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- Week of May 7 - 13
Week of May 7 - 13
Mother's Day Events, a launch party, and a restaurant guide worth bookmarking.
In just a few hours, Bellona Kitchen is throwing a free launch party at their Jane Street location, more on that below.
And with Mother's Day on Sunday, this edition has a few ideas for how to celebrate with the plant-based people in your life, whether that's afternoon tea, a box of vegan cupcakes, or just a good restaurant recommendation.
We also finally updated something that was long overdue over on the blog. Let’s get into this week ahead:
This Week:
📅 Thursday, May 7
🕒 6:00–8:00 p.m.
📍 Bellona Kitchen, 276 Jane St
🎟️ Free (free samples while quantities last)
The official launch party for Pronto by Bellona is tonight! The plant-forward restaurant's new line of fresh, scratch-made ready meals starting at $5.99. Come taste the new lineup; no ticket required, just show up.
📅 Saturday, May 9
🕒 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
📍 The Lab, 108 Dundas St W, 2nd Floor (Wishbone Animal Rights Lab)
🎟️ Tickets are $55
A Mother's Day–timed high tea hosted by Animal Liberation Kitchen as Wishbone's Vegutainment Centre transforms into an elegant tea parlour for the afternoon. The menu includes croissant and egg salad sandwiches, gluten-free scones, macarons, Nanaimo bars, almond and chocolate hazelnut croissants, and a selection of savoury canapés, paired with a curated selection of organic herbal, black, and green teas. Note: the venue is on the second floor of a heritage building and is not currently wheelchair accessible.
📅 Sunday, May 10
🕒 1:00–3:00 p.m.
📍 NUTTEA Nut Mylk Café, 637 Bloor St W
A small-group monthly meetup hosted by Toronto Vegan Meetup at a fully vegan café on Bloor. This is a low-key way to spend Mother's Day afternoon with good people and good tea. No cover charge; guests are asked to purchase a drink or treat from the café. Spots are limited, so RSVP via the Toronto Vegan Meetup page.
📅 Saturday & Sunday, May 9–10 and 16–17, 2026
📍 Avelo Restaurant, 51 St Nicholas St
A fully vegan Mother's Day afternoon tea at $80 per person featuring a spring savoury and sweets menu. Reservations via OpenTable.
(Event details are accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of publishing. Events are intended to be vegan, but details may change, please confirm directly with the organizer if you have specific concerns.)
Product of the Week
A rotating spotlight on vegan products I think deserve your attention. Some links are affiliate links at no extra cost to you.
⭐ Spotlight: Vegan Cupcakes With Mother's Day this Sunday, if you're still looking for something sweet to bring to the table, Cupcake Paradise does fully vegan cupcakes in boxes of 12, customizable by flavour and available for same-day delivery across Toronto and the GTA on orders placed before 4 p.m. You can also pick up in-store at 15 St. Clair Ave W, open daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
Worth Noting:
It's been a long time coming, but I finally rewrote the vegan restaurant guide over on the Veggie in the 6ix blog, and it looks a lot different than it used to. The old version was a comprehensive list of every 100% vegan spot in the city, but I’m thinking, Happy Cow already does that better than I ever could.
So I took a different approach: instead of trying to be exhaustive, I organized it around the way people actually ask me for recommendations: date night, Asian food, casual eats, and so on. The places on this list are the ones I find myself bringing up over and over when someone asks where to go. Take a look and let me know where you think I got it wrong or right, I genuinely want to hear it.
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On The Horizon:
*(more info will come closer to the dates)
📅 Thursday, May 15 – Sunday, June 14, 2026
📍 Participating restaurants across Toronto (30+ locations)A city-wide dining initiative running through Toronto Climate Week, organized in collaboration with the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank and Zestyplan, where participating restaurants feature special climate-smart dishes on their menus. Fully vegan and plant-forward spots on the lineup include Bar Avelo, Taqueria Vegana, Sushi Momo, Bad Attitude, Tsuchi Cafe, Saigon Lotus, Stefano's, and more. Home cooks can also participate by making chef recipes and tracking their environmental impact at tocwchallenge.zestyplan.com.
📅 May 16, 2026
📍 Ashbridges Bay Estate — 1561 Lake Shore Boulevard East
A free outdoor vegan festival organized by Animal Liberation Kitchen, featuring plant-based food vendors, conscious brands, live music, and family-friendly activities in a casual picnic-style setting.
Animal & Vegan Advocacy Summit Canada
📅 Date: Thursday, May 21 – Sunday, May 24, 2026
🕒 Time: (multi-day conference; specific daily times not listed on the event page)
📍 Location: Sheraton Centre Toronto, 123 Queen St W
ART’s listing links out to AVA International’s event site and notes it’s a multi-day gathering for advocates, researchers, organizers, and others working on systemic change for farmed animals.
Toronto Animal Rights March 2026
📅 Sunday, May 24, 2026
📍 Meet at 123 Queen St W (across from the Sheraton Hotel)An annual march through downtown Toronto, this year serving as the closing event of the inaugural Animal & Vegan Advocacy Summit. Gathering begins at 2:30 p.m. with the march stepping off at 3:30 p.m.; the route is expected to take no more than two hours.
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