Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Vegan-Friendly Cities That Deserve a Spot on Your 2026 Travel List

From youthincmag.com

Plant-based travel is no longer a niche — it’s a global movement. From Michelin-starred vegan restaurants to street food reimagined without animal products, cities across the world are embracing conscious dining. Whether you’re a full-time vegan, flexitarian, or simply someone who loves exploring diverse cuisines, these vegan-friendly cities promise unforgettable, cruelty-free culinary experiences in 2026!

                                                                                 Image Credits: ChatGPT

London, United Kingdom

Often ranked among the world’s most vegan-friendly cities, London is a plant-based paradise. The city boasts thousands of vegan and vegan-friendly eateries — from high-end dining to budget street food. Borough Market and Camden Market are hotspots for vegan bites, while upscale restaurants are redefining fine dining with entirely plant-based tasting menus.

Beyond food, London also hosts vegan festivals, eco markets, and sustainable fashion pop-ups — making it a holistic destination for conscious travellers.

Why visit in 2026? The vegan fine-dining scene continues to expand, with sustainability becoming central to the city’s hospitality industry.

Berlin, Germany

Berlin is often dubbed Europe’s vegan capital — and for good reason. Entire neighbourhoods are filled with fully vegan cafés, bakeries, and restaurants. From plant-based doner kebabs to vegan currywurst, Berlin reimagines classic German comfort food.

The city’s alternative culture and sustainability mindset make vegan living mainstream rather than trendy. Events like plant-based expos and eco markets are common throughout the year.

Why visit in 2026? Berlin’s affordability (compared to other European capitals) makes it ideal for students and young travellers exploring plant-based Europe.

Tel Aviv, Israel

Tel Aviv seamlessly blends tradition and innovation. Middle Eastern staples like falafel, hummus, shakshuka (made vegan), and fresh salads dominate menus. Many locals follow plant-forward diets, making vegan options abundant and accessible.

The city’s beachside cafés, vibrant nightlife, and health-conscious culture add to its appeal.

Why visit in 2026? It remains one of the easiest cities in the world to navigate as a vegan traveller.

Los Angeles, United States

Los Angeles leads America’s plant-based revolution. Expect everything from vegan sushi and Mexican tacos to celebrity-backed plant-based burger joints. The city’s wellness culture fuels innovation in dairy alternatives, organic produce, and sustainable sourcing.

Food trucks and farmers’ markets make it easy to find affordable vegan eats across neighbourhoods.

Why visit in 2026? LA continues to shape global vegan trends — what’s popular here often spreads worldwide.

Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico City is a rising star for vegan travellers. Traditional dishes like tacos, tamales, and tortas are now widely available in plant-based versions — without losing their authentic spice and flavour.

The city’s affordability and vibrant street culture make it perfect for food explorers looking for bold tastes on a budget.

Why visit in 2026? Creative chefs are transforming Mexico’s iconic cuisine into globally celebrated vegan experiences.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai is Southeast Asia’s vegan haven. Influenced by Buddhist traditions, the city offers numerous plant-based eateries serving vegan curries, noodle soups, and fresh tropical desserts.

The laid-back vibe, cooking schools, and affordable prices make it popular among digital nomads and backpackers.

Why visit in 2026? It combines wellness tourism, affordability, and deeply rooted vegetarian traditions.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam’s eco-conscious culture extends naturally to food. Expect vegan bakeries, sustainable cafés, and plant-based versions of Dutch classics like stroopwafels.

The city’s compact layout makes exploring vegan hotspots easy on foot or by bicycle.

Why visit in 2026? Sustainability is embedded into Amsterdam’s travel and dining culture.

New York City, United States

New York City delivers unmatched culinary diversity. From vegan Caribbean dishes in Brooklyn to plant-based fine dining in Manhattan, NYC proves that vegan food can be indulgent, diverse, and innovative.

Food halls and global fusion cuisine make every meal an adventure.

Why visit in 2026? The city remains a global testing ground for cutting-edge food concepts.

The Rise of Vegan Travel in 2026

Vegan travel is no longer about “finding something to eat” — it’s about discovering cities where plant-based food is part of mainstream culture. Sustainability, climate awareness, and ethical living are influencing how destinations market themselves and how travellers choose where to go.

In 2026, expect:

  • More plant-based fine dining
  • Vegan food festivals and culinary tours
  • Sustainable boutique hotels
  • Zero-waste and eco-conscious travel experiences

Vegan Pepperoni Pizza Is Finally Back At Aldi

From plantbasednews.org

Aldi's "Pepper-noni" pizza is one of the last vegan pepperoni pizzas still available in supermarkets 

The vegan pepperoni pizza is finally back at Aldi stores in the UK.

The budget supermarket’s “Pepper-Noni” frozen pizza features coconut-oil cheese, tomato sauce, a stonebaked base, and vegan pepperoni slices.

Aldi typically brings back the pizza in the new year to coincide with Veganuary.

In addition to Pepper-Noni, Aldi has also brought back its “BBQ No Chick’n” pizza, topped with plant-based chicken, peppers, and red onions. Both products are produced and sold under Aldi’s private label “Carlos Takeaway” brand.

The pizzas are available now from Aldi’s frozen food aisle at an RRP of £1.99.

                                                                                                              Media Credit: Aldi UK

Affordable and ‘pleasant’

Writing in the Vegan UK group on Reddit, some users were critical of the distribution of toppings on the two pizzas, but others praised their affordability. One described the pepperoni as “pleasant” and the tomato sauce as “the star of the show.”

Aldi’s full vegan pizza line-up previously included a vegan margherita as well, but only the pepperoni and chicken varieties have been spotted on shelves so far.

Food blogger Vegan Womble shared photos of all three pizzas on Instagram when they returned to stores at the end of 2024. Underneath, one commenter wrote, “These are some of the best vegan pizzas I’ve tried,” while another added, “Aldi UK please keep them around after Veganuary this time!”

‘Big up Aldi for backing the underdog’

In January, Aldi sold more than 120,000 of One Planet Pizza’s Margherita Sourdough “Pizzetta” mini pizzas in just two weeks during a Veganuary collaboration.

“Big up Aldi for backing the underdog,” wrote Hill on LinkedIn. “Not Dr Oetker, not Goodfellas, not Chicago Town. But a 100% plant-based challenger brand!”

Aldi also brought back its fan-favourite vegan croissants and launched several new products during Veganuary 2026, including a Salted Caramel Choc Spread and three flavours of Ben & Jerry’s-style dairy-free ice cream.

https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/food/vegan-pepperoni-pizza-back-at-aldi/

Monday, March 9, 2026

Charcuterie, Reimagined — No Meat Required

From totalfood.com

By Cherry Dumaual

Chef Jenna McPartland of Joylark Plant Kitchen & Bar on designing plant-based boards with broad guest appeal

                                               Chef Jenna McPartland (Photo by Noah Fecks Photography)

These days, charcuterie boards are becoming a menu staple, with industry data showing their incidence on U.S. menus has climbed by roughly 84 percent. Even before the pandemic reshaped how diners approach shared plates and grazing formats, trend forecasters were already bullish: 2022 projections estimated charcuterie boards would grow by approximately 25 percent on U.S. menus over a four-year period.

What those forecasts did not fully anticipate, however, is how the category would expand beyond cured meats and cheeses — opening the door for plant-based interpretations that emphasize fermentation, global flavours, and culinary craft.

Few chefs exemplify that evolution better than Jenna McPartland of Joylark Plant Kitchen & Bar, in Fairfield, CT. The restaurant, which opened last year in October, is a destination in its own right. At Joylark, the 100% vegan menu is designed to feel abundant, craveable, and welcoming. It appeals to plant-based diners and omnivores alike.

In the following Q&A, Chef McPartland shares how she approaches plant-based charcuterie through flavour, technique, and hospitality. From her, operators can learn from reimagining the board for today’s evolving guests.


Joylark Plant Kitchen & Bar is fully plant-based yet designed to feel inclusive and celebratory. What was your vision for the restaurant, and what do you want guests — especially first-time visitors — to feel when they walk in?

 I would like everyone to walk in our doors and immediately feel welcome.  So many vegan places feel like a stereotype, which can be alienating.  Our decor is cheerful and vibrant, with enough elegance to feel special. Our hospitality is warm and inviting.  We really want our guests to feel relaxed and cared for.  And that’s even before anyone has had a bite to eat! The menu is also designed to be approachable and familiar, yet unexpected.  I think most people have pre-conceived notions about vegan food, and we are able to surprise people with just how satisfying it is.  After all, good food is good food.

                                       Avocado Toast from the Joylark menu (Photo by Noah Fecks Photography)

On your website, you say, “The time of plant-based cuisine has arrived — no sacrifices here.” How does that philosophy translate to your approach to charcuterie?

Joylark approaches charcuterie the same way that we approach our menu; We use real ingredients, well seasoned, and plated beautifully.  That’s not a sacrifice – it’s delicious. Charcuterie boards have come to mean so much more than meat in recent years.  They include nuts, dips, crackers and breads, fruits, jams, cheeses, and more.  They range from simple plates to works of art.  It’s hard to look at a bountiful platter of delicious finger-foods and feel anything but delighted.  

Plant-based menus are sometimes perceived as niche. How do you design a charcuterie board that feels craveable and satisfying to non-vegans — especially guests who may arrive sceptical?

 In my experience, the sceptics haven’t had vegan food that was made thoughtfully. The best way to help people to get over that scepticism is to give them things they eat all the time without giving it a second thought. Grapes and strawberries, sourdough bread, mushrooms, almonds… Ominvores eat them all the time without questioning that there’s no meat or dairy involved. Putting those every day items on a platter along with some items that may be lesser known is a great introduction.  When a guest spreads our cheese on a toast point and tops it with a dollop of caponata, they are eating something they’ve eaten before — except our cheese is made with coconut milk.  

                                                Cornflake potatoes (Photo by Noah Fecks Photography)

Traditional charcuterie relies on cured meats to deliver fat, salt, and umami. How do you recreate — or reinterpret — those sensory cues using plant-based ingredients? Are there specific techniques or flavour strategies you return to again and again?

Fat, salt, and umami are not unique to cured meats, though most of us never have a reason to consider it.  Good chefs incorporate them into everything they create.  Marinating a portobello mushroom in tamari provides that familiar flavour, just as holding carrot ribbons in olive oil gives it that fatty unctuousness we all love with charcuterie.  There’s no reason to trick people into thinking they are eating meat when they can get all the same satisfaction just by using excellent flavours and techniques.

Joylark’s vibrant design, from bold colour palettes to themed seating areas like The Birdcage, creates a sense of joy and playfulness. How do you encourage your team to carry that same energy into service, and why is hospitality such an important part of the dining experience for you?

Throughout all of history and around the world, people come together over food.  For that reason, restaurants have an almost sacred responsibility to deliver that experience with gracious hospitality.  At Joylark, we believe that modern fine dining means both the food and the hospitality are about genuine connection.  It’s not only possible, but necessary, to be simultaneously elegant and playful.  Training staff in the skills necessary for upscale service while giving them the freedom to be human means that they can truly connect. The fact that our guests know that the cute little nook in the back is known as The Birdcage is a sign that those connections are happening.

Learn more about Joylark Plant Kitchen & Bar at Joylarkkitchen.com

https://totalfood.com/charcuterie-reimagined-no-meat-required/ 

Gróa: The Long Road To A Good Salad

From grapevine.is

By Adam Roy Gordon

In the last issue, I wrote a eulogy for Iceland’s vegan boom. Trend came, trend went, true believers survived. And then I kept thinking about vegetables.

Why is eating vegetables so difficult in Iceland? Why is it so hard to buy good produce? And why, in a country where kale has been growing since the Viking settlement, can you not get a decent kale salad?

Then last week I ate such a salad at Gróa, the new vegetable deli on Tryggvagata. Kale, beetroot, Icelandic barley. Every ingredient something that grows here or has deep roots in Icelandic cuisine. It was a revelation. And there’s more to this story than just a new storefront.


Raised on protein (and canned peas)

If you’ve spent a holiday in an Icelandic household, you know the peas. Ora Grænar baunir.

Bright green spheres next to the lamb, boiled to oblivion, beloved beyond rational explanation. Some families pour them straight from the can onto the plate. They’re tradition. And they’re the perfect symbol of how this country relates to vegetables. The poor quality has become a kind of national identity.

Vegetables in Iceland are a recent development. The first confirmed potato crop wasn’t until 1758, at Bessastaðir, where the president lives today. Gardens didn’t become common until the early 1800s, and even then it was mostly resident Danes who bothered. As the Matarauður Íslands food heritage project has noted, Icelanders “belatedly took to eating vegetables despite knowledge of their utility and nutritiousness.”

The Vikings who settled here knew kale and turnips from Scandinavia. But the Little Ice Age devastated farming from the 14th century onward, and what survived was a protein culture built around preservation. Smoked lamb, fermented shark, dried fish, skyr.

By the mid-20th century, Icelanders were learning to eat salads. Though often that just meant grated cabbage with mayonnaise. Or anything with mayonnaise, really, even if it’s just cheese.

Fresh vegetables became a serious presence only in the last few decades. Today Iceland produces only a few thousand tonnes of vegetables a year, and the vast majority is potatoes.

Vegetables were never cuisine here. They were filler. And food cultures built on filler don’t become vegetable-forward because a trend arrives.

A country that forgot its own kale

Kale grows exceptionally well in Iceland, as do most brassicas, the family that includes broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and cabbage. Frost converts starches to sugars, making it particularly tender and sweet. Kale was a key Viking-era crop. Iceland had kale before it had the word for potato, and it still survives in some gardens. And yet the salad places in Reykjavík don’t stock it. The supermarkets barely acknowledge it. A country that could produce some of the finest kale in Europe decided it wasn’t worth the shelf space.

The supermarkets have improved in recent years, but quality remains a coin flip. You learn which Bónus has the better produce, which Krónan restocks on which day. You still might have to hit two or three shops to get what you were looking for. Brussels sprouts appear around the holidays and then often vanish. Kale shows up intermittently, usually tired. The good stuff exists. Finding it consistently is the problem.

Every Reykjavík neighbourhood used to have a fiskbúð where you’d stop on the way home and have dinner sorted. Vegetables never got their version. They arrived too late.

Geothermal greenhouses helped. They began to propagate around the island in the 1920s. Iceland now grows most of its cucumbers and tomatoes domestically. But the ambition largely stopped there.

The technology solved the climate problem. Nobody solved the cultural one.


Vegetable hackers

The people trying to change this tend to come from somewhere else.

At Reykjalundur, a farm in Grímsnesi about 80 kilometres from the capital, Californian Nicholas Robinson has spent the last decade working out what Icelandic soil and geothermal heat can actually do. He’s trialled over 100 varieties and the farm now produces eggplant, fennel, broccolini, summer squash, multiple kale varieties, heirloom tomatoes with actual flavour, sweet peppers. Unthinkable here a generation ago. They run a CSA delivered to Pikkoló points and supply some of the premier restaurants around the capital.

Austurlands Food Coop, started by New Yorker Jonathan Moto Bisagni and his Danish partner Ida Feltendal out of Seyðisfjörður in 2019, comes at it from the import side. They bring organic produce from European farms on the ferry and deliver a few hundred boxes a week around Iceland. Years ago, Bisagni put it plainly to the Grapevine: eating good is a right, not a privilege.

None of this exists because Iceland built a vegetable infrastructure. It exists because individuals hacked around the absence of one. Subscribe to a box, drive to a farm, pick up at a warehouse in Grandi on Fridays. People don’t do this much work for food they don’t care about.

Gróa Sælkeraverslun

Belinda Navi from California and Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir from Iceland co-founded Gróa around a simple idea. Belinda told Morgunblaðið she’d always wished for something like a fishmonger or a butcher, but for vegetables. That’s exactly what Reykjavík had for fish and never built for produce.

It’s not a vegan restaurant. Not a health food shop. Not a café with a token salad. It’s the first place in Reykjavík built around vegetables as food, not as compromise, substitute or side dish. Counter service, prepared meals, deli products, shelves with Spanish olive oils, Colombian chocolate, freshly roasted coffee. Basalt Architects designed the space, with walls by Eysteinn Þórðarson of Icelandic vegetables and edible plants. The menu rotates with whatever’s available and in season, which in Iceland means working with constraints most restaurants would consider absurd. You don’t plan a fixed menu when your best ingredient might not exist next week.

When it opened on February 12 the place was packed from the jump. Locals squeezed into Gróa while tourists waited in line for hot dogs nearby.


Finally, kale

The menu is small. A handful of sandwiches, salads and soups, all of which can be made vegan, most gluten-free. The plan is to rotate based on what’s available and what people actually order, which raises a question they are already wrestling with: what does seasonality mean in Iceland when the greenhouses grow year-round?

Back to that kale salad. After a thousand or so words about how nobody in this country knows what to do with kale, I’ll be direct: Gróa figured it out. Their kale salad is a knockout.

Their kimchi grilled cheese is unreasonably good. The vegan version, made with house-made vegan cheese and vegemite, might actually be better than the regular. The vegan egg salad sandwich is also great, better than most egg salad sandwiches I’ve had in Iceland. The soups are delicious and fresh, particularly the mushroom soup.

Most dishes come in half portions for little more than 1.000 ISK. A half salad or sandwich and a soup for a downtown lunch, under 3.000 ISK. Fresh, vegetable-forward food for less than the price of a burger. Downtown Reykjavík has a lunch problem, particularly at a reasonable price, and Gróa just became the best answer to it.

For dinner, the vegan lentil lasagne with house-made vegan cheese is a solid family take-home option, and they say the take-home menu will keep evolving and expanding depending on what’s fresh and available. Everything is packaged well enough to carry out.

The shop side deserves attention. Olive oil, chocolate, and speciality goods are organised so that dietary restrictions are immediately clear. There are also fresh lettuces, with plans to expand into dinner-ready vegetables. The coffee is drip-only for now, but it’s particularly good.

Open weekdays from 11 to 17, which is a bit limiting for some. The current family take-home options are also limited now, but I’m told that’s meant to expand.

Ultimately, Gróa is designed to fold into daily life, not to be an occasion.


No hashtags

Nobody is calling this a movement. The climate is shifting, the soil is warming, and the people paying attention are quietly expanding what this country can produce.

The vegan gold rush was loud and briefly profitable. Most importantly, it forced the question of whether vegetables could be more than filler, even if most of the businesses that asked it went under. The conversation outlasted the restaurants.

A thousand years after the Vikings brought kale and centuries after most lost interest, it’s coming back. It took a Californian to replant it, and another Californian to put it in a salad and charge you for it. It’s Icelandic food culture catching up with what the land, the heat and the climate have quietly made possible for years. Let’s hope it sticks. 

Gróa is located at Tryggvagata 26, Reykjavík.


https://grapevine.is/food-main/2026/03/08/groa-the-long-road-to-a-good-salad/ 

Sunday, March 8, 2026

Natural Products Expo: Vegan Products to Watch in 2027

From peta.org

Get ready: 2027 will be a banner year for animal-friendly foods.

The Natural Products Expo—one of the biggest trade shows in the world—was bursting with flavour and innovation this year. From bold new launches to reinvented favourites, vegan brands came ready to impress, inspire, and wow compassionate crowds.

Vegan products are levelling up in stores and restaurants everywhere. Take a look at some of the products we saw that are raising the bar for compassionate cuisine.

The Biggest Trends We Saw—and the Products We Couldn’t Get Enough Of

Protein, Protein, Protein!

If there was one word dominating the show floor, it was protein. Protein-packed versions of nearly everything were on display: drinks, bagels, pasta, ramen, tortilla chips, cookies, yogurt, and even protein water from Beyond Test Kitchen. A few standout examples included Elmhurst’s pistachio protein drinkSun Noodles’ protein ramen, and immi ramen, which leans hard into the “high-protein” label with flavours like vegan shrimp, pork, beef, and chicken.

Protein-forward yogurts from Cocojune and Forager also stood out, along with savoury options like Upton’s Naturals shredded seitan in soy ginger sauce


Even spreads and pantry staples are getting the protein treatment, like Fab Butter, a nut-free, soy-free spread designed to pack in extra plant protein.

Bioalbumen caught attention with its non-animal egg protein, which delivers all the functions of egg whites—foaming, gelling, and binding—without exploiting gentle hens, who teach calls to their baby chicks before they even hatch.


Of course, vegans have known for decades that most people already get more protein than they need (it’s fibre that everyone’s lacking!)—but if you’re chasing macro goals, there’s no shortage of tasty vegan ways to get there faster.

Flesh-Free Meats Keep Getting Better

Another tasty trend across the expo floor was the explosion of next-generation vegan meats. JUST’s tender shredded chicken continues to impress with its versatility, while Oshi delivered some of the most exciting vegan seafood products at the show. Everything from their flaky salmon to their delectable white fish was a hit, and their “Surf n Turf” box—pairing their salmon with Offbeat’s flesh-free steak—was a crowd favourite.

Better Balance shone across multiple formats, including its Mexican-inspired shredded chicken and chorizo, as well as vegan hot dogs, and Field Roast added even more variety with pig-free bacon and Andouille sausage.


Other highlights included the 
beefless steak from Millennial MarblesChunk’s hearty steakBeLeaf’s pepperoni (perfect for pizza lovers!), and Agro Power Jerky in flavours like spicy chipotle, savoury original, and Texas BBQ.

The best part? These products leave sensitive cows, curious pigs, social chickens, and intelligent fish in peace.

Mushrooms Are Having a Major Moment

Mushrooms are getting their flowers! Highlights included MyForest Foods’ MyPulledPork, made from farm-grown oyster mushroom mycelium, and Beyond’s steak made with mycelium.

MìLà also rolled out its Savory Mushroom Bao Bun—fluffy dough filled with shiitake, wood ear, cremini, and oyster mushrooms cooked with caramelized aromatics, soy sauce, and spices.

Asian Flavours Take Centre Stage

Bold international flavours are continuing to dominate, including chili crisp oil and gochujang, the spicy Korean chili paste. Oatly served a gochujang chocolate drink, and Hodo unveiled its new, flavourful gochujang tofu.

Another highlight was immi’s spicy garlic kimchi topping mix for ramen.

Gut-Friendly Foods Get a Glow-Up

We also saw our fair share of gut-focused foods packed with probiotics, like the Twins Premium Kimchi and Wildbrine’s fermented chickpea salads, available in both Mediterranean and kimchi-style flavours.

Sauces, Spreads, and Dips, Oh My!

The expo was brimming with bold, flavourful condiments that elevated everything from snacks to full meals. Favourites included Wayfare’s dairy-free butters in salted, garlic herb, and brown sugar cinnamon; Seggiano’s fresh basil pesto; and Fabalish’s organic dips, including tzatziki, queso, and chili crisp ranch.

Nuts For Cheese’s French Onion Dip was another showstopper, delivering a creamy, tangy bite packed with savoury caramelized onion flavour.

Beverages: From Vegan Milks to Fruity Sips

Vegan beverages made a splash, like Planet Oat’s Emily in Paris–inspired oat milk creamer in white chocolate raspberry flavour— a rich, indulgent addition to any coffee or latte. Daoher Boba’s brown sugar oat boba delighted bubble tea lovers.


Innovation continued with Milkadamia Oat Milk Slices, a first-of-its-kind format: fermented wholegrain oat slices that turn into creamy oat milk when blended with water, cutting packaging waste by 85% and product weight by 86%.

And of course, no dairy here—because mother cows produce milk to nurture their precious babies.

Sweets and Savoury Snacks

Got the munchies? The snacks and desserts at the expo pleased every craving! For savoury snacks, Caulito’s lentil, rice, and cauliflower chips seasoned with dairy-free white cheddar and Mamame’s Hot Chili Tempeh Chips made from fermented black-eyed peas and packed with protein and fibre made a big impression.

And we can’t forget about desserts, of course—like Magic Chocolate’s oh-so-decadent Salted Candied Hazelnut Truffle Layer Bar, which blends creamy oat milk, dark chocolate, crunchy hazelnuts, and a touch of salt.

There was also H!p n’ Mix’s Oat Milk Chocolate, which packs crunchy caramel, peanuts, chocolate pretzels, and tangy chocolate raspberries all in one bag.

We jumped for joy when 7th Heaven hopped on the Dubai chocolate train with its Dubai-style oat milk chocolate, filled with pistachio and crispy kadayif.

Mouthwatering Microwaveable Frozen Meals

For busy days (or lazy nights), more options for quick, vegan frozen meals are becoming increasingly popular in grocery stores. Gardein delivered on convenience and taste with its Alfredo Frozen Dinner and Extra Crispy Chicken Nuggets.

https://www.peta.org/lifestyle/food/natural-products-expo-vegan-products-to-watch-in-2027/