August 29, 2010
When Vegans Eat Out: Am Nordpol

Vegan food pops up at the strangest places sometimes. When a couple of people mentioned that Am Nordpol, a Gasthaus (inn) that serves Bohemian and Austrian home cooking, was offering a vegan fixed menu, we knew we had to head over to Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Vienna, and see for ourselves!
The three-course fixed menu runs at 10,50€ for a small and 14,50€ for the large version; I had the large and was extremely full afterwards. 
You get toasted dark bread with a flavourful red bell pepper topping as a starter, dumplings filled with minced soy meat and a generous side salad as the main course and an Austrian favourite, Mohnnudeln, as the dessert. 

     

Except for dessert, which we would have liked a lot sweeter and not as buried under poppy seeds, food was great and definitely worth the trip. Service was slow as heck and waits between courses were way too long. When we mentioned the 30 minutes wait between second and third course, we were blamed for not reminding the waitress. okay…
I forgive Am Nordpol and will definitely return again in a few months.

Am Nordpol’s website 

Reviews on Tupalo.com

August 23, 2010
This Sunday’s food coma was brought to us by Schillinger

I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

     

‘nuff said!

August 18, 2010
Vegan Chai Muffins in August/September Issue of Jamie Magazine

Look, what we came across in the current issue (# 12) of our favourite guilty pleasure, Jamie (as in Oliver) Magazine: a recipe for Chai Muffins! It’s always fun and strange to come across veganism in mainstream media. 
Since not all of us can or want to spend a lot of money for a pretty food magazine, I will hook you up with the recipe. Go metric!

Chai Muffins 

makes 12

  • 75ml groundnut oil
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 175g plain flour
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • A pinch of grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom seeds
  • 300g apple sauce
  • Cinnamon sticks, crumbled, to decorate (optional)

Spicy icing

  • 4 chai tea bags
  • 200g sugar
  • 250g margarine 

1 Preheat the oven to 190/gas 5. In a bowl, thoroughly combine the oil and sugar. Add all the remaining dry ingredients, plus a pinch of salt, and mix well. Stir in the apple sauce. Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cases and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden. Transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool.
2 For the icing, put the tea bags in 200ml boiling water. After 15 minutes remove the bags and stir in the sugar. Bring to a boil, without stirring, then simmer for 5-8 minutes. Leave to cool, then beat into the margarine. Refrigerate the icing to firm up, then spread over the cooled muffins. Decorate with crumbled cinnamon sticks, if desired.

from: http://www.jamieoliver.com/magazine/


August 17, 2010
short piece on "Eating Animals" on Austrian TV

Austrian TV showed a short report and interview with the writer Jonathan Safran Foer. The piece isn’t great but it is always good to get the message out to an mainstream audience. German only, sorry!

August 16, 2010
Well, looky here… healthy fast food joint Freshii to open in Vienna!

seems like a healthy fast food restaurant made it over the pond and will open a few locations in Vienna this summer.

& freshii seems pretty vegan-friendly, too. we cannot wait to check out what they (might) have to offer for us!

photo taken from freshii’s flickr stream

August 16, 2010
Joe Zee’s column in the July issue of Elle Magazine caught our attention.


Excerpt from Joe Zee’s column in Elle Magazine :

Second, in the midst of this mad scenery, he showed an entire collection of rich, luxurious fur. Fur for women, fur for men. Fur coats, fur trims, fur booties, even Chewbacca-style gorilla suits for guys. But here’s the Karl catch: It was all fake. Bravo to this bold political statement! Still, I was more fascinated by the fashion statement, which echoes a belief I’ve held for years: It’s okay—in fact, it’s totally chic—to fake it.


Even though Mr. Zee’s motives are (mostly) whack - fake it! … until you can afford the real deal - we cannot help feeling slightly hopeful that Mr Karl “Disgusting Sizeist” Lagerfeld might kick off a much needed step away from fashion’s disgusting fur=luxury and totally ok!-trend of the last couple of years. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

August 7, 2010
Japanese Soy Ice Cream by Kracie.

None other than my vegetarian mother found Japanese vegan ice cream at the Korean supermarket, Nakwon, the other day. We sampled chocolate and vanilla and really enjoyed all the creamy goodness. I’ll have to get back to you about how much one small tub is, but whatever the price, it’ll be worth it. 

Thanks, mom!

Kracie’s website

Nakwon’s website

Nakwon reviews on Tupalo.com

August 4, 2010

August 2, 2010
Keep Shoes Sale at Stil Laden!

you have one more week to pick up a pair of cheap (minus 60%!) vegan sneakers. they are comfy and super stylish, to boot! and did I mention 60% off?

Stil Laden homepage

Reviews on Tupalo

August 1, 2010
this and that: morsels of information

  • wanna look all pretty and no longer lose sleep over whether your make up is vegan-friendly or not? Melisser, of The Urban Housewife fame, comes to the rescue with Cruelty Free Face
  • this is old news by now but this can not be repeated enough: Catalonia bans bullfighting!! Let’s hope the rest of Spain follows!
  • the former first daughter Chelsea Clinton is getting married and we care because the affair will be (almost all) vegan. 
  • We like Ed Templeton and we like reading about what all he and his wife eat on their many travels. Here’s their vegan food blog!

July 31, 2010
for the vegan on the go!

this broccoli roll filled with margarine, shredded carrots, leeks, zucchini and soy sprouts makes a mighty fine snack when you are on the go and your stomach is growling. it’s available at the bakery chain Bäckerei Ströck for around 2, 50 € and quite filling.

Ströck can be found here and even has a handy pdf list of all their vegan products online. Enjoy your carbs!

July 19, 2010
cleaning out the Saturday lunch buffet at Xu’s Cooking!

cleaning out the Saturday lunch buffet at Xu’s Cooking!

July 13, 2010
it’s summer at the farmers market

summer means that farmers markets are finally exciting again. we love and don’t wanna knock beets and cabbage but we are definitely ready for lush tomatoes, colourful carrots and fresh herbs and all of their delicious friends.

July 8, 2010
when vegans eat out: Makro1

(don’t call it a comeback!)

I have the tendency to stay away from overly hippie, macrobiotic, health food store-ish type restaurants and what a silly tendency that is. especially if it means that I am missing out on wonderful spots like Makro1.

  

Makro1 serves an all vegan lunch plate with or without a bowl of soup (choose between small or large portion) from 11:30 am to 14:30 pm. Make sure you show up around noon because their food sells out almost daily or call ahead and reserve your lunch.
Portions are very generous and and the lady cooks are charming and very helpful. In summer you can enjoy your lunch plate, that always contains grains, vegetables, a fresh salad, in the garden or join your fellow guests at the big community table inside. 


Make sure to sample some of their desserts before you leave! All cakes and other sweets are also vegan and agave sweetened.

     

See you there! 

Vegetarian Restaurant in Vienna: makro 1 makro 1

June 16, 2010
the soy milk chronicles continued.

one of our favourite cafes in the 7th district has finally a soy milk option and we have been taking advantage of it like woah!

Cafe in Vienna: Cafe Espresso Cafe Espresso

Spirali, a new favourite in the same hood is taking care of the lactose intolerant & vegans, too and we love them for it!

Restaurant in Vienna: Spirali Spirali