Dresden: Organic pubs and restaurants

Forget about sushi, pizza, pasta, burgers, curries and other globalized commonplaces – in Dresden it's much easier to find hearty home-cooked dishes made from locally sourced ingredients rooted in local and regional food traditions. This does not necessarily mean German – mind you that the borders with Czechia and Poland are close, so many menus reflect influences rather from Eastern than Western or Southern European cuisines. Many dishes include meat, yes, but all the places I am covering here have a decent selection of tasty vegetarian options readily available.

Old town

A few steps from the Altmarkt, just across Kreuzkirche you'll find Cafe Aha which is covered here. Longer west, facing the modern building of the University of Music in Schützengasse you may be surprised to find a small island of baroque buildings with a wild garden, housing the city's environmental centre, and a great disappointment: The cosy rustic wholefood restaurant on ground flour dubbed Brennnessel ("stinging nettle") once used organic ingredients and still can be found listed as an organic restaurant, but alas! – no more.

Neustadt

For rustic food and surroundings head for one of the oldest independent pubs in town, the Planwirtschaft ("planned economy") in the Neustadt neighbourhood, popular since its beginnings as an illegal pub in the late GDR. On mezzanine level they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as coffee and cake while the basement houses a pub which opens in the evening. When it comes to their supplies they focus on buying from local farms and enterprises as the (unfortunately not organic) independent butcher's directly across the street or a tea shop next door from which they also source the organic teas on offer. The goat cheese is always organic. They used to have an organic meat dish (which was marked as "bio" on the menu), but unfortunately no longer. My vegan dish of the day (celeriac in a hearty plum-fragranced sause with polenta and green salad) was absolutely tasteful. Have a tasty organic apple cider or beer, and ask about organic ingredients.

Young German kitchen is the promise of the Lila Soße ("purple sauce") gastro bar within the eccentric Kunsthofpassage with its small boutiques and lovely places. Apart from daily changing main courses (most of them meat or fish, and often with an Italian touch) you can order tasty German "tapas" to your liking – warm, cold and sweet – served in a glass as well as dips and bread. None of the courses are fully organic, but many ingredients are, and chances are high that you can combine cleverly if you ask. They offer organic softdrinks, but no organic alcoholic beverages.

In 2022 the Neustadt neigbourhood seems to be the vegan hotspot of the city: Many shops advertise vegan dishes, but most of them use cheap products from industrial agriculture and highly processed conventional food. A notable exception is the Wurzelküche ("root kitchen") using organic and regional produce as much as possible. Many greens come from communal allotments and urban agriculture projects in Dresden (e.g. at the Japanese Palace) which are not organically certified but work according to principles of sustainable, agro-chemistry-free farming. The place closes too early for dinner, but salads, bowls, wraps and potatoes with a vegan alternative to cottage-cheese in different varieties are lunch stuff anyway. Raw and baked cakes as well as ice-cream cater for the sweet tooth.

Out of town

If you take the urban train number 2 from the Neustadt train station, either on the way to the airport or to a stroll in the woods of Dresdner Heide, get off Bahnhof Klotzsche (one stop before the airport) and have breakfast, lunch, tea or a snack in its 110 years old railway station. Since the folks of Vorwerk Podemus took over and restored the historical building in 2015 it has been home to a bicycle shop, an artist's studio, an organic supermarket, and the now fully organic station restaurant dubbed Bio-Bahnhofswirtschaft with its pleasant beergarden. Travellers and ramblers may be glad to hear that they can fetch an organic breakfast or packed lunch on the go, though unfortunately not on Sundays as the restaurant is closed that day.

The vineyards on the slopes of the river Elbe around Dresden form Europe's smallest, most northern wine region, and fortunately the Saxon state winery of Hoflößnitz in Radebeul turned organic. The small town located west of Dresden on the northern shore of the river is famous for the writer of travel fiction, Karl May and its Museum of North American Indian Culture and can be reached easily, both by urban train, tram no. 4 and bicycle. Follow the Elberadweg cycle route on the southern shore, cross the bridge at Niederwartha and turn back east on the northern shore cycle route through Radebeul until you find signposts pointing to the vineyards on the hill.

The Hoflößnitz winery has a small self-service restaurant, the Hoflößnitzer Weinterasse, with an outdoor seating area shaded by horsechestnut trees from where you have a great view over the grapewines and the valley while tasting the local wines. All wines, but not all the food are organic: Your best choice is the "Winzerplatte" – home-made white bread with pickles, a little salad and a number of spreads of your choice of which the bread and the vegan spreads are organic. There's also a small museum with information on all Saxon wineries and a wine shop where you can buy their products, mainly white and sparkling wines. Stick to Hoflößnitz for organic ones.

• Planwirtschaft, Louisenstr. 20, Tue-Sat 17–24
• Lila Soße, Alaunstr. 70, Mon–Fri(Sat–Sun,PH) 16(12)–22
• Wurzelküche, Alaunstr. 11, Mon–Sat 9–19
• Bio-Bahnhofswirtschaft Bahnhof Klotzsche, Zur Neuen Brücke 4a, Mon–Sat 11–18
• Hoflößnitzer Weinterasse, Knohllweg 37, Radebeul, Apr–Dec Tue–Sun,PH 12-18 or longer depending on the weather

No longer organic

In 2012, when the Mensa U-Boot ("submarine") on the campus of the Technical University on the campus of the Technical University was opened after major refurbishment work it was re-opened as a fully organic students' refectory offering one vegetarian and one omnivore meal at a very competitive price. All food and drinks at that time were certified organic. Unfortunately this is no longer the case in 2022: Given low frequent visits during the Corona pandemic the staff decided to not prolong their organic certification and turn to cheaper ingredients.

• Biomensa U-Boot, Potthoff building basement, Hettnerstr. 3

Closed

The following places ceased to exist, although you still may find references to them on the web:

• Lilisou, Louisenstr. 58 (vegetarian, burgers, soups, curries)
• Lingner, Lingnerpl. 1 (German, international)
• ElectricLotus, Louisenstr. 58 (vegetarian, ayurvedic, Indian)
• Abutheke, Alaunstr. 68a (Middle-Eastern)
• roots, Hauptstr. 35 (vegan fast food)

Munich: (Partially) organic burger grills

Burger restaurants have been trending for years, and there's still no end in sight. Most of them advertise with buzzwords like hand-made, home-made, regional and vegan, and often the quality is ways better than in the standardized mass production of American chains. But to tell greenwashing from honest interest in healthier and sustainable food the patties are key – are they made from organic meat or vegetables?

The organic burger pioneer in Munich was Cosmo-Grill opposite the Bayrische Staatsoper opera house. Tucked away in the the basement of a backyard you entered a Startrek like spaceship. Unfortunately quality and the percentage of organic ingredients diminished with the years, and the place disappeared in 2019.

In 2022 the second oldest organic burger place is Holy Burger in Haidhausen disappeared which successfully took over a location with a long history of serving organic lunch near Bordeauxplatz. I hope its sucessor won't break with the tradition of serving organic food at this address.

The Holy Burger founders separated around 2018, and the Neuhausen Holy Burger branch changed its name to Goldene Rakete. The "golden rocket" started with three branches, with the flagship decorated with film posters in 70-ies style in Glockenbachviertel: Before corona this place was crowded and almost painfully noisy even on weekday evenings – don't come here if you actually want to converse with friends. The place does not only serve burgers (where it still sticks more or less to the Holy Burger menu), but also bowls, and salads. All meat, the seitan and chickpeas patties as well as the milk for the coffee drinks are organic. Unsurprisingly they also offer fashionable home-made lemonades (not organic). If you are in the mood for wine, gin and tonics you have organic options which are clearly marked "bio" on the menu. In addition the Aqua Monaco soft drinks and the Mondino vermouth are organic, too. On weekends the Glockenbach branch also offers breakfast.

• Goldene Rakete, Fraunhofer Str. 39, Sun–Thu(Fri–Sat) 11:30–24(2), Sat–Sun 9:30–15, during covid-19 daily 12–14:30,17–21
• Goldene Rakete, Ursulastr. 3, Mon–Thu(Fri–Sat) 12–23(24), Sun 15–22, during covid-19 daily 12–14:30,17–21
• Goldene Rakete, Schulstr. 2, Sun–Thu(Fri–Sat) 11:30–23(24), during covid-19 daily 12–14:30,17–21

Closed

• Cosmogrill, Maximilianstr. 10 (entrance via Falkenturmstr.
• Holy Burger, Wörthstr. 7

Organic Esslingen: Eat & sleep

Ever wanted to stay in a bicycle-friendly hotel that produces its electricity itself with its own water power plant? Surrounded by the Esslingen university campus on the entrance side and the Hammerkanal, a side channel of the Neckar river, at the back the EcoInn makes a perfect over-night stop for cyclists on the Neckar valley bicycle route running from Mannheim to Villingen-Schwenningen. It is not only a sustainably driven hotel (with many certificates and memberships in organisations for the common good), but, for groups and families, also offers its services as a eco hostel at special conditions on request.

For my stay I got a basic, easy to (steam-)clean room in the part of the house which probably is given to hostel guests, painted with organic colours and decorated with a climate-neutral photo wallpaper. Despite its austerity the room, among others due to the absence of synthetic carpets and cushions and the use of healthy, sustainable materials felt comfy and welcoming. The towels are made from organic cotton.

Unfortunately the breakfast is not fully organic: You can have organic eggs, tea (though no green variety), chocolate and fruit spread, bread, milk and soy yoghurt, inside or on an outdoor terrace over the Neckar channel.

The hotel does not have a regular restaurant but welcomes external guests for breakfast and opens a pop-up buffet restaurant every third Friday of a month: The vegetarian Delicantina partially uses organic ingredients, though the overall focus is on regional produce.

In general city life seems to begin on Wednesdays in Esslingen: When I came hereMonday through Tuesday with a small itinerary of partially organic (day) cafes, I found most of them closed, so unfortunately all descriptions below (except for one) are based on upfront research and a view from the outside, confirming the existance and general appearance of the place.

Prior to arrival, I was especially looking forward to have organic coffee and cake or tart at Fräulein Margot, and indeed, on another day of the week it would probably have been fun to watch passers-by in the pedestrian area.

Second on my list was the day cafe Entenmanns on Rathausplatz, an organically certified place offering salads, bowls, and Swabian Maultaschen. This filled local pasta originally is a vegetarian dish, at times using left-overs of Sunday meat. Locals lovingly refer to it as "Herrgottsb'scheißerle" ("little Lord God's fuck over"). The name refers to when the meat-containing version was eaten during the meat-prohibit of lent. I would have loved to have this dish here, simply to do justice to it as its inferior (and throughout Germany omnipresent) industrial version comes with highly processed usually industry-meat based fillings. Much of the ingredients they use at Entenmanns are produce of their own market garden which currently is in the conversion period to certified organic agriculture.

To the rescue on Mondays and Tuesdays comes Brot & Cafe. However, don't expect gourmet coffee from this self-service eatery to the right of the Naturgut: Despite the separate entrance it also serves as the supermarket's bakery till. Given the vicinity to the university campus I expected to see a lot of students, but as the campus itself seemed deserted (probably due to pandemic online courses) the cafe was, too.

Since the reason of my stay didn't leave me with the opportunity to eat out on my own I did not have time to try one of the first organically certified restaurants in the greater Stuttgart region, simply dubbed Kitchen. Wholeheartedly catering to both, omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans using predominantly regional produce according to the season, they also describe themselves as zero-waste supporters. So I really would have loved to eat out here (or in their sister restaurant in Böblingen) – if you have the chance let me know about what you think.

• EcoInn, Kanalstr. 14–16
• Delicantina inside EcoInn, Kanalstr. 14–16 , every 3rd Fri of a month 17:30–20:30
• Fräulein Margot, Unterer Metzgerbach 14 , Wed–Sat(Sun) 9–18(17)
• Brot & Cafe , Adlerstr. 6 (inside Alte Feuerwache), Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–20(18)
• Entenmanns, Rathausplatz 6 , Wed–Sun 9:30–18
• Kitchen, Neckarstr. 7 , Mon–Thu(Fri–Sat) 17–22(23)

In and around the Euganean Hills: Organic farmstays

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.

• Agriturismo La Buona Terra, Via Repoise, 73, Cervarese S. Croce
• Ca' Orologio, Via Ca' Orologio, 7a, Baone

Organic Augsburg: Eat & sleep

One of the oldest cities in Germany, with roots back in Roman history, a rich medieval history – including the world's oldest intact social housing project, the Fuggerei –, and the birthplace of Bertolt Brecht, one of the most influential writers in modern theatre, Augsburg is without doubt worth a visit. Conveniently located on the railway tracks between Munich and Nuremberg, urban trains ("Regionalbahn"/"Regionalexpress") from Munich central station depart twice an hour (at day time) and can be used with the Bayernticket flat-rate ticket for Bavaria which is the budget option if you plan to travel from and to Munich on one day (one way takes about 45 minutes). Augsburg is also an ICE/IC train stop: These high velocity trains will save you about a quarter of an hour on this route, but tickets usually come at a significantly higher price.

If you plan to stay overnight there's a pleasant fully organic hotel about three kilometers from the main train station, the Bayerischer Wirt, a certified Bio Hotel in the suburb of Lechhausen, yet easily accessible by tram and bus or bike. Although the hotel is located directly at a noisy main road, the outdoor seating area in the backyard is a peaceful oasis. The hotel restaurant serves Bavarian meat and fish dishes as well as internationally inspired vegetarian ones – with varying results: While the roasted meat was perfectly done (rare as requested, caramelized yet melting), and served with the most delicate onion crisps I've ever tasted, the strips of veal in mustard cream were quite bland and uninspired – health food with boringly blanched veges and saltless (though home-made) spaetzle. Instead of ordering bottled mineral water you may fetch tap water from the water dispenser at no cost. Needless to say that all drinks are organic, too, and the aperitifs were a pleasant refreshment in the summer heat. The dessert menu is quite limited – prefab organic ice-cream, home-made cakes and a parfait when I visited.

If a healthy local kitchen with liberal opening hours does not satisfy your expectations of a city vacation, there are two promising day cafes easily reachable for cyclists on the way from the main station to Lechhausen: Café Himmelgrün near the banks of the river Lech in Berliner Allee serves fully organic breakfast, lunch, coffee and cakes, and you can also find sustainable gifts and nice things. The cafe is run by Augsburg-based organic bakery Schubert – you may have come across the name at the bakery counters of organic supermarkets, both in Munich, Nuremberg and elsewhere in Bavaria.

In front of the cafe's outdoor area the bakery has installed a mobile sales booth for bread, snacks and cakes of yesterday's production, from the quality control desks, with short best-before date or small blemishes, all sold at low fixed prices: A kilogram of bread for example comes at 3 EUR, yesterday's savoury snacks at 1 EUR the piece, and six pieces of cake at 7 EUR. Customers are encouraged to reduce waste and take home their purchase in their own bags or boxes. Unfortunately the booth dubbed Grünfux deluxe is closed in the afternoon as well as on Mondays and on weekends.

Augsburg's long history of textile fabric production, print and trade is reflected in the Bavarian State Textile and Industry Museum, less than 10 minutes from the inner city hotspot Königsplatz by tram no. 6. The museum's cafe dubbed nunó (from the Japanese word for "cloth") is not only a charming spot in an impressive industrial building of a former spinning mill, but also predominantly and certified organic, serving light and internationally inspired lunch, breakfast and Sunday brunch, and of course a recreational coffee. Meat, bread, veges, and eggs are reliably organic and of regional origin if possible while drinks at the bar are still predominantly conventional. As most museums the place is closed on Mondays and – except for special occasions – in the evenings.

If you are so unfortunate to strand before closed doors the next organic supermarket with a small bistro – a branch of the Denn's Biomarkt chain – is located in walking distance.

Inner city

My absolute favourite for meeting friends or family is the cosy day cafe and bar Dreizehn within the Kresslesmühle cultural centre. The food is 100 percent vegan, properly seasoned and absolutely delicious. There's a daily changing special meal (a marvellously filling mushroom-spiced polenta with ratatouille, fried organic tofu crumbles and salad when I was there) in addition to the small standard menu. Unfortunately it's not possible to have breakfast yet, and when you cannot sit outside next to the old mill stream due to weather conditions it's advisable to book a table.

In the backyard of St. Anne's church, the Annahof next to the fenced city market, the church parish gives host to a lively all-day cafe restaurant cum bar dubbed Anna with a great outdoor area, which is open in the evenings, too. The place serves lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch inspired by international kitchens. Once it was certified organic, but since it no longer is the restaurant is not allowed to advertise with organic ingredients. Nevertheless the managing director assured me that they were still using as much organic produce as before: both eggs, milk and most fruit come from organic farms and distributors in the vicinity. On the menu you'll find organic beer (Lammsbräu), on occasions organic wine (ask for it), lemonade (charitea) and ice-tea. For breakfast you can have organic crunchy cereals, and the bread comes from the Schubert bakery. Unfortunately meat products usually aren't organic. During the warm season the cafe sells organic ice-cream to take away in a biscuit cone, delivered by the Cramer's confectioner's. Only plain flavours like vanilla, chocolate, plan hazelnut and lemon were available in July 2019, the scoop at 1.50 EUR.

For a light vegan lunch bowl or a smoothie stop by 100 percent organic ice-cream shop Juice 'n Cream in the Ulrichsviertel neighbourhood.

If you are in the mood for a pizza there's a branch of the partially organic NineOFive chain at Fuggerplatz.

For a no-frills coffee, snack or lunch you may also head for the self-service cafe at the city branch of the Basic organic supermarket chain between the state theatre and the cathedral.

Want a liquid give-a-away or treat yourself with a good bottle of organic wine or high-quality juice? Uli Scheffler Weinhandel in the Bismarckviertel is one of those small owner-run shops that create the soul of a city: Describe your occasion, and Uli will come up with a suggestion for you that (as to my taste and knowledge) will work (and taste) perfectly. While the shop keeps open on Saturdays you'll have to go without his advice as you'll find Uli at the Mariahilf farmers' market in Munich on that day of the week.

Around the main train station – bakeries and package-free

For last minute travel provisions you can buy an organic snack or sandwich at the Hofpfisterei bakery branch five minutes from the main train station. Unfortunately it's closed both on Saturdays and Sundays.

If you have some more time the city's package-free supermarket Ruta Natur is located no more than 10 minutes from the train station, directly on the way to the Stadtmarkt market place.

Alternatively you may proceed to the Schubert branch at the tram hub of Königsplatz. There used to be a serviced day cafe but after some reconstruction work the area of the bakery shop has diminished to the sales counter and a small self-service area where you may sit down with a sandwich or snack. When the weather is nice there are also chairs and tables outside. The coffee drinks from the automatic machine could taste better, but everything is organic.

There's another Schubert branch inside the city market, around the corner from St. Anne's church (and you'll find another Hofpfisterei branch there, too).

Sunday-open in Hochzoll

To buy fresh bread, rolls or cake on a Sunday morning you have to commute to 12-Apostel-Platz in Augsburg-Hochzoll where the only Sunday-open Schubert branch is located. It also sports a cafe, most suitable on weekdays, though.

• Bayerischer Wirt, Neuburger Str. 122, Mon–Sat(Sun, PH) 7–23(15), warm kitchen Thu–Mon, PH 11:30–14, Mon-Sat 18–21:30
• Himmelgrün, Am alten Schlachthof 9, Mon–Fri(Sat–Sun) 7(8)–18(17)
• Schuberts Grünfux deluxe, Am alten Schlachthof 9, Tue–Fri 9–13
• nunó, Provinostr. 46, Tue–Sun 10–17
• Denn's Biomarkt, Oberbürgermeister-Hohner-Str. 1a, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Dreizehn, Barfüßerstr. 4, daily 9–22
• Anna Café, Im Annahof 4 , Mon(Tue–Sat) 9–18(23), every first Sun of a month brunch 9–14
• NineOFive, Fuggerpl. 9, Sun–Thu(Sat) 17(12)–22
• Basic, Ludwigstr. 2, Mon–Sat 8–20, bakery and bistro from 7 am
• Uli Scheffler Weinhandel, Neidhartstr. 25 (entrance Bismarckstr.), Tue–Fri(Sat) 10–19(16)
• Ruta Natur, Prinzregentenstr. 7, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–18:30(15), four saturdays before Christmas 2022 10–16
• Bäckerei Schubert, Am Königsplatz, Mon–Sat 7–19
• Bäckerei Schubert im Stadtmarkt, baker row, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7–18(14)
• Bäckerei Schubert 12-Apostel-Platz, Münchner Str. 18, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7–18(12:30), Sun 8–11
• Hofpfisterei, Bahnhofstr. 24, Mon–Fri 8–18
• Hofpfisterei Stadtmarkt, baker row, booth no. C4-C5, Mon–Thu(Fri) 8:30(7:45)–18, Sar 7:30–14

More on Augsburg

• Ice-cream

Closed

• Lokalhelden, Bleigässchen 2, (vegetarian and vegan restaurant)
• Mom's Table, Maximilianstr. 77 (vegan restaurant)
• Schwarze Kiste, Gögginger Str. 26
• Sowieso, Schießgrabenstr. 4 (organic restaurant and cafe, social enterprise)
• Färberei, Färbergäßchen 5 (restaurant), replaced by partially organic winery and bar Tante Frizzante und Herr Brand, Tue–Thu(Fri) 17(16)–23(1),Sat 12–1