Göttingen: Organic coffee bars and restaurants
Cities with major universities have had organic shops long before the arrival of the big organic supermarkets, and Göttingen doesn't make an exception: Probably the eldest still existing organic cafe in town is Café Inti, serving tapas, sandwiches and small dishes with a Bolivian touch to it, or at least what a students' cafe is offering as such: good and filling due to proper organic ingredients, but far from any ambition for authenticity. The "Inti-Tasche" for example isn't a corn tortilla wrap but a plain white ciabatta-type roll filled with Italian-style antipasti. Needless to say that they offer Italian-style fairly traded coffee drinks (with organic milk from a local farm if you like) and yummy cakes, and what's even better: They serve breakfast until 2pm. A welcoming place all day around if you like places with a liberal collegiate atmosphere whereof there are quite a number in the city.
At the market place Am Wochenmarkt climb the stairs up to lokal neun, a dinner restaurant using preferably organic ingredients from the region. It serves organic burgers and steaks, but also vegan dishes. A pleasant place to enjoy a summer evening on the roof terrace, but unfortunately the cocktails aren't organic. Note that the kitchen already closes at 9pm.
Theatre, comedy, concerts – the Apex near Deutsches Theater stages an interesting blend of cultural entertainment, predominantly in German. From the street the place run by a non-profit association is barely visible if you aren't aware of the address, and I was surprised to find such a spacious rustic restaurant (instead of the small theatre bar I had imagined) after passing the hallway.
The place is neither fully organic nor certified, but many ingredients come from organic farms and producers in the region. Where else would you expect to find a comforting home-made chicken soup (made from organic chicken)? On the menu of the week I was there, I also found wild boar or the yummy shashuka with organic eggs and tomatoes (which I had). In addition to the weekly changing seasonal menu there's a bunch of rustic German or Mediterranean starters and main dishes served regularly, some of them suitable for vegans. The tasty home-made white bread made from organic wheat tasted home-made rather than made by a professional artisanal baker. There's a selection of organic drinks, unfortunately none of the wines. The service (many of them seemed like students) was swift and attentive, and the guests mainly local, of a broad range of ages, my guess would be between 30 and 70.
Film enthusiasts will love the Méliès arthouse cinema inside a former Baptist church on Bürgerstraße. But whether you want to have a snack prior to the film or a simple mediterranean dinner the Bistro Cichon im Méliès is the perfect place if you like cafe bars decorated by film lovers. During the warm season you can sit in the beautiful garden – when it's raining there's also a small greenhouse to keep you dry. While the (vegetarian) food, sweets and non-alcoholic beverages are predominantly organic the selection of organic wines is surprisingly small. The focus is on snacks from the Mediterranean, tasty but not necessarily authentically spiced. Unfortunately the place – just as the "lokal neun" – does neither serve food nor coffee on Sundays and Mondays. However, also on these two days in keeps open to sell prepackaged organic sweet and savoury snacks and cold drinks before the film screenings.
Another vegetarian, vegan-friendly place is the P-Café in the backyard of St. Nikolai church. Here they are highly attentive to allergies, lactose intolerance and gluten-free diets, and wheelchair users are kindly asked to ring the bell at the main entrance facing the narrow lane part of the Nikolaikirchhof. And the best of all: it's 100 percent organic – warm and cold drinks as well as the cakes, breakfast items, salads, soups, sandwiches and wraps. The pleasantly decorated place hosts game nights (Göttingen has quite a tradition for playing board and card games in good old analogue fashion) as well as small concerts and musical sessions, readings and other cultural events. During the warm season you can sit outside, enjoying the church yard. And the best: The place keeps open on Sundays.
Coffee places
If all you want is a coffee shot head for the city's only organic coffee roasters', Contigo. This fair-trade shop not only sells colourful gifts, fashion items, jewelry, organic coffee and chocolates, but sports a beautiful cafe corner serving organic coffee drinks and refreshments. If you choose a capuccino, flat white, latte or espresso macchiato with cow or oat milk, the milk comes in returnable cans from the Naturmilchhof dairy farm about half an hour by bike away.
The farm also supplies milk to the Christian charity cafe Hope next to St. Mary's church (Sankt Marien). As of summer 2024 their window front looks a little dusty due to street construction work in front of the cafe.
The Weltladencafé fair-trade shop cum café near St. Nikolai church is less focused on handicraft. Even without an own roastery it's more café than shop, a homely-bohemian living room with outdoor seating on the footpath when the weather is nice. The place is run by a collective of volunteers, so be nice: They aren't paid to serve you. Come by for a recreational coffee break with coffee from a proper steam-driven espresso machine. Occasionally home-made cakes are being served: Since they are home-made by volunteers I wouldn't expect that they are always made from predominanly organic ingredients. Unfortunately they don't serve savoury snacks, but you may of course buy some fairly traded nuts or chips and consume them at the café.
At the main train stations of bigger German cities you will usually find a franchise serving coffee drinks made with organic milk, either a "Coffee Fellows" shop or, as in Göttingen, a branch of the organic porridge brand "Haferkater". If you have sufficient time insist on having your coffee in an earthenware cup on the spot; returnable cups for a coffee on the go unfortunately require registration with an app. The shop's comparably liberal opening hours make it a good last ressort on Sundays, early mornings or weekdays after 6pm.
Closed
- Dabis Kaffeestube, Rote Str. 39 (coffee house)
2024-09-13 13:00:00 [Goettingen, organic, fair, coffee, tea, breakfast, lunch, dinner, cafe, restaurant, gifts, cinema] [direct link · table of contents]
