Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Eating out organic in Mannheim is different than in other cities: First it means vegetarian and vegan-friendly (almost) without exceptions. Second there seem to be no places serving national kitchens – no German Wirtshaus, no French cuisine, no Turkish fastfood and not even a mock Italian place. And finally organic here means organic for everyone, not just for a wealthy, hip and urban clientele. As a result you may miss cleverly designed cool places as much as refined coffeehouses or classy gourmet restaurants. The good news is that Mannheim's organic restaurants and cafes are extremely affordable.
Inner city
For breakfast (or a snack or coffee during the day) head for Bio-Bäcker Bihn on the ground floor of the Stadthaus housing the city library and other communal facilities and staging the city's part of the Mannheim/Heidelberg International Film Festival. Enter the complex from the north-eastern entry facing Paradeplatz, and you'll find the unpretentious bakery cum self-service cafe at the right hand site.
The breakfast options served on work- and Saturdays until noon are sufficient for two not too hungry ones; you can choose from a menu which also boosts three vegan varieties or combine yourself. Coffee or tea on the go is possible, but you should rather bring your own refillable cup (or buy one on the spot) as a one-way paper beaker righteously will be charged with 25 cents. For breakfast, lunch or in between freshly prepared sandwiches are available, too (though no longer in the evening). The coffee comes from an automat, and the rather cheap-looking interior design maintains a low threshold. If you come with a family or friends pay together which will give you a small discount (10% above 20 €, 12% above 30 € and 15 percent of a total above 50€).
If you fancy a better coffee in the Schwetzingerstadt neighbourhood you may step by Eddie's, the city's zero waste grocery store.
For an organic coffee, spritzer (of fruit juice and sparkling water) or wine head for the north-western neighbourhood of Jungbusch. The vegetarian, vegan-friendly gastro pub Kombüse serves Mexican-style fastfood as well as a daily changing soup and main course, on availability (but not reliably) using organic veges. It keeps open until late and may give you an impression of the city's subculture. The place also offers a take away service, but kindly invites guests to bring their own re-usable cups and jars. You will be charged the extra expense if you insist on one-way packaging.
South of the main train station
Interestingly the hippest and most expensive places aren't located in the very city centre but south of the railway tracks. The first one is the Glückstein in Lindenhof south of the railway tracks, a short way from the banks of the river Rhine. This organic vegan restaurant took over from Frankfurt-based raw eatery Rohkosteria.
You can choose from the menu which still contains a lot of raw dishes
(bowls and salads, burgers, wraps, falafel, vegetable "pasta", smoothies, shots, cakes and cookies), and two warm and filling daily specials at 8 EUR (I had a simple, yet very tasty lentils-based lasagna).
Although the place is open in the evenings no alcohol is being served here, and you can also have caffeine-free lupin-based "coffee" drinks.
The pleasantly designed interior and the unexcited atmosphere make it an ideal place to stay for a while.
If you have a bicycle take the chance to visit the neighbourhood of Neckarau where you will find two real gems: The first one opened in 2019: Hedonist is another modern, thoroughly designed eatery, friendly, but less homely than Glückstein, rather the type of place where you expect busy business people to have a recreational and healthy lunch break (but no worries, the audience isn't that uniform). You can buy everything to take away, much of it in returnable glass jars with a deposit of 2 EUR – salads, desserts, falafel and burger sandwiches, pasta, but also German-style pork and fish main courses. On weekdays a set menu consisting of a main course and a dessert is available at lunch time. On the Thursday I was there it was (very filling and quite dry) falafel with some salad, a spoon of pickled beetroot, a small amount of lentil salad, prefectly crisp potato chips and tasty (though too cold) potato salad. While the food is being served guests may collect the generous glass of dessert from the fridge. I had the so-called cheesecake which wasn't actually a cake but a cheese cream with oranges and sponge biscuits. There were also tiramisu and blueberry or raspberry mascarpone cream. The entire vegetarian meal came at 8 EUR, if you choose a fish or meat main course the price tag increases to 11 or even 15 EUR.
There's also a rack of selected wines, pickles and condiments to buy home. The place is fuelled by renewable energies.
Right next to the Hedonist you'll find the second place, a carefully curated and decorated cafe cum wine shop cum organic delicatessen dubbed Bittersüß ("bitter sweet"). Too beautiful to call it an owner-run organic grocery store you can buy all daily necessities here – fresh fruits and veges, and dairy products as well as organic bodycare. But on top of all this you'll find French sweets, selected cognac and other spirits, an abundance of wine, delicate chocolates, and last but not least the delicious products of the organic ginger bread bakery Friedmann in the same neighbourhood. Between noon and 2pm vegetarian lunch is being served on weekdays – the daily changing menu you'll find on a hand-written piece of paper at the cashier desk.
North of the Neckar river
Bicycle lovers must not miss out the city's first bike cafe in the Neckarstadt north of the river Neckar. The
Café Flamme Rouge (dubbed after the red flag displayed one kilometer before the end of a bike race) was established in 2005 and serves
organic bread and rolls from the
Lummerland organic bakery with biodynamic vegetarian spreads, partially organic coffee, home-made pesto, pancakes and a lunch dish (the menu changes on Mondays and Thursdays).
Also located in Neckarstadt Ost the
Café Pfau
has a focus on regional, but unfortunately not organic ingredients. Organic products are used in the kitchen here and there, and the milk is always organic, though neither the (locally roasted) coffee or tea.
More to try
The following place I had on my research list but could not make it there:
No longer organic
The Wohnhunger gifts and things shop does no longer offer organic soups or stews for lunch, and does not use organic milk for their coffee drinks. The coffee itself may occasionally be organic (as they also sell organic beans) but usually isn't.
Closed
Of the following places you may find remnants on the web but be assured: They do no longer exist.
- Café Vogelfrei, C3, 20
- Bio-Bäcker Bihn, M3, 7(moved to Stadthaus)
- envita Bio-Restaurant, Im Stadthaus N1, 1 (replaced by organic bakery Bihn)
- Hellers Vegetarisches Restaurant & Café, N7, 13–15
- O’ Dog Café, M5, 8 (Hot dogs)
-
- mundgrün veganerie, T3, 7 (vegan) (preceeded by Sonnenblume Naturkost)
- Veggie-Stadel (formerly Bio-Stadel), Lindenhofstr. 62 replaced by Rohkosteria
- Rohkosteria, Lindenhofstr. 62, replaced by Glückstein
- Bio-Bäcker Bihn, Kurfürstenstr. 7
2023-11-14 20:00:00
[Mannheim, organic, breakfast, lunch, coffee, cafe, eatery, vegan, vegetarian, restaurant, bakeries, ice-cream, delicatessen, wine]
Link
Sunday, 01 October 2023
Every organic supermarket big enough to be equipped with a freezer will sell you iced-lollies or pre-packaged cups of ice-cream, at least during the warm season. But for the real thing you need to know where to find your small scale artisanal organic ice-cream parlour. Fortunately there are sufficient options to find your favourite one, unfortunately only a few of them sell their fare in organic wafer cones. The covid-19 pandemic introduced ice-cream seasons starting as early as February (e.g. at the Bartu shops and True & 12 at the Gasteig), often restricted to nice spring afternoons, but usually you can expect the ice-cream to appear at the beginning of April.
Arguably the best ice-cream in town is made by former shoe-pusher Thomas Bartu and his crew in Schwabing – and the best: Unlike all other ice-cream parlours they run their shops the entire year around. Just like the best ice-cream parlours in Italy they cover their 24 types of ice-cream hygienically instead of displaying them for show-off. All ingredients are listed on big and nicely layouted wallpapers, leaving no questions open for vegans or people with allergies. Children under 13 years pay less (1.70 €) for the scoop than adults (2 €). You can also have a good (though not organic) cup of Italian-style coffee or an organic soft-drink, and a yummy organic pizza. If you haven't had enough you can choose from an ever changing selection of Bartu ice-creams to take away in reusable containers. And the best: They don't close their shop during the cold season. On the other hand don't count on opening hours longer than the regular 10 pm; in fact they often close about ten minutes before.
Summer 2018 saw the opening of a second Bartu ice-cream parlour in the Maxvorstadt. The nicely styled cafe – with tables and all – is located next to the Gratitude restaurant. If you fancy a caffe affogato (Italian espresso with ice-cream) have it the Italian way, with Fior di latte instead of vanilla ice-cream. They also serve organic tea, soups and soft drinks, and since the covid-19 winter of 2020/21 you can also have a one-pot organic lunch. Fortunately the the wafer cones are back, so are no longer inclined to produce waste. Although the shop is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays during the cold season you may be lucky on nice weather Mondays and Tuesdays in spring when the shop nevertheless opens at noon.
While Thomas Bartu occassionally extends his sales with various pop-up stores he doesn't seem inclined to expand his business into a chain. So here was a niche which Stefano di Giglio of Del Fiore tried to fill: He and his team started with three gelaterie at once in 2017, of which only one was left by 2021. You'll find it in Schwabing, near the university quarter's entrance to the Englischer Garten, and I am inclined to say that it is run by independent owners.
Di Giglio seems to concentrate on ice-cream making for local third-party vendors like
organic supermarkets and cafes. In the summer of 2021 I found the NY-style Occam Deli in Schwabing to sell Del Fiore ice-cream to passers-by, and since 2022 the tramstop cafe
Il Chiosco at the Ostfriedhof graveyard has not only been beautifying an ugly crossroad of Tegernseer Landstraße, but allowing for an organic ice-cream while you wait for the tram.
Both, the milk-based flavours and the sorbets, are fully organic and extremely palatable, though quite pricey. Il Chiosco concludes the ice-cream season at the beginning of November.
A stroll along the Isar river to the Western shore of Wittelsbacher bridge gives you another opportunity for a partially organic ice-cream stop: The ChocoLab cafe cum chocolaterie at Baldeplatz is not organic in general, but the dairy ice-cream sold here is made from organic milk.
Where would you expect organic and vegan ice-cream to go if not in the university quarter? A two-minutes walk from the Northern exit of the tube station "Universität" in the Maxvorstand neighbourhood you'll find IceDate serving date and cashew-based ice-cream varieties. I prefer their strong flavours like the chocolate varieties or coffee; the more subtle ones like hemp or green tea often need polishing.
A scoop goes for 2.50 EUR in 2023, and every serving is topped with a small quantity of an additional flavour. Bad weather is no issue since they have a pleasant indoors sitting area.
Amid the covid-19 spring of 2020 a second branch opened next to the Tushita tea house, in humming Glockenbachviertel, and
a mobile IceDate booth can also be found on many street festivals in the city.
In the neighbourhood of Haidhausen you have three possible targets: Cosy though buzzing Café Reichshof a five minutes brisk walk from Ostbahnhof station offers home-made ice-cream spring through early autumn, though you may be tempted to indulge yourself in one of their gorgeous cakes instead (or have both?) The stuccoed ceiling with candelabras play well together with the wooden shelves of the bakery display, making for an inviting yet not overwhelming interior. During the warm season you may prefer to sit outside facing relaxing Bordeauxplatz. Be prepared to queue on nice-weather days, but since the service is swift, efficient and friendly waiting will usually take shorter time than expected. The Neulinger's ice-cream season ends in October; the scoop in 2023 went for two euros quit and is served in organic wafer cones. Since the shop participates in the Hey (formerly Brot am Haken) campaign you may buy a coffee, bread or cake voucher for someone in need as you go. If you buy a coffee drink to take away in your own or a Recup cup you'll get 10 cents off for sparing the environment.
November 2019 the entire location underwent major work to re-establish the coffee house of old on the premises of the former bakery workshop (the work is now done in the new facilities in the wholesale market area of Sendling), and now that it's ready it turns out to be a true jewel. Spacious and family friendly, in the tradition of the great coffee houses of the 1920ies it's a recommended hideout, both for breakfast, lunch, weekend brunch or a coffee break. Before 9 am you can order your breakfast at the counter and take a seat in the front part, service starts at 9 am.
Café Reichshof is not the only branch of Bäckerei Neulinger, an artisanal organic bakery: There are two older shops in the neighbourhood of Neuhausen and a new cafe cum bakery located in the former meat-packing district, the Schlachthofviertel. In 2018 the Neulinger family moved its "headquarter" from Neuhausen to Sendling, to the premises of a former banana ripening facility –
a light and quiet place to have lunch while watching the bakers working the dough. Have an ice-cream on top as you leave. Since 2022, all Neulinger shops have been open on Sundays and public holidays, though the smaller shops only in the morning, for breakfast rolls.
For a very special treat step by Oliver a few steps from Café Reichshof at the south-eastern end of Bordeauxplatz: freshly prepared hand-rolled vegan organic ice-cream.
If you fancy an ice-cream during your evening stroll head for fancy True & 12 opposite the Gasteig cultural centre. Their milk comes from a family-run organic farm keeping grass-fed cattle half an hour away by urban train (plus five minutes by bus plus half an hours walk). Other ingredients like hazelnuts and eggs are also organic,
the non-organic ingredients of course all natural. The lip-smacking delicious result comes in original flavours like lavender and cassis (dubbed "Haidhausen") as well as standard flavours like chocolate or vanilla, both of unusually high quality. The scoop in 2023 goes for 2.30 €. For an additional euro you will be served in a hand-rolled cinnamon-flavoured cone or shell, so ask for availability! To much regret also this place is closed from end of October to mid of March.
In Neuhausen organic ice-cream to go can also be had from Café Ruffini, described in my restaurant post.
The classical Italian ice-cream parlour – ice-cream to go, and not much ado – you'll find with Gelateria Artefredda in Giesing near Ostfriedhof on busy Tegernseer Landstraße. The right-hand side of their display features their organic varieties for 2.20 EUR the scoop – about eight ones to choose from. With its unpretentious eco-styled walls the cafe makes a light and pleasant place to have a short coffee break (prepared with organic milk). Most sundaes can be had with organic ice-cream, but unfortunately neither fully organic nor in re-usable cups. Artefredda keeps closed during the cold season. On bad weather days they often open up a quarter of an hour past their announced opening time, nice weather provided they will often keep open longer than announced.
Their ice-cream season usually stops with the German national holiday October, 3rd. From mid of October, 2023 the shop is hosting a cinnamon roll pop-up store,
the Zimtschneckenfabrik, offering all natural artisanal cinnamon rolls, cakes and sourdough bread and rolls Tuesday though Saturday 12–approx. 18 (until sold out), and on Sundays 12–15. Whether they use organic ingredients I did not have the opportunity to find out yet.
Not far away, a five minutes walk downtown from Giesing Bahnhof station, a new modern ice-cream parlour opened its doors on the premises of a conventional one in 2021: GelatOk! promises all natural ice-cream, with as little organic life-style as possible for an audience that does not usually frequent organic supermarkets. The milk for the creamy and exceptionally tasty ice-cream however is organic and comes from the Berchtesgadener Land dairy, and if you order a coffee drink, it's made with organic milk, too. Another good sign for the ice-cream is that it is produced in small batches – most of the containers weren't filled to the brim.
In the Glockenbach neighbourhood you'll find Das Eismeer, Munich's first self-proclaimed climate-neutral ice-cream parlour. Although the egg-free ice-cream here is all natural the main ingredients like sugar and milk are not organic. Single organic flavourings like vanilla or poppy seeds are however advertised in big letters so that you may get the impression that the entire ice-cream was organic. Looks a bit like a dark pattern to me. If you fancy a hot drink: coffee and cocoa are both organic (and the latter also fairly traded).
Kids pay less for the ice-cream than adults.
In the Western neighbourhood of Pasing you may set out for a stroll to Sweet Monkeys. Next to the graveyard, tucked away between a stonemasonry and a flower shop the clean and pleasantly decorated ice-cream parlour serves lip-smacking ice-cream made from organic milk from the Berchtesgadener Land dairy and veges from the nearby organic gardener Florian Kamlah. Not all ingredients are organic, but there's a commitment to avoid transport by buying local and energy emissions by using sustainable energy. This ice-cream shop offers some unusual flavours like cucumber-pineapple, white coffee or lime yogurt and you can also order sundaes like the children's favourite spaghetti ice-cream (spaghetti-like pressed vanilla ice-cream with berry sauce). Unfortunately the place is too far from the Pasing train station to be reached while waiting for a connecting train.
There's a second branch in Moosach.
Markets and street festivals
If you happen to attend a street festival in Munich like the semi-annual Streetlife on Leopoldstraße or the annual Munich Sports Festival on Königsplatz watch out for a pink-blue food truck selling Cramer's Speiseeis in cones. The Cramers run a family-driven organic bakery cum pastry shop in Gauting near Munich, where they also make their ice-cream, so be brave when you're in the vicinity and give their spicy ginger or chocolate-chili varieties a try.
While there's no more organic ice-cream at the Viktualienmarkt the weekly Saturday farmers' market at the Seehaus within Englischer Garten has a heart for those with a sweet tooth: During the summer monthes the Biohof Butz does not only sell organic fruits and veges, but also ice-cream made from milk by the farms' own cows.
No more ice-cream
When you take a stroll about the famous Viktualienmarkt food market the desire for an ice-cream may come natural. Unfortunately the
Trübenecker organic fruits and veges booth does no longer offer organic ice-cream in the summer – instead you can have freshly made all-organic smoothies.
No longer organic
Ceased to exist
The following places do no longer exist, even though you still might find references to them on the web:
- Amorino, Schützenstr. within front of Karstadt department store
- Amorino, Wiener Pl.
- Ella Bartu within Eis, Eisbaby installation by Daniel Man in front of Lenbachhaus art museum, Luisenstr. 33
- Bartu c/o Feinkost Käfer, Prinzregentenstr. 73
- Bartu ice-cream & Brenner Kitchen, Feilitzschstr. 4 (pop-up mobile ice-cream booth)
- Del Fiore Gelato Gärtnerplatz, Gärtnerpl. 1
- Del Fiore Gelato Roecklplatz, Ehrengutstr. 18
- Jack&Eddy's, Pestalozzistr. 7 (organic frozen yoghurt)
- Naturale Bio Eisdiele, Winthirstr. 9b
2023-10-01 22:00:00
[Munich, Haidhausen, Giesing, Moosach, Pasing, Schwabing, organic, vegan, ice-cream, coffee, cafe, Italian, bakeries]
Link
Tuesday, 22 August 2023
If you fancy a freshly made organic ice-cream in Bremen be prepared to work out – hope for good weather, rent a bicycle and do as many locals do: Set out on a 15 kilometers ride, first in direction University, and then on the
dyke safeguarding the land against the river Wümme to a dairy farm run by friendly family Kaemena in Niederblockland.
On the embankment cars are allowed with a special permit only, but an astonishing number of locals come here by bicycle, foot or skating to enjoy an organic ice-cream (the scoop goes for 2.20 EUR in 2023), coffee or cold organic drink and enjoy the farm and the countryside.
The ice-cream is made right here on the farm: from the milking station to the ice-cream factory it's only about 25 metres, and another few metres to the cafe.
Don't miss the poppy seed ice-cream and the varieties based on buttermilk and yogurt. And please, avoid ordering your ice-cream in a one-way paper cup: for a little surplus you can have a vegan wafer cup (free for two or more scoops), compostable if you do not eat it. You may also take a free wafer ice-spoon instead of a plastics one.
Opening hours on pleasant summer days may be a little longer than announced,
and the ice-cream parlour is closed in winter.
The farm itself is driven according to the seven Bioland principles, with about 80 cows (which all have individual names) and calves who are fed by and kept together with their mothers until they eat grass and hay (which is at an age of about five weeks). The cattle race comes without horns naturally, so no harm is done to the animals in order to remove them. The farm also keeps a few other animals like geese, two pigs, a couple of goats, pheasants and chicken (both hens and cocks) and gives home to a lot of wildlife like a sparrow colony and swallows.
There's a nice playground for children, and if you want to stay longer (minimum one week) the family rents out several pleasant holiday apartments (but make sure to book well in advance for holiday seasons).
In May 2022 the Kaemenas opened a new Sunday-open ice-cream parlour cum farm shop in the Neustadt. If you don't want to have your ice-cream on the go, there's little seating, a few benches outdoor, and some high chairs inside, to have a coffee, milk-shake or a "cold" chocolate with ice-cream. The cafe participates in the Recup scheme, so make sure to have your hot or cold drink to take away in a returnable cup.
Unlike the cafe at the farm this place will keep open around the year and provide you not only with ice-cream but also with cheese, jogurt, and milk.
Starting with the covid-19 summers a stylish mobile coffee bar of the Coffee Bike franchise has been popping up in the very city centre on Ansgarikirchhof during the warm season. In addition to the fully organic coffee drinks there is a separate mobile booth with Kaemena's ice-cream. Unfortunately they do not offer neither eatable ice-cream wafers nor earthenware cups for the coffee, so you are forced to enjoy it in non-compostable one-way cups unless you bring your own.
If you are in the vicinity of the university's refectory around lunch time on a weekday visit the organic ice-cream booth inside the
Uni-Mensa: Opposite the refectory's check-out you get the scoop of organic ice-cream produced in Hamburg at an unbeatable price (1.30 EUR in 2023). They offer three dairy and even more vegan flavours (my favourite: the vegan salted peanut butter). You may pay cash or by the Studierendenwerk prepaid card.
Closed
2023-08-22 18:00:00
[Bremen, Neustadt, Blockland, organic, ice-cream, cafe, accommodation, farms]
Link
Sunday, 04 June 2023
What a shame: Italy is one of the largest producers of
organic food and the home of the gelato – but if you want to have an organic
ice-cream in Venice you have to stick to
Amorino, a French franchise concept,
famous for its elaborate ice-cream served in the shape of roses. Two shops in
town (one in Cannaregio, one in S. Polo) serve their expensive, yet very palatable fare. The flavours marked "organic" are 100 percent organic and organically certified, other flavours may contain organic ingredients, too.
Once predominantly organic, but no more
Right after arrival at Venezia Santa Lucia train station, you may arm yourself for the queueing at the waterbus ticket office with an ice-cream, milk-shake or granita from Gelateria Grom fronting the entrance hall towards Canal Grande. Before the acquisition by Unilever in 2015 they promised to use organic milk, some organic fruit, only natural ingredients and of course no additives, and had in general an eco-conscious agenda. However: Following the acquisition all hints to the former supplier of organic fruit, the Mura Mura farm, gradually disappeared. In 2019 the promise was reduced to "natural ingredients", and the only thing they promised to use in organic quality is the milk for the milk shakes ("frappe"). In 2022 also this hint was gone, but I spotted an organic milk package next to the coffee machine at the St. Lucia branch in June 2023. Nevertheless – the ice-cream is still good, and a favourite of the locals, too, as can be seen by the increasing number of often crowded Grom branches in Italian cities.
For the ice-cream you have to specify a size – small, medium or large – and can choose a suitable number of varieties; up to two varieties for the small size, and up to three for medium size. For something different (or if you are vegan) try a granita water ice slush. However, these are served in plastics-coated paper cups, while you can have your ice-cream in an eatable (and compostable) wafer "cono".
Grom has more, in fact older branches in Venice, one of them on Campo San Barnaba square. If departing the waterbus at Ca' Rezzonico stop you can't miss it when following the only way into the open of the square and keep an eye on the left side.
Watch out for green-washed independent ice-cream parlours
On local websites the owner of Gelateria Alaska, a small whole-in-the-wall shop near Campo Santo was dubbed "king of organic ice-cream in Venice", so I went there to try and ask. While the all-natural ice-cream itself was perfectly palatable he told me that the main ingredients, milk and sugar, were too expensive, but he would occasionally use organic fruit and spices. Unfortunately he couldn't tell me whether any of the flavours on display contained organic ingredients that day.
If you read my post on Rovigo you may be tempted to try Gelato Fantasy in Calle dei Fabbri. DON'T! They are not connected with the Gelateria Fantasy in Rovigo, and they definitely do not use organic ingredients.
Ceased to exist
The following place does no longer exist, though you find still find references on the web:
2023-06-04 13:15:00
[Venice, Venezia, organic, ice-cream]
Link
Sunday, 16 October 2022
Nowhere in Germany it is easier to adhere to an organic lifestyle than in its capital – provided you aim for appropriately inhabited neighbourhoods all you have to do is to keep your eyes open. Many of those neighbourhoods can be found in the administrative unit of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, and this blog will cover only the tip of the iceberg, i.e. the places I found during a two-days visit. The places covered in the first two sections are all located in Kreuzberg 61, the neighbourhood considered the bourgeouis part of Kreuzberg.
The German Museum of Technology near tube-station Möckernbrücke clearly is a place to spend hours in – but what if you start to feel hungry or the urge for a coffee? For the occasional tourist this wonderful museum seems to be located in the middle of nowhere, but don't dispair! Head East and follow Tempelhofer Ufer back to the tube station, and turn to the right after the second traffic-light. A few steps into Großbeerenstraße you will find an organic gem with roots back in former West-Berlin's green-alternative past. Today it's a friendly though a little worn-out grocery cum eatery dubbed Ökotussi ("eco-Sheila") run by a bunch of practical women. Stop by for a hearty vegetarian (usually vegan) lunch (the vegan lasagna we had was delicious and sufficient for two), a salad or snack or an Italian-style coffee drink.
Follow Zossener Straße from tube-stop Gneisenaustraße in Southern direction, and you'll end up in a neighbourhood that most eco-conscious people will consider the ultimate paradise: three organic (or predominantly organic) whole-sale supermarkets, four organic bakeries, four at minimum partially organic restaurants and eateries, and a number of other shops offering selected organic products, everything within a five minutes walk, all with liberal opening hours compared to the rest of Germany. The eateries of this neighbourhood dubbed Bergmannkiez try to outdo one another in advertising their vegan options – it seems a luxury to point out that vegan even here usually does not imply organic.
Restaurants and eateries
Promenading Bergmannstraße (which makes for the Southern border of Marheinekeplatz) to the West you will find Fratelli La Bionda, a decent Italian pizzeria using organic flour and tomatoes for their pizze. No place for lunch since the restaurant does not open before evening. If you take your seat around the tables on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, opposing a park with a children's playground you will kindly be asked to move inside around half past 9 pm. Since the eateries covered below all close between 8 and 9 pm (or even earlier during the weekend) this place is the only option for your evening out covered in this post.
This nicely restored mall is a Mekka for foodies. Opposite Friesenstraße you will find Piechas Bio-Buffet, a slow-food whole-organic grill. Although vegan and vegetarian dishes are offered, too, their focus is clearly on organic meat, from nose to tail. Arguably Berlin's best beef burgers are served here, and unlike other places they won't cook your meat to death when you forget to order rare. If you want to try Berliner Currywurst (curried sausage) and other German meat dishes at all – so here. Heavily frequented during lunch hours service can be a bit bumpy, and more frequent cleaning of the bar tables would often be nice. You can choose from an impressive range of organic softdrinks, or have beer or very decent cider made from apples organically grown in the wild of Berlin's surroundings. Mayonaise and ketchup for your fries have to be ordered separately.
If you walk around the booth you will find the counter of the organic butcher's shop where you can buy sausages, offal and all the cuts from free-range cattle and pigs kept well at small-scale organic farms in the vicinity and slaughtered respectfully.
Bakeries
Lunch and coffee drinks are also being served by organic bakery Beumer & Lutum, a few steps north on Zossener Straße. If you want your coffee on the go make sure to bring your own mug which entitles you to a small discount. While the two organic bakery boothes within the Marheineke mall – Mehlwurm in the centre of the market hall, and Biobackhaus in the North-Eastern part – are closed on Sundays and open at 8 am, Beumer & Lutum is catering for the early bird Monday through Saturday from 7 am. It also used to keep open on Sundays, but that's past: Due to staff shortness in 2022 the shop is open only on weekday mornings. It offers a small selection of organic food items to complete your breakfast table. The bakery boothes in the mall still have longer opening hours, but do not serve coffee or lunch. Mehlwurm is the first bakery I know of offering an open source bread (with beetroot and walnuts).
For the sweet tooth
Italian-style organic coffee drinks can also be had from the Tanne b ice-cream parlour on the crossing of Zossener and Bergmannstraße. They use organic milk for their all-natural ice-creams served in vegan cones, and offer vegan options, too. Children are served slightly smaller scoops for the price of 80 cents (instead of 1.20 euros for regular servings). In 2019 the ice-cream season has been announced to start 7th March.
Around the corner from Fratelli La Bionda you'll find cosy Cafe Conni Island where you can treat yourself with lovely home-made, partially organic cakes and a coffee drink made with organic milk. The place is run by an artist whom you can hire to paint your walls with art, and since she usually serves herself the opening hours are restricted to afternoons and the second half of the week.
Supermarkets
With a branch of the vegan supermarket chain Veganz on the first floor of Marheineke-Markthalle facing Marheinekeplatz, a branch of Berlin-based organic wholesale chain Bio-Company on Bergmannstraße/Friesenstraße crossing and an Alnatura branch on the East-side of the park, all with liberal opening hours compared to German standards it's hard to find an excuse for not buying organic. The Bio-Company bakery booth even opens for the early bird at 7:30 am.
While both, Alnatura an Bio-Company sell exclusively organically certified items you have to be careful at Veganz: The grocery products and most of the German and Austrian brands on display are organic (and can be found in almost any other organic supermarket), but they also offer a lot of imported vegan products, and a great deal of them are not organic. Unfortunately these are not clearly marked on the shelves, so you should be familiar with organic branding outside the continent. On the plus side this Veganz supermarket introduced self-service dispensers offering more than 80 different dry products waiting to be filled in the containers you brought with you.
Shopping
If you're on a shopping spree or in search for a gift, and the body care sections of the organic supermarkets seem too boring, there's an organic beauty shop dubbed Belladonna in Bergmannstraße. Light and inviting, with a great selection of all kinds of natural creams, body lotions, perfumes, hair care, make-up and much more, both for men and women, this is a must-go for everyone, not just beauty addicts.
Also need new clothes? One of the three Berlin-based shops of the Dresden-based organic fashion and interior design label Tranquillo is located right in the vicinity.
The Japanese go mad about Trippen shoes, and if you go for fairly and eco-consciously produced leather shoes of unusual design (some of the soles alone can be considered art) the Trippen factory outlet near tube stop Schlesisches Tor is definitely worth a visit. Unlike in their stylish flagship store within Hackesche Höfe you have to browse shoe boxes for your size, and all the pairs are remaining stock or have small defects like miscolourings. In return prices are well below usual market price. You will find children's, women's and men's shoes (even the ones better described as sculptures are astonishingly comfy), and the staff is very helpful.
Kreuzberg 36
One of the many organic groceries turned partially organic eateries and delis is Der Milchladen ("The milk shop") near tube stop Moritzplatz. In the heart of what is dubbed the wild and autonomous migrant Kreuzberg you can have a hearty lunch, sandwiches, coffee and (cheese) cake as well as breakfast, vegan, vegetarian and omnivore.
The place is situated a few steps from the flagship store of one of the oldest eco-conscious Berlin fashion labels, Luzifer in Oranienstraße. All their clothes are made of linen and hemp, and unlike other labels they don't have short-lived collections: If you wore out your favourite dress, shirt or pair of trousers, you will usually be able to buy a replacement. When my favourite dress (of which I had two copies) after ten years continous use had too many holes they happily made a new one of the good parts for a very competitive price. They offer both, a men's and a women's collection, and you will often be served a tisane or a cookie in their light and friendly showroom.
Shut down
The following places are closed for good:
2022-10-16 21:00:00
[Berlin, Kreuzberg, organic, vegan, Italian, pizza, coffee, ice-cream, supermarkets, fashion, bodycare, household, shoes, deli, grocery, eatery, zero_waste, bakeries, butcher, burgers, confectioners]
Link