Saturday, 25 June 2022
An hours' bicycle ride from Padua (optional with an ice-cream or coffee break in Selvazzano Dentro) or one and a half hours from Vicenza
gets you to La Buona Terra near the village of Cervarese Santa Croce, an organic farmstay, popular party location with families, educational farm for kindergardens and farm restaurant. You can stay either in one of the clean, rustic guest rooms and holiday homes located inside various farm buildings (advanced booking required), or on the camping site on the farm. A popular place with children -- there are not only cows, chicken, horses, donkeys, dogs (no cats), and frogs here, but also a spacious swimming pool. (Less popular among the kids: to ask the farmers, Luisa and Domenico, to remove the cleaning robot in the mornings.)
After breakfast (organic with a few exceptions, and usually with freshly home-made cakes made with the farm's own organic flour) you may pre-order lunch and/or dinner (around 8 pm), except on Mondays. Expect hearty home-made farmer's kitchen, home-made pasta, left-over soups, a grilled chunk of home-made bread topped with olive oil and an equally thick slice of sopressa salami from the farm's own pigs, freshly grilled vegetables, rustic meat courses from the farm (you may even be served a hearty stew of chicken necks) and (often) organic wines from nearby wineries. On weekends the farm restaurant is open to the public, but you are asked to phone in in advance (+39 328 077 0977). Vegetarians are gladly catered for with the four-courses "menu verde" while the omnivore one is dubbed "menu rosso", and as the farmers' daughter is a vegan, do not hesitate to mention if you are, too. Children are equally welcome and pay less. On summer weekends dinner is often served in an informal garden party style with antipasti plates and pizza-style foccachia bread, often accompagnied by life music.
There's also a farmshop selling the farm's home-made products: eggs, sopressa, preserves and liquors. Officially it keeps open on weekends between 15:30 and 19:30, but unless there's a bigger party of visitors around take this with a grain of salt and ask Luisa or an employee if you want to buy something.
One of the bicycle tours may lead you to the South-Western slopes of the Euganean Hills, to
Ca' Orologio in Baone. Among vineyards and olive groves you will find Maria Gioia Rosellini's dedicated organic winery, producing natural wines of exclusive taste. You may enter the 16th century Venetian villa to taste and buy, or decide to rather stay in these magical surrondings and make use of the bed-and-breakfast
offer (better book in advance, though). The breakfast itself is only partially organic, depending on the availability of organic products in the village supermarket (which is rather limited). You have the opportunity to cook lunch and dinner yourself, and serve it with a glass of Ca'Orologio wines.
2022-06-25 17:30:00
[Italy, Veneto, Colli_Euganei, Euganean_Hills, Padova, Padua, Cervarese, Baone, organic, biologico, accommodation, farms, agriturismo, camping, cycling, wine, breakfast, lunch, dinner, restaurant]
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Monday, 20 June 2022
To no surprise Padua has branches of the
artisanal ice-cream parlour chain
Grom in the very city centre. They are located at Piazza dei Signori and in Via Roma. But since the formerly Italian chain was acquired by Unilever in 2015 and turned into their natural ice-cream brand all promises to organic ingredients have disappeared.
Fortunately there's an alternative: About 50 meters to the right from the Grom at Piazza dei Signori you'll find the city's only fully organic ice-cream parlour,
Gelateria Gnam Gnam, and in 2022 it was definitevely more frequented by locals than the Grom next door!
It is amazing how much delight one can add to natural artisanal ice-cream when restricting oneself to 100 percent organic ingredients. The Gnam Gnam fare is extremely delicate, with a lot of (changing) surprising flavours such as grappa or "cookies and cream", about one third of them vegan. For an extra surplus you can choose the flavour of your wafer cone: plain of course, or perhaps ginger, cinnamon, liquorice...?
The (vegan) slush goes under the name Venetian ghiacciate, and can be had in surprisingly many different flavours. The one dubbed "exotic" with peach and mint was extremely delicate and not overly sweet. The coffee ghiacciate is a deliciously melting dream, ways better than the extremely tasty one I had many years ago at a Grom branch in Florence. In 2022 the large ghiacciate serving comes at 6 EUR.
Apart from this you can also have freshly pressed fruit juices or chocolate-coated ghiaccioli (iced lollies). The coffee for the caffe affogato (espresso with ice-cream) unfortunately is made from coffee capsules and -- like the ghiacciate -- served in one-way paper cups.
If you find it difficult to part buy a package of organic meringues or a small glass of the organic spices they use (like cinnamon, liquorice, curcuma or ginger) for you or as a small gift.
For a change you may also try ICream.it north of Prato della Valle. Their ice-cream is hidden in locked containers instead of openly presented, an important sign for high quality ingredients and no fuzz processing. Flavouring ingredients like basil or matcha often are organic and play the most important part in extremely smooth non-diary ice-creams (I had an intense yet delicate lemon-basil which unfortunately isn't always available). The milk used in the non-vegan flavours is not organic, but feel free to enquire about the origin of the ingredients: When I was there the staff was both friendly and knowlegeable. In 2018 a single scoop went for 2 EUR, and I did not have the time to check whether the place still exists in 2022. Let me know if you do.
No longer organic or no longer existing
2022-06-20 15:00:00
[Padua, Padova, biologico, organic, vegan, ice-cream, gifts]
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Sunday, 12 June 2022
Those with a sweet tooth may feel in heaven when coming to the comparatively ugly urban sprawl which comprises the municipality of Selvazzano Dentro south-west of Padua and north of Abano Terme: In the neighbourhoods of San Domenico and Tencarola, devided by the crossing of the river Bacchiglione you will find a confectioner's shop cum day bar, an ice-cream parlour and finally a supermarket serving customers preferring organic food and delights.
When entering the municipality from the west following Via Euganea your first stop should be at a roundabout with
an Italian day bar cum Viennese-style cafe cum confectioner's shop where the main ingredients are organic.
At Pasticceria Da Angelo you will find organic and vegan options clearly marked, and the friendly staff will proudly and often even unasked point out what's organic. If you don't feel like a delicate ice-cream or a gorgeous pastry along with an organic coffee drink (with organic soy milk if you prefer) have
a tramezzino sandwich or toast together with a freshly made organic smoothie, or an organic soft drink. Vegan sandwich options are readily available, with organic "cold cuts", while the meat items on non-veg versions usually aren't organic. A serving of ice-cream comes at 1.40 EUR, with each additional scoop for 1.10 EUR. Vegan varieties aren't restricted to fruit flavours, you can also choose among a number of flavours made with rice or almond drink. Buy a bag of organic cookies to take home if you like, and if you're lucky there may be an organic lunch, dinner or ice-cream special during your stay. Advanced booking by phone is required for such an event.
Not enough ice-cream or arriving after half past nine in the evening? Well, you can be helped.
Gelateria Soleluna a few meters east opposite Hotel Piroga uses more than 80 percent organic, and predominantly locally sourced ingredients for their granite, gelati, and ice cakes. A delight not to be missed,
one ice-cream scoop goes for 1.40 EUR, each additional one adds approximately 1 EUR to your bill. Personally I prefer the delicate, creamy dairy flavours to the vegan fruit-based ones. The granite are available in two sizes, for 2.80 or 3.50 EUR – the refreshing lime-mint or coffee varieties will get you going in a minute on a warm summer day. Unfortunately the granite are served in one-way plastics cups, each with one-way teaspoon and straw, so you will produce a lot of waste.
On bank holidays the shop keeps open as on Sundays.
Groceries
To buy everything you need organic, from fruit and veges over dairy products and vegan alternatives to dry food, natural cosmetics, the forgotten towel or household detergents follow Via Euganea in eastern direction, cross both, the bridge over the river, and the street side. Here, on Via Padova (the street changes its name in Tencarola) you'll find a well assorted NaturaSi supermarket which also has a small section of self-service zero waste dispensers for grains and a few other dry foods and refill for most household detergents. This would also be the place you had to do most of your organic shopping when living in one of the villages in the vicinity – your next real options being the NaturaSi in Abano Terme or, naturally, the ones in the city of Padua.
Closed
- Come una volta, Montegalda,
Via Roma, 45 (neighbourhood grocery)
2022-06-12 10:00:00
[Padova, Padua, Selvazzano, Montegalda, organic, biologico, zero_waste, vegan, ice-cream, supermarkets, coffee, cafe, grocery, bodycare, household, confectioners]
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Thursday, 13 June 2019
Uneasiness with industrial agriculture often starts with the brutal reality of how we treat animals, and consequently eggs and meat often are the first ingredients restaurants use from organic farming. In many cities this means that conscious omnivores have a better chance to find a place to eat than vegetarians or vegans. With Padua this is different: All organic or partially organic restaurants I found within the city boundaries focus on vegetarian courses, and all of them are vegan-friendly.
Unfortunately my time in Padua has always been very limited, so all I could find out this time was that my favourite bar in the city centre ceased to exist. So here's a number of places I'd like to try but haven't had the opportunity yet:
Fully organic and vegetarian (needless to say these days: vegan-friendly) restaurant Vegetariamoci a little North-West and over the bridge from the Giardini dell' Arena park is the brainchild of organic pioneers in the region. Unfortunately closed Mondays through Wednesdays.
Also in the neighbourhood of Arcella, north of the main train station, the Osteria di Fuori Porta offers uncomplicated organic dinner, and, on weekdays, lunch, the latter also at a fixed price for 12 EUR including a beverage and coffee.
If you take the tram leave at stop "Borgomagno".
Food, art, and concerts -- that's the concept of the Ca'Sana cultural space offering organic brunch on Sundays, and apart from Mondays, late night food. The place is situated a little out of town, near the airport.
If you fancy a pizza Daltrocanto seems to be the place to go. There's more on the menu, all vegetarian and vegan-friendly.
Closed
2019-06-13 19:00:00
[Padua, Padova, biologico, organic, vegetarian, vegan, eatery, restaurant, breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee]
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Sunday, 03 June 2018
Centrally located, a few steps from Piazza Garibaldi you can do all your shopping in a well-assorted branch of the NaturaSi organic supermarket chain. They even stock a decent selection of natural perfums and eau de colognes, and if you are hungry you may buy pizza and focaccia to take away.
Unlike most other shops this one keeps open during the entire day.
The other two other NaturaSi branches in town, one in San Giuseppe, and one in San Carlo, are both closed on weekdays between 1pm and 3:30 pm.
On weekday mornings you may also go and find the mobile market stall of the El Tamiso organic farmer's co-operative at Piazza delle Erbe.
A little South-West of the city centre there's a smaller organic grocery dubbed Bielo, specializing in local cured meat and cheeses like buffalo mozzarella and scamorza.
On the way to Selvazzano Dentro or Abano Terme you may check on another small-scale organic grocery specializing in local produce, Corti e Buoni. Let me know what you can report on it.
2018-06-03 17:30:00
[Padua, Padova, biologico, organic, supermarkets, grocery, bodycare, pizza]
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