Berlin: Organic Kreuzberg

Nowhere in Germany it is easier to adhere to an organic lifestyle than in its capital – provided you aim for appropriately inhabited neighbourhoods all you have to do is to keep your eyes open. Many of those neighbourhoods can be found in the administrative unit of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, and this blog will cover only the tip of the iceberg, i.e. the places I found during a two-days visit. The places covered in the first two sections are all located in Kreuzberg 61, the neighbourhood considered the bourgeouis part of Kreuzberg.

Near Deutsches Technikmuseum

The German Museum of Technology near tube-station Möckernbrücke clearly is a place to spend hours in – but what if you start to feel hungry or the urge for a coffee? For the occasional tourist this wonderful museum seems to be located in the middle of nowhere, but don't dispair! Head East and follow Tempelhofer Ufer back to the tube station, and turn to the right after the second traffic-light. A few steps into Großbeerenstraße you will find an organic gem with roots back in former West-Berlin's green-alternative past. Today it's a friendly though a little worn-out grocery cum eatery dubbed Ökotussi ("eco-Sheila") run by a bunch of practical women. Stop by for a hearty vegetarian (usually vegan) lunch (the vegan lasagna we had was delicious and sufficient for two), a salad or snack or an Italian-style coffee drink.

Around Marheinekeplatz

Follow Zossener Straße from tube-stop Gneisenaustraße in Southern direction, and you'll end up in a neighbourhood that most eco-conscious people will consider the ultimate paradise: three organic (or predominantly organic) whole-sale supermarkets, four organic bakeries, four at minimum partially organic restaurants and eateries, and a number of other shops offering selected organic products, everything within a five minutes walk, all with liberal opening hours compared to the rest of Germany. The eateries of this neighbourhood dubbed Bergmannkiez try to outdo one another in advertising their vegan options – it seems a luxury to point out that vegan even here usually does not imply organic.

Restaurants and eateries

Promenading Bergmannstraße (which makes for the Southern border of Marheinekeplatz) to the West you will find Fratelli La Bionda, a decent Italian pizzeria using organic flour and tomatoes for their pizze. No place for lunch since the restaurant does not open before evening. If you take your seat around the tables on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, opposing a park with a children's playground you will kindly be asked to move inside around half past 9 pm. Since the eateries covered below all close between 8 and 9 pm (or even earlier during the weekend) this place is the only option for your evening out covered in this post.

This nicely restored mall is a Mekka for foodies. Opposite Friesenstraße you will find Piechas Bio-Buffet, a slow-food whole-organic grill. Although vegan and vegetarian dishes are offered, too, their focus is clearly on organic meat, from nose to tail. Arguably Berlin's best beef burgers are served here, and unlike other places they won't cook your meat to death when you forget to order rare. If you want to try Berliner Currywurst (curried sausage) and other German meat dishes at all – so here. Heavily frequented during lunch hours service can be a bit bumpy, and more frequent cleaning of the bar tables would often be nice. You can choose from an impressive range of organic softdrinks, or have beer or very decent cider made from apples organically grown in the wild of Berlin's surroundings. Mayonaise and ketchup for your fries have to be ordered separately.

If you walk around the booth you will find the counter of the organic butcher's shop where you can buy sausages, offal and all the cuts from free-range cattle and pigs kept well at small-scale organic farms in the vicinity and slaughtered respectfully.

Bakeries

Lunch and coffee drinks are also being served by organic bakery Beumer & Lutum, a few steps north on Zossener Straße. If you want your coffee on the go make sure to bring your own mug which entitles you to a small discount. While the two organic bakery boothes within the Marheineke mall – Mehlwurm in the centre of the market hall, and Biobackhaus in the North-Eastern part – are closed on Sundays and open at 8 am, Beumer & Lutum is catering for the early bird Monday through Saturday from 7 am. It also used to keep open on Sundays, but that's past: Due to staff shortness in 2022 the shop is open only on weekday mornings. It offers a small selection of organic food items to complete your breakfast table. The bakery boothes in the mall still have longer opening hours, but do not serve coffee or lunch. Mehlwurm is the first bakery I know of offering an open source bread (with beetroot and walnuts).

For the sweet tooth

Italian-style organic coffee drinks can also be had from the Tanne b ice-cream parlour on the crossing of Zossener and Bergmannstraße. They use organic milk for their all-natural ice-creams served in vegan cones, and offer vegan options, too. Children are served slightly smaller scoops for the price of 80 cents (instead of 1.20 euros for regular servings). In 2019 the ice-cream season has been announced to start 7th March.

Around the corner from Fratelli La Bionda you'll find cosy Cafe Conni Island where you can treat yourself with lovely home-made, partially organic cakes and a coffee drink made with organic milk. The place is run by an artist whom you can hire to paint your walls with art, and since she usually serves herself the opening hours are restricted to afternoons and the second half of the week.

Supermarkets

With a branch of the vegan supermarket chain Veganz on the first floor of Marheineke-Markthalle facing Marheinekeplatz, a branch of Berlin-based organic wholesale chain Bio-Company on Bergmannstraße/Friesenstraße crossing and an Alnatura branch on the East-side of the park, all with liberal opening hours compared to German standards it's hard to find an excuse for not buying organic. The Bio-Company bakery booth even opens for the early bird at 7:30 am.

While both, Alnatura an Bio-Company sell exclusively organically certified items you have to be careful at Veganz: The grocery products and most of the German and Austrian brands on display are organic (and can be found in almost any other organic supermarket), but they also offer a lot of imported vegan products, and a great deal of them are not organic. Unfortunately these are not clearly marked on the shelves, so you should be familiar with organic branding outside the continent. On the plus side this Veganz supermarket introduced self-service dispensers offering more than 80 different dry products waiting to be filled in the containers you brought with you.

Shopping

If you're on a shopping spree or in search for a gift, and the body care sections of the organic supermarkets seem too boring, there's an organic beauty shop dubbed Belladonna in Bergmannstraße. Light and inviting, with a great selection of all kinds of natural creams, body lotions, perfumes, hair care, make-up and much more, both for men and women, this is a must-go for everyone, not just beauty addicts.

Also need new clothes? One of the three Berlin-based shops of the Dresden-based organic fashion and interior design label Tranquillo is located right in the vicinity.

Around Schlesisches Tor

The Japanese go mad about Trippen shoes, and if you go for fairly and eco-consciously produced leather shoes of unusual design (some of the soles alone can be considered art) the Trippen factory outlet near tube stop Schlesisches Tor is definitely worth a visit. Unlike in their stylish flagship store within Hackesche Höfe you have to browse shoe boxes for your size, and all the pairs are remaining stock or have small defects like miscolourings. In return prices are well below usual market price. You will find children's, women's and men's shoes (even the ones better described as sculptures are astonishingly comfy), and the staff is very helpful.

Kreuzberg 36

One of the many organic groceries turned partially organic eateries and delis is Der Milchladen ("The milk shop") near tube stop Moritzplatz. In the heart of what is dubbed the wild and autonomous migrant Kreuzberg you can have a hearty lunch, sandwiches, coffee and (cheese) cake as well as breakfast, vegan, vegetarian and omnivore.

The place is situated a few steps from the flagship store of one of the oldest eco-conscious Berlin fashion labels, Luzifer in Oranienstraße. All their clothes are made of linen and hemp, and unlike other labels they don't have short-lived collections: If you wore out your favourite dress, shirt or pair of trousers, you will usually be able to buy a replacement. When my favourite dress (of which I had two copies) after ten years continous use had too many holes they happily made a new one of the good parts for a very competitive price. They offer both, a men's and a women's collection, and you will often be served a tisane or a cookie in their light and friendly showroom.

• Ökotussi, Großbeerenstr. 11, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7(9)–18(14)
• Fratelli La Bionda, Bergmannstr. 31, daily 18–01
• Piechas Bio-Buffet, Marheinekepl. 15, Stand 13, Mon–Fri(Sat) 11–20(18)
• Beumer & Lutum, Zossener Str. 34, Mon–Sat 7–13
• Biobackhaus, Marheinekepl. 15, Stand 69, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–20(18)
• Mehlwurm, Marheinekepl. 15, Stand 10, Mon–Fri 8–20(18)
• Tanne B., Marheinekepl. 15, Stand 29, daily 11–22
• Cafe Conni Island, Heimstr. 24, Fri–Sun 12–18:30
• Veganz, Marheinekepl. 15, 1st floor, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8–20(18)
• Bio Company, Friesenstr. 1, Mon–Sat 8–21
• Alnatura, Schleiermacherstr. 25, Mon–Sat 8–21
• Singles & Samples by Trippen, Köpenicker Str. 187–188, Mon–Sat 10–18
• Tranquillo, Bergmannstr. 101, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–20(19)
• Belladonna Naturkosmetik, Bergmannstr. 107, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–19(18)
• Der Milchladen, Dresdener Str. 20, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8(11)–19(16)
• Luzifer, Oranienstr. 169, Mon–Sat 10–18

Shut down

The following places are closed for good:

• Doçura Chocolate, Zossener Str. 20 (partially organic confectioner's store)
• Glück to go, Friesenstr. 26 (cafe)
• Goodies, Marheinekepl. 15, 1st floor (vegan cafe)
• The Bowl, Marheinekepl. 15, 1st floor (eatery)
• Schulz&Korn, Köpenicker Str. 190 (organic groery store cum eatery)

Verona: Organic cafes, restaurants and eateries

Meat-lovers, be brave in Verona: All the places I found serving organic food are vegetarian or even vegan.

Piu Gusto Bio offers organic breakfast, health food for lunch as well as coffee and cake. They have outdoor seating on the main street, so unless the corona virus forces you to avoid closed rooms it's nicer to sit inside in the pleasantly decorated air-conditioned cafe. For lunch there are tasty sandwiches and daily changing plates with wholefood preparations inspired by the suggestions of the Havard School of Public Health for a healthy eating plate. Around 2pm choice was limited, but the broiled zucchini and fennel, the aubergine-bean mixture and the falafel-style bean balls were very nice and not as bland as health food often uses to be. All food is vegetarian, most of it vegan. While the coffee was nice (well, it's Italy after all), the chocolate cake was dry and crumbly.

More to try

Satisfied there was no need to proceed to the Ziga bar north of the Adige river, in the neighbourhood of Borgo Trento which promises a little more elaborated vegetarian, though only partially organic lunch and dinner, natural wines and organic beer.

For vegan sweets, coffee, a soup or savoury snack I have Dulcamara bakery cum self-service day cafe on my list, but my time between two trains did not allow for more than one lunch and an ice-cream.

For vegan organic pizza and pasta try La Laterna. Their signature dish is bigoli (thick "spaghetti-like" pasta) alla carbonara, and I'm curious how they interpret this rather un-vegan recipe in a vegan style.

• Piu Gusto Bio, Stradone Porta Palio, 36, Mon–Fri(Sat) 7:30(9)–15 until end of September, Sat closed in August
• Ziga, Via IV Novembre, 1/B, daily 11–15:30, 19–22:30
• Dulcamara, Via Francesco Berni 7, Tue–Sat 9–15
• La Lanterna, Piazzetta Portichetti 6, daily 12:30–15, 19–23

Probably closed

Some years ago I found the following pizzeria in Borgo Trento on the web, but all references to opening hours have been gone, so I suppose that the place shut down:

• Pizza al Tòcco, Via Giuseppe Cesare Abba, 13, formerly Tue–Sat 11–14, Tue–Sun 18–22

Verona: Organic ice-cream

My stays in Verona usually fill the time between two legs of a train ride: Sufficient time for a refreshing organic ice-cream in the old town – in the summer 2022 even for lunch – and to shop travel provisions. The most important learning to begin with: 2 pm on a Tuesday afternoon turns out to be the wrong time for a gelato.

My first address is the fully organic ice-cream shop Come una volta ("Just like once upon a time"). When closed the shop, located on a street corner in the old town, looks abandoned, and you may start to feel nervous when a minute before the announced opening hour there's still no light to be seen. Be calm: At the exact hour the shop assistant will arrive, unlock the doors and, within a minute, serve your order: Unusual for an ice-cream parlour the containers with the creamy, well-balanced ice-cream are closed and hidden from the visitor's eyes. Unfortunately the shop is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

If so proceeded to the second best, yet older one: The partially organic ice-cream parlour L'Arte del Gelato has been serving artisanal ice-cream since 2002 using organic sugar, chocolate, mint extract and fruit. The milk is produced by South-Tyrolean farms but not certified organic. I was really looking forward to taste their ice-cream again in 2021 as it had been a lip-smacking creamy experience some years before. But unfortunately I met barred doors, with a display of tempting ice-cream cakes behind since I came there on a Tuesday. In 2022 it seems however that they are back to pre-corona everyday opening hours, but I did not have sufficient time to step by.

On the aforementioned day-trip to Verona I also tried to find Gelateria Natù in the neighbourhood of Santa Croce, with little success which again had to do with a train to catch too soon. Their website was kept up to date until 2020 but I do not know whether they are still serving natural artisanal ice-cream made from organic milk and nuts. Apart from the milk-based varieties there were some vegan fruit flavours and a number of lactose and glutine free nut and chocolate flavours made with rice drink. Besides they use agave syrup instead of sugar. You may also come here for a coffee, pastry or aperitif but I cannot say whether you have organic options here. Note that this place obeys the typical Italian closing time around noon.

• Gelateria biologica "Come una Volta", Via Pellicciai 11, Wed–Sun 14–19:30, from July Wed–Sat 14:30–21:30(23), Sun 14:30–20
• L'Arte del Gelato, Via Leoni 3, Sun–Thu(Fri–Sun) 10:30–23(24)
• Gelateria Natù, Via Giuseppe Verdi 7b, Tue–Sun 8:30–13, daily 15–22

Verona: Zero Waste

So far I haven't found dedicated organic zero-waste shops which sell most of the food items from self-service dispensers in the Veneto yet. Italians are very fond of nice packaging, and even in dedicated organic supermarkets the cashier will helpfully offer you a (bio-degradable) bag. But the times are changing, and declining it will no longer be met with unbelief.

In fact all NaturaSi supermarkets I visited in 2022 and 2021 (namely the ones in Selvazzano Dentro, Abano Terme and the one in Verona's neighbourhood of San Zeno a little North-West of the Porta Nuova train station) not only offer most fruits and vegetables without packing, but also a small selection of dry food from gravity bins which you weigh into your own (pre-weighted) boxes and jars. In addition the San Zeno shop offers loose-weight household detergents to be bought by the gram.

As of NaturaSi's information the same should also apply to the branches in the neighbourhood of Veronetta and in the suburb of San Massimo (which also sports an organic day cafe).

• NaturaSi San Zeno, Via Carlo Pisacane 2/a, Mon-Sat 9-14,16-20, closed Nov 1st and Dec 12th, 2022
• NaturaSi Veronetta, Via Francesco Torbido 11/b, Mon-Sat 9-20
• NaturaSi San Massimo, Corso Milano 110, Mon-Sat 8-20

Lilienthal: Zero-waste

Although located in the state of Lower Saxony the municipality of Lilienthal is not only the terminal stop of Bremen's tram no.4, it's also easily reachable by bicycle from Bremen, e.g. via the car-free Jan-Reiners-Wanderweg. This beautiful bicycle route through the Hollerland (a cultural landscape created by drainage by Dutch settlers around the year 1000) was opened as early as 1970 and partially runs in lieu of the former Jan Reiners train tracks, a steam train line from Bremen to Lilienthal through the moors which was operated between 1900 and 1956.

In Lilienthal make sure to stop by the wonderful farmshop of the organic farm dairy Dehlwes with its milk vending machine. The milk is guaranteed to travel no longer that 10 kilometres on average and is processed here exclusively. Although the shop isn't decidedly zero waste (in fact all other dairy products and the meat in the fridge and freezer are pre-packaged in plastics) the friendly shop assistant will happily fill your bags with bread, rolls and pastries and your boxes and jars with cheese and meat products from the sales counter. All cattle, milk and bakery products as well as mindblowingly fresh veges, fruits and (in summer) berries come from the close region (there's a separate shelf for imported fruit and veges), and – following the nose-to-tail approach – you will also find ready-made meat and offal preparations in glass jars. Just across the street you can pay a visit to the farm's own cows and hens. There used to be a small cafe on the street, the Melkhus, which has been closed since the covid-19 pandemics started in 2020.

One supplying farm to the Dehlwes dairy is the one run by the Kaemena family which has their own 24x7 open milk vending machine.

New in 2021 Lilienthal also sports a spacious, light and clean package-free self-service supermarket, the Kerngeschäft (a pun with the German translation of "core business") on the premises of the former bookstore a few steps off the town's main shopping street, Klosterstraße. During the summer the only fresh veges available were potatoes, but it is not unlikely that There's everything you need of household chemicals (including dish washer tabs by the piece), products for personal hygiene, dry food and fresh dairy products (by the Kaemena farm). Some like locally produced caramels and ketchup aren't organic, clearly visible by the missing word "bio". When I was there in the summer of 2021 the friendly shop owner told me that after the summer holidays opening hours would be increased to 8-18 Mon through Saturday, and there were plans to keep open until 8 pm at least one day per week, possibly on Thursdays.

• Hofladen Dehlwes, Trupe 18, Lilienthal, Mon–Sat 8:30–18:30
• Kerngeschäft, Stadskanaal 1,, Lilienthal, Mon–Sat(Mon,Thu) 8:30–13(18), during summer school holidays Mon,Thu(Tue,Fri,Sat) 9-18(13), summer-closed July 25 through August 10, 2022.