakers, live music, and general festive atmosphere.

Team Settlers of Seitan is victorious!

To warm up the crowd for the big day, we hosted another ATX Vegan Drinks – Texas VegFest Edition on the eve of the festival, and drew a huge crowd, thanks in no small part to all of the out-of-towners who came to Austin for Texas VegFest! Texas was well represented, with many visitors coming from Houston and Dallas, and we even met some folks who came all the way from Oklahoma and Colorado! Thai Fresh supplied the delicious baked goods (mmm, vegan croissants…) and ice cream, and the team known as “Settlers of Seitan” swept our challenging vegan trivia night, winning all three rounds with only a single incorrect answer! We even spotted Texas VegFest speakers Ayinde Howell and Omowale Adewale among the crowd.

On the day of the event, we had an even bigger blast than we did last year, hopping from booth to booth and grazing on tasty food from what seemed like an explosion of food vendors, compared to the first Texas VegFest. We got off to a later start than last time, so finding parking nearby was a little more challenging, but the extra walking was much needed exercise to make up for our gluttony at the festival.

The later start also meant we managed to avoid the big lines to get into the gate, and we sped right through the collection of the $5 suggested donation and had our lovely Wheatsville swag bags in hand within moments of arriving at Fiesta Gardens. The swag bag was stuffed chock full of coupons and samples, and was very useful for the multitude of additional coupons and samples that we collected as we made our way around the festival. Wholesome Sweeteners included an especially generous sample pack in the swag bag – we’ve been sweetening our morning hot beverages with free agave nectar packets almost every day since Texas VegFest, and we still have quite a few left to go…

Corn dog and deep fried cinnamon roll from Tough Cookie Bakery

Many of our favorite local vegan and vegan-friendly food vendors were well represented at Texas VegFest, and a couple of out-of-town vendors were there as well: Good Karma Kitchen drove their truck down from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Sinfull Bakery brought a big pile of vegan pastries from Houston, and Vegeria made the trip up from San Antonio. There sure was plenty to eat! I really loved the BBQ and Lemon Picatta skewers from The Hearty Vegan, and luckily for us, they posted the recipes for these delicious concoctions on their website! We also got a chance to sample some food from Unity Vegan Kitchen, and we’re looking forward to checking them out again when they open their trailer! We were glad that Tough Cookie Bakery made it back up to Texas VegFest this year, though sad that they had run out of pretzel brats by the time we made it to their trailer. Luckily, they still had plenty of deep fried cinnamon rolls and corn dogs.

We didn’t have the time to see as many of the speakers this year as we would have liked to, due to the HUGE vendor turnout and our late start, but we did get a chance to catch Ayinde Howell’s cooking demo and got a taste of delicious cheddar broccoli soup. We’ve been told that Texas VegFest is planning to put video recordings of all of the speakers’ presentations online, so that those of us who missed out on festival day will get a chance to catch up. (Unfortunately, online viewers will not be able to taste the delicious samples from the cooking demos – you still have to show up in person for that.)

Ayinde Howell eats grass

Thanks and congratulations to all the fine Texas VegFest staff and volunteers who worked so hard to make this event a success two years in a row. I can’t wait to see what these guys have in store for year three!

We’re a little late to the Texas VegFest coverage party, so in case you haven’t already done so, check out these great writeups from fellow Austin vegan bloggers Kaylin’s Kit, Lazy Smurf and Lizz Delicious, fellow Texas vegan bloggers visiting from outside of Austin Generation Cake and A Little Vegan Blog in Big Ol’ Texas, and visitor from farther away, Vegtastic! (we are so glad that we randomly met Helen at Cheer Up Charlie’s). Don’t forget to take a look at the great photos from official Texas VegFest 2013 photographer, Austin Vivid Photography.

Vegan Adventures at Ramen Tatsu-Ya!

April 9, 2013 Written by Marie

Vegan Ramen at Ramen Tatsu-Ya

Ramen must be the new it-food, because it’s all I’ve been hearing about lately. Luckily, vegans are not being left out of this growing food trend. Austin’s got not one, but two vegan ramen options in town!

Line to get in the door at Ramen Tatsu-Ya

The first vegan ramen we decided to get our hands on was at Ramen Tatsu-Ya. Only available on Sundays, and sold out within hours of opening, the vegan ramen at Ramen Tatsu-Ya was phenomenal. The ramen consisted of a soy-based vegan broth, shredded red pepper, spinach, tofu, brussels sprouts, corn, menma (pickled bamboo shoots), woodear mushrooms and of course noodles! The line outside was daunting, but we were so glad we braved the half hour long wait, just to get inside this little ramen shop.

Modern Decor at Ramen Tatsu-Ya Once inside this adorable and modern restaurant, we were ushered down the line to order our drinks first. There was a bevy of imported drink options including green tea, unique sodas, and japanese beers (Barnivore tells me that both Sapporo and Asahi are vegan friendly)! With drinks in hand, we made our way to the cashier, who helpfully informed us that the vegan items on the menu include the edamame, the veggie ramen, and the cocopioca (a coconut tapioca dessert). A vegan appetizer, entree, and dessert option! We were sold.

Menu Board at Ramen Tatsu-Ya

Once our orders were placed, we were given a number and assigned a table. A short while later, our steaming bowls of ramen arrived. We tucked into our delicious food, and quickly realized why people take their ramen so seriously. The broth was the perfect temperature, the vegetables were still crisp, and the noodles were al-dente. I finally understood why they don’t offer take-out – the noodles would go soggy. It all started to make sense as to why people were willing to stand in a long line, not begrudingly, but with an air of excitement, like we were waiting for a ride at Disneyland. I happily became a ramen convert.

Cocopioca Dessert with Strawberries

Ross and Dan dig into their vegan ramen

For those looking to experience Ramen Tatsu-Ya themselves, take a moment to become acquainted with Ramen protocol (taken from the Ramen Tatsu-Ya online menu), then go forth and enjoy!

Update 4/15/13: We headed back to Ramen Tatsu-Ya yesterday, to get our hands on some more delicious ramen, and learned that the salad is vegan (though it may contain non-vegan sugar), and that if you’re even remotely a garlic fan, you should order the extra garlic option. It’s a ton of garlic (enough for two or three people) that comes in a little box with its own garlic press, and it’s the perfect addition to an already amazing bowl of ramen. We also were able to confirm with Ramen Tatsu-Ya that the ramen noodles are indeed vegan, though they did mention that the Brussels sprouts and tofu were fried in a communal frier, so while they did not taste of any animal products, if the idea of that bothers you, feel free to order the ramen sans those two toppings.

Better Know an Austin Vegan:
Adrienne Lusk, Texas VegFest director

April 4, 2013 Written by Pete

Adrienne and Cooper enjoy the Texas Bluebonnets

Behind every vibrant community are the people who make it possible, and the Austin vegan scene is no exception. The capital of Texas has long held a reputation as a beacon for alternative minds, resulting in a rather large collection of bloggers, chefs, event coordinators, entrepreneurs, advocates, and others who are intent on making their city the best there is for plant-based living. Whether it’s a new vegan menu item, an upcoming group potluck, or an animal-friendly city policy, there is usually at least one tenacious individual to thank for it. In this new interview series, we will put a human face on this phenomenon, examining the diverse crowd of those who give this Middle American enclave its edge. Welcome to Better Know an Austin Vegan.

At no other time is all of this apparent than at Texas VegFest. The annual event brings together everyone from the scene and beyond in a dazzling display of the power of community, and it will mark its second year this Saturday, April 6, at Fiesta Gardens. We were pretty pumped for the event the first time around, and we are even more delighted that it has made its return. Full details of the festival’s activities – including vendors, speakers, bands, and more – can be found on their website. Also of special note is the return of ATX Vegan Drinks – Texas VegFest Edition, which will again be held on the eve of the festival, this Friday at Cheer Up Charlie’s. So feel free to come out and mingle!

Heading up the festival is its director, Adrienne Lusk. Arienne has the boundless energy, enthusiasm, and expertise integral to the its success, and is the embodiment of the positivity and easy-going professionalism one experiences at the event itself. We discussed her own background and how she came to be involved with VegFest, what she and the other board members learned from last year, and plans for event in the future, among other things. Our biggest thanks go out to her for her time, work, and for helping to get this series off the ground.

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Cookbook Club: Vegan Brunch

April 2, 2013 Written by Marie

Ready to chow down on our delicious vegan Easter brunch.

Brunch is by far my favorite weekend ritual. When else can you start drinking at noon, without anybody batting an eyelash? It’s a testament to the laziness of the weekend, when your first meal of the day is in the middle of the day. With this in mind, I couldn’t wait to throw a Cookbook Club with Isa Chandra Moskowitz’ Vegan Brunch Cookbook. It has all the essentials: sweet, savory, and alcoholic recipes. I was sold, and so were my guests.

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Vegan News Bites

March 9, 2013 Written by Marie

Austin Vegan Postcard - Just stopped by Sweet Ritual to pick up a salted caramel brownie shake (ridiculously good btw), and found these nifty Austin Vegan Guide postcards. Featuring a full list of the Austin vegan businesses, and a few awesome blogs in town (including yours truly), these postcards are out just in time for SXSW. Whether you’re a local, or just in town for the week, pick one up, as you might learn something new.

- Speaking of learning something new… the secret’s out about Capital City Bakery‘s new brick and mortar address. It’s listed on the postcard as “coming soon, 2013″ at 2211 E. Cesar Chavez. Located smack dab in between Mr. Natural and Counter Culture, and a few blocks away from Sugar Circus, East-siders are going to have no lack of vegan treats.

New Tofurky Products - If you’re not already following VegNews on Instagram, you should be. We are freaking out about the pictures they are posting from Expo West. The new products include pot pies and pockets from Tofurky, breakfast sandwiches and jerky from Gardein, maple bacon potato chips from Kettle Chips and bleu cheese dressing from Follow Your Heart. It could be months before any of these hit the shelves, but you can be sure, we’ll be the first in line to snap them up.

- Texas VegFest is less than one month away! Have you seen their list of vendors? and speakers? There will be burgers, Ethiopian, falafel, donuts, baked goods, ice cream and funnel cake to eat. Not to mention chefs, cookbook authors, and professional athletes to hear speak. The best part is that it’s all right here in Austin!

- The menu for the St. Patrick’s Day ATX Vegan Drinks at Counter Culture is looking amazing: Dublin coddle (sausage dish), corned beef & cabbage, apple mash, bread pudding with Irish whiskey sauce, Irish coffee, green juice and of course, lots of beer! Add Red Hot Vegans’ very own vegan bagpiper to the mix, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a party!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

March 2, 2013 Written by Marie

It’s the one year anniversary (give or take a few days) of Red Hot Vegans and ATX Vegan Drinks! Both are ventures that have shaped and defined our time here in Austin, and both are projects we hope to develop more in the years to come. We had a little party last night to celebrate, and we’re so thankful for the people who came out to show their love, and for our good friends who help make this blog run. Check out the pictures of last night’s event in our gallery section.

Anniversary Cake

The biggest change to Red Hot Vegans so far this year is the addition of the Guide section. It’s been “coming soon…” for over 365 days now, but like they say, better late than never. We’ve updated all of your favorite guides including the dessert guide, late-night guide, pizza guide, UT food guide and the trailer guide! We hope to keep these guides updated throughout the year, so the information will stay current and useful.

We love our readers, and love Austin, and can’t wait to see what the next year with Red Hot Vegans brings us.

Cookbook Supper Club: Viva Vegan!

February 20, 2013 Written by Marie

Dig in!

I love to throw a good party. Tea party, holiday party, dinner party, you name it, I love to host it. I love to pick out the right outfit, research the perfect music, set a beautiful table, and make tons of delicious food… the only thing I don’t love is spending so much time in the kitchen, that you miss your own party. With that in mind, I decided to throw a Cookbook Supper Club: a kind of orchestrated potluck. Working out of one cookbook to set the tone of the dinner, my guests each picked a dish or two (or three if you happened to be my guest who is also a professional chef), and voilà – a dinner party was born!

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Vegan News Bites

February 8, 2013 Written by Marie

New Grocery Products:
- Find delicious Tofutti sundae cones (akin to a Drumstick), Wheatsville brand vegan lip balm and Punk Rawk Labs nut cheese at Wheatsville Co-op.
- Hard to keep in stock, Earth Balance White Cheddar Popcorn and Puffs, P.B. Popps, and Buttery Popcorn can be tracked down at Rabbit Food Grocery.
- Victoria Vegan Sauces including a vegan vodka and vegan alfredo sauce are now available at Wheatsville and Rabbit Food Grocery.
- Grab some hazelnut chocolate covered strawberries at in.gredients this month. Made using their in-house vegan nutella, they are sure to be a hit for Valentine’s Day.
- Veganic soil from The Ground Up (based out of Dallas) can be found at The Great Outdoors, TreeHouse, It’s About Thyme and Breed & Co.

Restaurant News:
- Sagra fans will be glad to hear that they have reopened on the east side at 11th and Waller. We hope the vegan menu is as good as or better than their old location!
- Moses Falafel will be introducing their falafel sandwiches to the throngs of students at UT via a food push cart. Located at Dean Keaton and Speedway, the cart will be open Mon-Fri from 11am to 3pm. Yay for another great vegan option on campus!
- Many Austinites have been disappointed to find the doors at Thai favorite Titaya’s shuttered. They are temporarily closed for renovations (hopefully to expand their seating!). Their Yelp page says they plan to re-open on March 1, 2013, but where that date came from, I have no idea. Fingers crossed that they re-open soon!

New Menu Items:
- The genius behind the amazing vegan baked goods at Thai Fresh has upped the game with croissants and pain au chocolat! Only available in limited quantities every other Saturday morning, they are definitely worth waking up early for.
- Little Big Mike’s Pizza is offering a sweet potato pizza special that can be made vegan (sans cheese, sub vegan aioli). They also offer a buy one, get one free deal on Mondays when you mention the Facebook or Twitter code-word.
- First there was a crazy Canadian dessert, the nanaimo bar; now there are vegan cheesecake bars at Sugar Circus! Head on over to this east side bakery’s storefront, or grab their goods at Bouldin Creek, Buzz-Kill and the Wet Whistle.
- Sweet Ritual officially has hard packed ice cream! We’re looking forward to seeing what new and unusual flavors those awesome ladies come up with. Check out this week’s new flavors: Bananas Foster and Peanut Butter Chocolate Girl Scout Cookies!
- If you find yourself at the Barton Creek Farmer’s Market, keep an eye out for vegan cupcakes from Hill Country Cupcakes. They sell out early, so if you want to guarantee you’ll get one, order ahead of time.
- Austin Daily Press, a cute little sandwich shop on the east side has added a new vegan sandwich to their menu called The Edward, with edamame fritter, ginger peanut sauce, avocado, cilantro, mint, and onion.

In Other News:
- Been wanting to check out Sunny Day Farms? Well, now you have your chance! They will be opening their doors to the public on Saturday, March 2rd. It will be a family-friendly event, and Vegeria will be serving lunch. Come on out and meet all the adorable farm animals, and consider donating some money or supplies to help them keep their doors open!