Vegan Block Party: plant-based pizzas and hip hop in Sai Ying Pun – carnivores welcome
With Hong Kong going nuts for her vegan fare, Mayse Artisan Bakery founder brings meat-free fast food to the masses. ‘It’s for anyone who likes good food and music with friends’
The term “junk food” doesn’t conjure up thoughts of plant-based dishes but even vegans like something greasy from time to time. Catering to such cravings, a block party in Sai Ying Pun will serve up vegan (like everything else on the menu) burgers, chicken and meatballs.
The Vegan Block Party, on August 3, will be co-hosted by Elina Strelita-Strele, half of the Latvian father-daughter team at Mayse Artisan Bakery, in Tai Po. The idea sprang from the success of Mayse’s egg- and dairy-free sourdough pizzas, which have gained fans across Hong Kong.
As well as pizza, block party guests can tuck into fried “chick’n”, meatball sub sandwiches made with pork substitute Omnipork, and churros with chocolate sauce – each dish costing less than HK$50 – while a DJ spins hip hop tunes. Tickets will include vegan beer and wine.
“At first I didn’t want to call it a vegan block party, in case it scared off those who weren’t vegan,” Strelita-Strele says. “It’s for anyone who likes enjoying good food and music with friends.”
A self-described “food obsessive”, Strelita-Strele moved to Hong Kong from London four years ago. Her father, Aleksandrs Strelits-Strele, had arrived in Hong Kong years earlier, and each time his daughter visited, he would ask her to bring fresh bread.
“We come from a country where bread is almost a holy thing. We all eat bread all the time. Almost everyone bakes bread at home in Latvia,” Strelita-Strele says.
Following ancient Latvian recipes, the two began baking sourdough and rye bread at home, then for friends and, finally, in their own shop. However, pizza-loving Strelita-Strele– she even has a tattoo of it on her leg – missed her favourite food.
Vegan pizzas often pale in comparison to the real thing, all cardboard dough and plasticky cheese. Strelita-Strele set to work creating a sourdough base made with wild rather than instant yeast, sourcing a special cheese substitute and nailing the crust’s essential crunch and bubble.
Australian Zacki Hamid, who moved to Hong Kong last year, loved it so much that he and Strelita-Strele started a business, Big Dill, which is co-hosting the block party with veganism promoters SocialVegan. This year, they hope to establish a presence for Big Dill on Hong Kong Island to serve vegan fast food.
“I see it being a New York-style, hip hop place where people can study or come for a craft beer or a milkshake,” Strelita-Strele says. “I want it to be a place with soul, not just food.”
The Vegan Block Party is at Tuckshop by Social Club, 158A Connaught Road West, Sai Ying Pun, on Saturday, August 3, from 7pm-11pm. Tickets, which are available at eventbrite.hk, cost HK$80 and include free-flow alcohol.
