All posts tagged: organic

#216 Vegan burger and croque at Sweet Nuts, Kortrijk

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restaurant review #216 – Sweet nuts is a combo of restaurant/lunch place and organic shop (mainly food and body and care products). Well, actually it WAS. A couple of weeks after our visit. Sweet nuts announced its closure (January 2019). I’m posting the review anyway (even if it is only for archival reasons). We were here for lunch during the Christmas holidays. Vegan options are indicated with a label on the menu. As far as we could tell, there were only 3 vegan options available: the vegan burger, a vegan quiche and a vegan croque (toastie) which we had seen noted on the chalkboard in the back. We were already seated a while, but nobody came to take our order. We went to ask at the counter whether we had to order there, but got a rather annoyed reply (yes, I will come in a minute!) The young lady serving us was a bit grumpy. When we ordered the vegan croque she seemed to have no idea. We said it was indicated on the chalkboard and …

Inspiring: pig farmer turns vegan and now grows vegetables

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This is the kind of story that makes me happy. That shows that change is possible! While there is an increasing amount of positive stories about veganism in the media, most of those reports are about the growing number of vegans, vegan celebrities, or the emerging offer of vegan products in shops. So mainly about the consumption side of the story. But the ultimate goal is the abolishment of the use of animals, for food, clothing, entertainment and other purposes. Circussen without animals, food production without the exploitation of animals. It’s not just about getting consumers to choose vegan options, but about getting farmers to practice veganic agriculture.  So their company makes the transition to veganic farming (without the use of animals, and also without animal products such as manure). So that no animals are used and exploited. The story of Swedish farmer Gustaf Söderfeldt is a great example! ‘Humane’ meat Gustaf and his partner Caroline wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and settled on the countryside, where they started …

A look inside organic shop Biodésir, Lisieux (Fr)

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Shop review #40 – Biodesir in Lisieux (Normandy, France) is an organic shop at the edge of the city. It is a reasonably sized store, with lots of parking place in front. We were on holiday in Normandy for a couple of days in June, and we stopped here to buy some bread spreads and crackers for our lunch. I wish we could have bought more products (especially from the cooled section), because there were many products that were ‘new’ to us, and not available in Belgian stores. But since it was also extremely hot during our holiday in Normandy (around 38°) we would not have been able to preserve them till we got home. Please note that it is not a vegan shop, so not all the products on the photos are necessarily vegan. The shop does sell a lot of vegan items that are not so easily found in ‘regular’ shops in France (vegan yoghurt, tempeh, plant based drinks, vegan cheeze, …). Here are some more photos from inside Biodésir, and some vegan products: …

#125 Delicious and beautiful pastry at VG Pâtisserie, Paris

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Restaurant review #125 – shop review #35- VG Pâtisserie is an organic and vegan pastry shop/bistro in Paris. We had seen pictures of their beautiful creations on social media, and definitely did not want to miss this on our visit to Paris a couple of weeks ago! It is located on the east side of town, in between the Place de la Bastille and the famous cemetery Père Lachaise. In the morning, VG Pâtisserie serves breakfast and brunch, in the afternoon only pattisserie. One can also place an order and collect at the shop. We saw a lot of people coming in and collecting their order or buying pastry from the shop (also because it was Father’s Day in France). VG Pâtisserie is a rather small place, with only two seating tables. We were lucky that people from one table just left as we arrived, and we could take a seat. Choice of pastry in the counter was rather limited (3 sorts of pastry), but we were there on a Sunday, the day before their …

A look inside organic shop Origin’O, Louvain

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Shop review #34 – Origin’O is a chain of organic stores in Flanders, with nearly 20 shops spreaded throughout the region. They are not supermarkets, but reasonable sized stores, with most often a good offer of vegan products. There is also an Origin’O is Bruges (see one of the earliest posts on The Bruges Vegan).  The one in Bruges will be moving to a bigger location soon, at the edge of the city (see pic below). Whenever we are visiting another city, we like to check out the vegan and/or organic stores to see what they have on offer. I’ve been to the Origin’O in Louvain (near Brussels) a couple of times before, and on our last visit, I took some pics. Please note that it is not a vegan shop, so not all the products on the photos are necessarily vegan. The shop does sell a lot of vegan items that are not so easily found in ‘regular’ shops (vegan yoghurt, tempeh, chocolates, cakes, toothpaste…). The vegetables and fruits section is in a seperate …

Shopping at organic shop Mordan, Ostend (2)

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Shop review #33 – Mordan is an organic shop in Ostend (at the Belgian coast) and has two locations: the oldest shop is the city center (right next to the main shopping street Kappelestraat) and has been there for decades. The other one is at the edge of Ostend, on the Torhoutsesteenweg (review of this one is here: shop review #16). Mordan now also has a webshop, with free delivery throughout Belgium (for any order above 25€). The shop Mordan has been there as long as I can remember. As I grew up in Ostend (and didn’t live far from it!), I know the shop quite well. Mordan in Ostend is not a vegan shop, but sells many vegan products that you won’t find so easily in ‘regular’ shops. From vegan cheese to chia seeds from coconut oil to vegan chocolate, from vegan bread spreads to vegan desserts. Note: as is the case in many organic shops in Belgium, there is unfortunately also a ‘meat and cheese’ counter: One big difference with the other shop at the Torhoustesteenweg is there is no …

#109 Small lunch at Nomad, Bruges

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restaurant review #109 – Nomad is a new place in the city center of Bruges. It is located at ‘t Zand, near the Noordzandstraat (hence, on the north side of the square). NOMAD stands for No Ordinary Meals And Drinks, and the vegetables they use come from their organic farm just outside of Bruges. I had inquired a couple of months ago whether they have vegan options, and got a positive reply (the vegetarian burger was said to be vegan, but not the bun). I telephoned to make a reservation for lunch and checked again to be sure we could have something vegan. No problem. We were seated at the back of the restaurant, near the toilets, on a small table next to a demi wall, seperating the restaurant from the kitchen. We were there for lunch on a Friday and the place was fully packed (this was shortly after New Year and there seemed to be a large table with a group of colleagues having a New Year’s lunch). Accoustics were very bad and the noise was loud! We …