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"Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication"

Veggie Pub-Grubbing at the John Hewitt 

You're sapped from battle with the Belfast elements. Windswept, you're in desperate need of a perch upon which to quieten a racing mind and weary muscles. Where might offer sanctuary for the depleted vegetarian, with maybe the company of a pint for good measure?

It is a truth that still cuts deep. Gotveg could happily while away *all* the daytime hours in a decent pub, but the humble vegetarian is not given much thought when it comes to the food. The best pubs are hermetically sealed havens, tucked away from the reality of the outside world with the comforts of roaring fires, a dense sleepy air and the promise of rivers of ale. Stodgey, carb-laden and rich, the menu is an avowal to cure what ails you. Wholesome and romantic, the sustenance on offer is always traditional. And there's the rub. With "tradition" comes a conservative closed-mindedness, ensuring the stranglehold of the goat's cheese-risotto-pasta - the triumvirate of dullards - isn't breached. 

Gotveg-ing it to the John Hewitt reveals it doesn't have to be this way, carving a path through the lazy vegetarian cliches in assembling their menu. It's not remotely radical in content: and that's the radical secret. The menu changes daily, but the on the early spring lunchtime that saw gotveg duck under its parapet, a delightful 'vegetable pie' was waiting. Beautiful in its simplicity it was heartily stocked with vibrant and perfectly cooked vegetables in a heart-warming creamy sauce. Something that seems to have escaped menu-sculpting wisdom is that the actual genius of a Sunday roast (the inspiration behind the spirit of the pub-lunch) is the vegetable accompaniments. Thus did my heart soar to see the root mash and roasted potatoes in all their glory.

And a cool glass of one of the craft beers on offer can only complement the flavour...

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Got Veg Breakfast Club: Ace Restaurant, a Jack of All Trades

The ground has shifted in Belfast dining. Revolutionising the restaurant scene, Sam Spain and chef Tony O'Neill (the team behind Coppi, Il Pirata and Barking Dog) have tweaked their formula with cafe-dining in mind... and so Ace was born.

Joris Minne of the Belfast Telegraph calls it as he sees it: a "family where strength of identity and quality food and service combine to offer the diner something attractive, exciting and memorable." Family is an important part of the ACE ethos on every level. Not only does it borrow from the lush but simple aesthetic of its brother and sister restaurants, but it flaunts a family vibe with a "toy library" kids' corner. There is a "family photo gallery" of polaroids with a media savvy twist - every month a free meal for two is awarded for the best photo tweeted.

Working Hard to Look So Casual

If the Got Veg Breakfast Club fanatically pursues the perfect cooked vegetarian breakfast, then ACE comes pretty close. What's even better - the veggie fry isn't the only suitable contender on the menu! The Eggs Florentine beckons, ensuring a return visit.

A fry in the wrong hands will make for an all-day grease hangover, but the ACE veggie breakfast manages to be flavourful and light while maintaining the integrity and appeal of an Ulster Fry. The garlicky tomato was a great success, a hint of pomp that went a long way. 

One small caveat regarding the sausages though. In a city where a vegetarian breakfast often simply entails a fry minus the meat - at the same price, of course - it is a pleasure to see that the same high standards are exacted across meaty and non-meaty plates alike. And yet. And yet. ACE's veggie sausages were a little dry. Other vegetarian breakfast-serving Belfast cafes, have hope! The race to snatch the title of Got Veg's Best Belfast Veggie Breakfast from ACE's fingers is far from over. 

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Mastering the Art of Conversation at Chatters

The prospect of a visit to Chatters Coffee Shop on Bloomfield Avenue brings special satisfaction for a Belfast-based vegetarian. Discovering what fresh dishes Raymond and Alan, the duo at the helm, have come up with that day is always a treat. You can almost see the red curtains draw back, gazing on the handsome display of tarts and casseroles at the entrance. The food is placed firmly centre stage at the Chatters' hearth. Invariably Alan - resident master of ceremonies - ushers in those seeking rejuvenation. 

This warm reception sets the tone, yet it's only half the story. Chef Raymond's presence from behind the scenes is palpable on the plate. Inventive and thoughtful, there is no mistaking the enthusiasm they share. It is a delicate balance of style and substance, largely achieved by an exacting attention to detail.  

Any port in a storm

At this juncture, it is important to make a full disclosure. In Sod's Law-styled poor fortune, GV managed to visit the cafe on a day when the vegetarian dishes were unusually limited. Unprompted, Alan apologised and explained how it was a rare off-day. Previous visits can vouch for Chatters' commitment to providing exciting choices for vegetarian eaters, and so GV would be reluctant to judge too harshly for a quirk on the day. Still, it was disappointing. Especially as Alan's introductions to the day's fare is what gives the cafe its unique selling point. Simply hearing the announcement "and now for our vegetarian dishes" makes GV's heart do a little leap. 

And so to that day's sole vegetarian dish on offer. A roasted vegetable tart may sound fairly standard, yet the pastry was light and the flavours formidable. Sitting stately among a great assortment of fresh salads tailored to my veggie tastes, it makes for  hearty and wholesome eating. It is exactly what cafe dining should be: a tonic that sets you up for the world again. 

Money Matters

With a coffee the bill is around £11, admittedly a little more than other cafes. But what you get in return is also more valuable. The plate is more plentiful and is held to a higher standard. A concern for the needs and tastes of their customers is what separates Chatters from the chaff.  Necessity is the mother of invention and on a flailing high street independent businesses can make the difference.

All by way of the humble vegetable tart - who would believe it? 

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Got Veg Breakfast Club, the Holywood Chapter

The first edition of the Breakfast Club takes Got Veg to Holywood, a sleepy little town on Belfast Lough. Hangovers abound from Holywood's heyday as a holiday resort favoured by the wealthy Belfast merchant-set of the 1900s. Party planner and modern-day bon vivant Pippa Middleton even graced its shores last December to attend a friend's wedding. More relevant to our task at hand, of course, is its noted reputation for artisan coffee shops where the well-heeled will rest their weary feet after a long day of gallery perusal. GV wonders, is there room for a vegetarian at the table?

The Coffee Yard/ Yard Gallery is an impressive building, opening funnel-like into cavernous rooms that display the art on sale. A simple idea, yet it makes for striking decor of a really beautiful space. The beefy tables that would gaze upon inferior wobbly varieties with contempt gave GV a particular thrill. Atypical of traditional cafe culture, it was a pleasant novelty to order first at the counter and watch the dishes coming together as you queued. All merely foreplay to the actual event, of course. The menu. 

It's hard to say whether a vegetarian's glass is half full or half empty in the Coffee Yard. The 'cheese-infused' omelette I ordered was perfectly serviceable - delicately flavoured with a decent tomato chutney in tow.

And yet.

When the standard is set so high in all other regards it's hard to shake the feeling you're getting shafted. The bog standard on offer can be augmented of course, but with meat. Sausage. Or bacon. A successful eatery will present a menu to boast a wealth of riches on offer and meat means affluence in this foodie culture.

So for vegetarians (regardless of the contents of your wallet) - no dice.

By way of aside: the caramel latte was stunning. But then there's a level playing field when meat is off the table.

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The Got Veg Breakfast Club

Got Veg feels deeply about breakfast. Delightful in all its incarnations - I'm looking at you, pain au chocolat, you dessert in sheep's clothing, you - the truly princely celebration of a new dawn happens when it is cooked. 

In these parts, that brings us swiftly to the Ulster Fry. Inevitably, when the bacon and sausages flee the scene the pageantry and splendour go with them. If you're lucky, a quivering mess of scrambled eggs might return your mournful glance. 

And yet it needn't be this way. Breakfasts at Dublin's Cornucopia (the naming of which is an exercise in truth-telling par excellence, by the way) are long burnished in GV memory. Armed thus, the hunt is on for a vegetarian breakfast to make your heart sing. With nairy a piggy in sight. 

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Got Veg is pleased to see two vegetarian-themed pieces in the guardian's g2 on Tuesday - what a double page spread! Of course animal rights publicity stunts get their fair share of column inches (see the typically bananas antics of PETA, ad infinitum) but it's refreshing to see praise for common sense meat eating.

*sigh* If only it wasn't necessitated by empty purses. 

proper online links: 

Is human branding an animal-rights stunt too far? http://gu.com/p/3d87e/tw

Flexitarianism: isn't it just vegetarianism with cheating? http://gu.com/p/3d8c5/tw

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TAX BREAKS FOR VEGETARIANS!

Hard to judge the veracity of this claim, but it's science so it must be true.

Encouraging awareness of the larger impact of meat eating alone is something to be commended, and a bit of vegetarian celebration by extension is no bad thing either.   

http://reut.rs/vxeqYB (via reuters)

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No Frills Thrills at the Warzone Collective

I've been looking forward to this meal for quite some time. Hearing Giro's / Warzone Cafe folklore prompted this interview from a few years ago with Petesy, one of the organisers. Got Veg? is well-acquainted with the group's foundations in Belfast's once fairly hostile environment. Now reincarnated, the anticipation is ripe to experience it first hand. 

We are there mid-week for an early lunch and at half twelve there is the air of an abandoned recreation centre. Maybe Byker Grove. The brightly coloured tables certainly don't hamper this '90s nostalgia. And I'm mildly surprised that the cook/ kitchen attendant appears without Geoff's epic handlebar sideburns-tash.

I imagine the Warzone guys might not appreciate such talk of a kitschy aesthetic. They're Anarchists, yeah? Contending with capitalism must be a business for serious minds. It is a volunteer-run vegan cafe and it takes dedicated bunch to work not for the reward of smelly pennies but lofty ideals.

Belfast owes them a slap on the back. It's a real thrill to be able to eat well in the city centre for £2.50. That feels a bit '90s too, actually. Admittedly there are no frills but the chilli and vegan burger and chips are thoroughly tasty. It's a unique pleasure to cast off the ubiquitous trendiness of modern dining and opt for food with a conscience.  Oh and there's a pool table too!

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November GG's Vegetarian Club

The Cathedral Quarter is deserted. Tonight the Black Box is toasting the first frosty night of the year with the third outing of GG's Vegetarian Cafe. A gentle hum of chatter and glowing candle-lit tables are the props for Gemma and Gareth's impromptu make-believe living room - a pop up restaurant with a real difference. 

There is the Black Box's trademark kitschy visuals and a DJ plays cheering indie favourites (including a rather appropriate Bon Iver number). The stage is set for the show's stars - the diners, And they are a commanding presence.  A mexican wave of laughter periodically courses through the room. These vegetarians, ready for a good time, are not so willing to mess about. 

The Got Veg? contingent is booked into the seven o'clock sitting - the last of the all-day event. Despite our awkwardness - a tardy member of our group the front of house staff remain unflustered. They are goodnatured and their stoicism shows none of the  signs of a long day of service.  

The menu involves a set main with a choice of soups to start and four desserts - all for the startling price of £13.50. Portions are generous and the plates are fulsomely arranged. It is thoroughly refreshing to eat so well with such a thrifty pocket. 

Got Veg? opts for the delicately flavoured French Onion Soup. The accompanying hearty hunk of a gruyere crouton is a delight and a welcome annihilation of the standard measly dried pellets. It is a klaxon for the menu's cockle-warming intent.

It is unusual to see a main course confident enough to have a vegetable as the main attraction. And with good reason; the winter pottage and buttered broccoli make it a plentiful plate. However there is some salty comments at the Got Veg? table, regretting that the even-handed seasoning of the soups isn't repeated. 

The desserts are greeting with a rapturous applause. My personal highlight of the evening is the individually baked rice pudding pot. An exercise in banishing the winter blues, it is the perfect argument in favour of cooking in sync with the seasons. Emerging from the Black Box, renewed and fortified by the GG kitchen, we call to be taken to the Wall from Game of Thrones. Winter is coming, and now we are ready for it. 

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"You should read a menu and not just look for the meat"

GG's Gemma chats to Got Veg? about Belfast's first pop up vegetarian cafe

Four days after their third outing in the Black Box, the fact that Gemma - one half of the GG's kitchen team - is willing to speak about the monthly dining event is testament to her enthusiasm for the project. The day-long cafe is such a mammoth undertaking that the following week brings a welcome silence on all things GG. "The first week after the event we can’t talk to each other, then next week it’ll be “when are we doing this again?” and then “OK, let’s meet and talk about the [next] menu". We’ll just sit with loads of books, going through them thinking, “What can we make work?”. It’s mass-catering so it has to be something that’ll carry the whole day. It’s a weird process from - "I don't want to see you" - to - "next week we’ll talk."

  Gemma and Gareth’s hard work is paying off. Fervent interest from GG's earliest days – “We could have booked the first one three times” - has meant they can expect each sitting to sell out. Belfast vegetarians seem pleased to finally get a little attention.

Gemma considers the standard fare on local menus: "I don’t like this divide you find in restaurants where it’s thought that all meat eaters wouldn’t eat veggie. You should read a menu and not just look for the meat. For me I find it easier to cook vegetarian food, it’s just about flavour.

"I don’t understand why the only vegetarian option on the menu is this boring pasta that you could cook yourself for £1.50, or risotto or the same goat’s cheese tartlet. I find it really boring and I just think it’s really lazy."

The typical vegetarian punter may be disheartened at the customary meat-centric menu but Gemma is hopeful for the future. "A few years ago it would’ve been Thai curries or Japanese food, but now it’s pot belly, offal - kind of medieval food – pulled pork is everywhere. I don’t know if it’s like a trend we might ride out”.

“It's ridiculous that there isn't a veggie cafe in Belfast”

"I have a lot of friends who are vegetarian and it was really difficult when we wanted to go out to eat. That’s always been a conversation - "Where are we going? Well I’m not going there!" We wanted it to be open to meat eaters. A lot of our friends are veggies and meat eaters and we wanted to bring them all together.”

  Having experienced its intimate supper club atmosphere it comes as no surprise that GG’s was originally conceived to accommodate veggie friends. The trade off in facilities is never far from the chef’s mind. “ We always have to plan the menu around what can be reheated and what can be cooked in an oven as that’s all they have.”

“We sacrificed a bit of the practicalities in the kitchen for what happens out the front because that’s the main thing that people experience. It’s really nice to be able to look out and see that people are enjoying themselves and sitting there for hours.”

  Gemma and Gareth are well suited to the pop up restaurant business, happy to twist and turn with demand. Keen not to scare off meat-eating diners, they first stuck to veggie burgers. Now they are making plans to go vegan, something that wouldn’t have occurred to them before the requests came in.   “We never really though of that before - we eat so much cheese it’s ridiculous. For the desserts it’d be quite hard as it takes a lot of thought and a lot more preparation. But it’s something we want to do in the future.”

Gemma is pragmatic in her audit of the latest GG’s. The café teamed up with Belfast Music Week, hosting electronic DJ Automate and there was a watchful eye from the kitchen on the implications for their diners. “I heard the music go on and thought “Oh. OK, it’s turned into something different”. The sitting-room illusion was disturbed. “Chatting over their rice puddings and crumbles - I wanted to ask “Is everyone comfortable?” But we have to keep trying stuff like that to see what works.”

Charming the hipster set is definitetly part of the game plan and the beardy, lumberjack-shirted crew turn out accordingly. “There is an alternative scene in Belfast and you can infiltrate them a little bit. People like to go out to somewhere that isn’t the standard restaurant. 

    The revival of the Warzone Collective and their vegetarian canteen provided heaps of inspiration. “But they’re not open regularly, you’re not always sure when they’re open.  I don’t feel like I can drop in there but when I do go it’s amazing, it’s so cheap and lovely. We wanted to make it a set day so that it becomes an event. The next step would be making it more of a permanent thing.”

  GG’s has Belfast’s longstanding DIY ethic in spades. From Middlesborough native Gemma’s outsider perspective,  “You have to do everything yourself here. I love that about Belfast. People just get on with it and do stuff. All my mates are putting on gigs because they want to play music, they’re putting on nights because there wasn’t a night they wanted to go to before – ‘If it’s not happening I want to do it’.

  One surprise for GG’s was the generosity they come across with every event. Grateful for GG's steps to enhance the choices on offer in the city, people have responded in kind. 

“Once people know you’re doing something off your own back the support’s there. It hasn’t been hard to get people interested and get good feedback from the get go. The Warzone guys were really generous and we would return that idea. There’s so much room, it’s not as if you’re pushing anyone out.”

The joy of being recognized has made for a stronger sense of community. “People are coming back and bringing us recipes and giving us feedback in what they liked or didn’t like so much.” And Gemma is keen to hear what they think. “I love that anyway, that whole idea of sharing – it’s great to me. People say – “We’re bringing you a vegan cake for the next one.”

  Follow GG's on facebook and twitter for details of their upcoming Christmas vegetarian event in December.