This afternoon, as I was soaking up the last of KZN’s winter sun through the boeing window, with teary eyes and an already-longing heart, I realized it’s time to get back into blogging and decided to share a bit about my brilliant little breakaway.

So much have happened l since I last wrote to you, and my drastic change in hair color is the least significant of it all! With difficulty I ended a five year relationship, moved back to my  folks’ hearty home, donated half of my beauty products, high-waisted shorts, hair extensions and limited edition heels, ran my first 12km race, and fell hopelessly in love with someone special.

It’s because of him that found myself eating Bunny Chows in Durban. Donovan Will, the brand manager for Fry’s Family Foods, ran his very first Comrades Marathon as a vegan athlete, and I wanted to catch him with my scrawny arms when he crossed the finish line. Powered by plants, he took on the 89km journey from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, and finished the race in a mighty-impressive 10 hours 50 minutes! Oh, I can write a book about my new man, but I’m sure you’ll learn more about him though the ink of my upcoming posts.

Back to the Bunny Chow! Without regret, I shamefully admit that I picked up 2 kg in only 11 days. I always thought Cape Town is any vegan’s culinary dream, but damn those Indians can cook. My menu mainly consisted of Fry’s products (no brainer, I’m dating the brand manager), a variety of curries and fluffy falafels.

Take a look:

• Lunch in the Fry’s office always included… FRY’S! I love how the marketing team share and enjoy their food everyday – thanks for including me guys 🙂 I stole these piccies off Don’s Instagram feed , give him a follow if you are looking for quick & easy vegan cooking inspiration.

• Our spicy three-course dinner at The Little India Restaurant featured fried cauliflower with a chilli dipping sauce,  a potato curry pancake with a variety of chutneys, and a brinjal curry. Unfortunately they didn’t have vegan dessert options – but it’s not like we had space left to try any!

• Don also took me to a 100% vegan restaurant in Hillcrest, called Chilliplum. We shared a Mediterranean platter as a starter, and for mains I had a ravishing ravioli while he enjoyed a creamy mushroom pasta. The third picture is HOME MADE though… a proper vegan roast we cooked together! The “meatloaf” is a Fry’s product from Australia – it is utterly delicious, but unfortunately not available in South Africa yet.

• Between it all we did opt for some fresh options as well: On Saturday we visited the I Heart Market and paid Out to Lunch a visit for a bun-less burger, veggie wrap and raw treats.

• Finally the Bean Bunny Chow – which we bought at some random shop around the corner. I also had the crispiest falafels from Falafel Fundi during our visit to the rooftop market, and (of course) we settled for a few good old veggie Spur burgers.

It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that I farted out loud a couple of times (chickpea cringe), and also received judgy whatsapp messages from my parents that read:

In my defense:
1) I did go running in Durban… once.
2) I was on holiday, which is kinda like a free pass to eat as much as you want.
3) Vegan food is just too damn good to refuse.

Thanks for an awesome culinary awakening Durban (and Don) – I had an absolute jol, however, my overly-tight jeans are not too impressed with the extra roll.

Leo xx