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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Friday, 01 June 2018
Half an hour by local train from Abano Terme or about 40 minutes South of Padua the City of Rovigo (first mentioned about 800 ad) invites for a self-guided stroll or at least a visit to its main sight, the octagonal Church of the Rotonda. City life starts at 15:30 pm, and this is exactly the time when the church opens its door to visitors.
Ice-cream parlours
If you arrive earlier Gelateria
Fantasy Accademia comes to the rescue, a 100 percent organic ice-cream parlour.
A serving of ice-cream consists of two flavours, beautifully shaped into a heart, and comes at 2.50 EUR, but you can also have a single flavour on demand at 1.80 EUR. You can also mix a scoop of traditional ice-cream with a scoop of ice-cream mousse (the ricotta mousse -- contrary to the tiramisu one -- is a mouth-watering delight). Another original twist are the vegan ice-cream flavours made with olive oil. The gelateria also sells home-made iced lollies (ghiaccioli), brioches and crepes filled with ice-cream, granite (slushes), and, of course ice-cream cakes.
Fantasy Accademia in fact is the second branch of Fantasy Bio which opened in lieu of a gelateria with a longer history in town but currently is closed due to refurbishment.
Daily necessities
For food, fresh and dried, and other daily necessities head for the local branch of the fully organic NaturaSi supermarket chain.
For more organic body care, cosmetics, detergents and other bathroom items there's a small and well-assorted specialist shop in town, EcoSmile on the way from the train station to the city centre.
Eating out
I could not find any organic bar or eatery open during the day, but in the evening you may try
Pizzeria Mucho Gusto. They use organic flour for the pizza dough, and you can choose between four types: wheat, kamut, spelt and multi-grain. They also sell dry organic pasta for your home cooking. Instead of eating out you may phone in for pizza delivery, either here or at their second branch a little out of town which is delivery and take away only.
2018-06-01 05:30:04
[Rovigo, biologico, organic, vegan, ice-cream, supermarkets, grocery, bodycare, household, pizza]
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Thursday, 24 May 2018
A classical spa town on the foot of the Euganean hills (the "Colli Euganei" in Italian), about ten kilometers south-west of Padua, Abano Terme still oozes of old grandezza. And with an audience interested in health and wellness I'd expected to find more places serving and selling organic food than in other towns of similar size (like nearby Selvazzano Dentro). So in fact this is a somewhat disappointed account on what I found during my half a day long visit -- no restaurants or (Italian) bars, only a
spacious supermarket of the NaturaSi chain and a partially organic ice-cream parlour.
The first, a clean and welcoming place, covers all daily necessities, both in terms of eating, drinking, and hygiene, and offers an abundance of unpackaged fruit and greens. There's also a small number of dispensers for rice and pasta to take home in your own containers. Given that on the web the Padua-based organic restaurant Vegetariamoci can still be found under the same address I hoped for a small cafe, but unfortunately the listing is due to the fact that the Vegetariamoci people run the predecessor organic market dubbed "Bio Emporio" in this location. So no organic coffee or sandwich here.
Fortunately the best ice-cream parlour in town is not far.
Gelateria Panciera uses predominantly local and partially organic ingredients for its delicious artisanal ice-cream and granite (water ice slush). When I was there it turned out to be a coffee lovers dream: coffee granita, coffee ice-cream and a delicate, off-white coffee-cream variety along with many other vegan and dairy flavours. The granita (apart from coffee they offered lime and grapefruit) had a more solid consistency than in other places, and you can also buy organic tisanes. Unfortunately for the foreign visitor not yet fully adapted to Italian customs this family-run place usually won't open until after the traditional siesta. Be aware that also the organic supermarket usually is closed during the hottest hours of the day.
More to try
2018-05-24 09:30:01
[Padova, Padua, Abano_Terme, Colli_Euganei, biologico, organic, zero_waste, ice-cream, supermarkets, grocery]
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Monday, 08 January 2018
An inner-city district to be developed from scratch is the most exciting thing in the life of city planners, and Hamburg's Hafencity with its recently opened Elbphilharmonie concert hall is Europe's biggest inner-city development in modern times. When finished it will consist of ten often quite different neighbourhoods, with many sustainability aspects considered.
If you have the time take part in one of the guided tours (free of charge) or pay a visit to the Sustainability Pavillion Osaka 9. The latter houses a small fair-trade cafe bar dubbed Die kleine Elbfaire where you can have a coffee or soft drink and buy pre-packaged fairly traded sweets.
With its name drawing from the similarity of the words "fair" and "Fähre" ("ferry") the little coffee bar is a spin-off of
Elbfaire, a fair-trade lunch cafe and meeting place with a pleasant backyard run by the ecumenical association of 17 Hamburg-based churches. On weekdays you can come here for an organic vegetarian lunch between
12 am and 14:30 pm, or step by for a fairly traded organic coffee drink together with home-made organic cakes.
Another organic lunch option is the self-service day cafe of the nearby Alnatura supermarket.
Not organic
When looking for healthy organic food in the Hafencity you may be guided to
Greenlovers, a lunch restaurant serving soups, stews, bowls and salads using predominantly locally sourced ingredients. Unfortunately the promising name is misleading since the place does not have an organic agenda. However, I was assured that tofu and eggs always were organic, and if you dare to ask you may occasionally find one or another organic vegetable used in the dishes. There's a second branch near the townhall with longer opening hours, keeping open Monday through Saturday until 7 pm.
2018-01-08 12:30:00
[Hamburg, Hafencity, organic, fair, vegetarian, eatery, cafe, lunch, supermarkets, coffee]
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Saturday, 30 December 2017
Norwegian smalltowns can be a frustrating experience for those used to organic food, hunting-gathering the nation-wide chains as described here. What a surprise when I spent the time waiting for a bus in Steinkjer with a stroll through the town's main street, Kongens gate. Five minutes from the train station you'll find Grønn bølge ("Green Wave"), a small friendly organic convenience store cum day cafe where you not only can buy daily supplies (surprisingly much of it from local producers, including a small selection of fresh seasonal fruit and veges) but also have a smoothie, plain coffee, home-made cookie or seasonal soup. Until 2016 the shop was located in a side street a few steps away.
For a more substantial meal in the afternoon or evening simply cross the street.
Here you'll find Ox Steak House, where you can have grilled or cured beef, burgers (with home-made buns), sausages, and more from free-ranging highland cattle from a small-scale farm about 15 kilometers north-west. The animals are allowed to keep their horns, but neither the farm nor the restaurant is certified organic. The place was however recommended to me by another local farmer in the course of an exchange on free-range and organic farming. You can also order food to take away.
To dine in style at a decidedly committed organic farm you'll have to book in advance and take a taxi 12 kilometers out of town to Bjerkem organic farm and cultural heritage centre. Since September 2017 the farm has been playing host to the new organic gourmet restaurant of acclaimed Norwegian (formerly London-based) chef Kim Tore Sjøbakk, the Experience.
The
tasting menu consisting of 14 courses comes at
1250 NOK per person, together with matching wine and drinks at 2250 NOK. Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to dine there yet, so let me know about your experience.
Closed
- Grønn bølge, Svein Jarls gt. 1 (convenience store)
2017-12-30 14:00:07
[Steinkjer, organic, supermarkets, grocery, eatery, restaurant, burgers, fastfood]
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