European Vegetarian Hotspots

As the count down to the holiday season begins, I find myself craving vegetables more and more.  I think my body knows it needs greens, like part of some sort of pre-holiday-season detox before the impending sugar high of December.  It is certainly not impossible to find vegetarian, organic or vegan food while dining out in Europe, but after travelling with a vegetarian, not to mention my own preference toward a low-meat regime, I will say this: certain countries and cities do it better than others.  Two restaurants that I think should receive attention for their cool vegetarian/vegan concepts that should expand their brand and concept around the continent are:  Juicebar from Milan and Mangolds from Graz.

Originating from two countries that tend to be more meat and carb heavy than vegetable focused in its cuisine, both Juicebar and Mangolds offer veggie-craving customers, fresh, healthy vegetarian and/or vegan options but in two very different ways.

Juicebar is more like a fast food concept and reminds me of a place I used to frequent in Hong Kong (whose name escapes me right now) that was part cafe part fast food, and focused on healthy, vegetarian take away items, and snacks.  At Juicebar in Milan, I had a super juice, a salad with tuna and barley and grabbed a pack of dried fruit and nuts for the road.

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Mangolds on the other hand is like Ikea, meets Whole Foods, mixed with some great typography and branding in a smaller scale format.  I found Mangolds while staying over in Graz because the carpark for Hotel Wiesler was conveniently located across the street from the cafe.  Mangolds is a self-serve salad bar with plates and take away containers where food is charged by weight, with a couple of food stations as well as a coffee bar and desserts.  It is a full sit down restaurant, with a play area for kids, a mini retail section and changing tables for babies in the men’s and women’s washroom (I know this because my male friend confirmed it for me).  The interior is Scandinavian minimalist, with soft lighting, whites and neutrals and light wood.

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vegan pistachio cherry cake

While travelling, I am perpetually on the hunt for interesting retail and restaurant concepts to blog about.  When these concepts happen to be vegetarian or highlight healthy, local, organic or vegetarian food, that is a double bonus for me!

Christmas Market: Linz, Austria

I just returned from a five-day road trip with my fiance and two good friends from Toronto.  We drove from Prague down to Rovinj, Croatia with stops in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Trieste, Italy and Graz and Linz in Austria.  This past weekend marked the start of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas.  Advent in Europe means that Christmas markets are in full swing.  For a European, globe-trotting, pastry loving, person like me, the Advent season, is a blogger’s heaven.  Originating in Germany and Austria, Christmas markets have been adopted by countries all over the continent and are great places for tasting and drinking local specialties and catching a glimpse of local crafts.

This week, en route back to Prague, my entourage and I made a stop in Linz, Austria and spent the morning wandering around the city’s Christmas market in the main square.    On the food side, it was easy to find great Gluhwein, Kartoffel (potato pancakes), Lebkuchen (a German Christmas cookie similar to gingerbread), spiced nuts, Bratwurst and Bauernkrapfen (Austrian/Hungarian yeast doughnuts).   I sampled a spicy, classic, Gluhwein (hot mulled wine) made with red wine, spices and rum, a hot, fried bauernkrapfen with apricot jam and icing sugar, a cookie that was part macaroon and part chocolate mouse with a ginger bottom as well as a marzipan “cigar” dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut.

Of course the most important part of our visit to Linz, was the sampling of Linzer Tort, the oldest cake in the world! We decided to sample this delicacy at Konditorei Jindrak , a bakery that has been in operation since 1929 and is known for its Linzer Torte.   Konditorei Jindrak makes 80,000 of these cakes a year, 79,999 more Linzer Torte than anyone needs to consume in their lifetime, but all jokes aside, their Linzer Tort was delicious.  One of my friends who was travelling with me thought the cake was called the Windsor Tort and was campaigning for a re-name, which I thought was cute.  If you are interested in trying to make your own Linzer Torte and sample the oldest cake in the world, here is an Epicurious version and a recipe from a German recipe site.

The assortment at Konditorei Jindrak

saunas, wellness centres and loyly

I am researching wellness centres and spas today for an upcoming driving trip to Croatia and wanted to write a post about saunas, wellness centres and a fabulous looking space called, Loyly in Portland.

While I am not a neophyte when it comes to spas and spa treatments, I have discovered that spas in Europe are on a whole different level of “spa-ness” than my previous knowledge prior to moving to Prague.  To give you a breakdown, there are your typical city-retail spas and hotel spas and then there are wellness centres.  Wellness centres, from what I gather, are typcially situated on large (like football field-large) , well manicured properties, in picturesque settings, housed across numerous, beautiful, modern buildings offering multi-floor activities for the spa goer or spa entourage such as 5-10 different pools, scented saunas both dry and wet, restaurants, fitness centres, and treatment rooms. You can purchase day passes or a pass for a couple of hours.  It is really quite an experience, if you have never been.

My first experience at Therme Wien, an urban wellness centre in Vienna, Austria, was relaxing, rejuvenating and a bit shocking.  Let it be stated, (and I did not know this before going in), it is 100% normal, to go naked in a spa.  After reading-up on spa etiquette, nudity requirements vary from country to country, but co-ed naked change rooms and saunas are not unusual.  I was a bit startled and entirely unprepared for a situation when I was asked to leave (read: EXIT) a sauna room at Therme Wien, if I didn’t agree to check my bathing suit outside.

After I was through with Therme Wien, I frantically Googled in search for some sort of explanation or justification as to why I was not allowed to sit in a sauna in a bikini and towel.  All the signs in Therme Wien were in German and I could not decipher the instructions, rules and regulations of the spa.  Ooops!  Beginner’s mistake.  These four articles set me straight and gave me a good laugh here, here, here and here.  Etiquette and joking aside, wellness centres are beautifully designed spaces and I was impressed to read about Loyly in Portland, Oregon.  Loyly is a public sauna, that opened just outside Portland, by owner, Jessica Kelso who was inspired by Scandinavian bath houses.  Along with architect, Brendon Farrell, Jessica successfully created a tranquil space for visitors to relax and destress outside the city.  Brilliantly, attached to Loyly is Steam’s after sauna, bar, so you can sweat, unwind and then have a drink and unwind again.

 

Portland Mercury

 

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MPREIS the Coolest Grocery Store

I love grocery shopping.  There is something so satisfying about going down the aisles and looking at fresh produce and products. 

Grocery shopping is even more enjoyable in a nice atmosphere.   I just found this company in Austria called, MPREIS.  It is a grocery store chain and it looks like each outlet is designed by a different architect.  All talented in the design of modern, minimalist structures, these architects just brought grocery shopping and retail to a new level.  How much fun would it be to shop in a store like this?  It’s my heaven!  Please expand to Toronto.

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