Published in VegNews September 2009

Nothing spurs the wanderlust quite like a new passport. All those blank pages beckoning you to cover them with colorful stamps from around the world. So often for vegan and vegetarian explorers the question is not ‘where to go’ but ‘where will I eat when I get there.’

At one time international travel seemed synonymous with fruitless restaurant searches, inevitable culinary mishaps and unexpected weight loss. Few vegetarian options existed. Vegan alternatives? You had a greater chance of locating a leprechaun in the Irish countryside than finding a meal without dairy.

Fortunately, a new era has arrived in the international culinary scene. Restaurants across the globe now offer more than the customary mixed-greens salad with balsamic vinegar or pasta with tomato sauce as their vegetarian offerings. Today you can find not only a wealth of vegetarian entrées but also a plethora of vegan and vegetarian establishments dedicated to creative, high quality cuisine. While many are ideal for grabbing a quick bite between sites, there are a select number of world-class restaurants worth jetting across the sea just to try.

With pristine passport in hand and an appetite for adventure as well as extraordinary food we set off on our quest to sample some of the planet’s best vegetarian fare. The journey may be long but the rewards remain numerous. New cities to see, fantastic meals to consume and a slew of coveted passport stamps to collect. What more could an ardent traveler ask for?

Luck o’ the Irish
Tucked away in the energetic, southern seaport city of Cork resides a gem of a restaurant and the Republic of Ireland’s premiere vegetarian destination, Café Paradiso. Listed in the Bridgestone Guides’ 100 Best Restaurants since its opening in 1993, Café Paradiso focuses on delectable, seasonal fare featuring ingredients from local, artisan producers. Here in his cozy, glass-fronted cafe Denis Cotter crafts otherworldly meals that showcase the unique qualities of Irish-grown produce.

“Opening Paradiso was an expression of my interest as a vegetarian, not a marketing technique. With it I wanted to get away from appealing to vegetarians only,” says Cotter, chef, owner, and author of three cookbooks, including Paradiso Seasons, which was short listed for the 2005 James Beard Award for vegetarian/healthy focus books.

Cotter, who grew up in County Cork, trained in London at the whole food vegetarian restaurant Cranks and later lived in New Zealand. By the early ‘90s he found himself back in Ireland and starting Café Paradiso. “In the early days I tried to be really creative. Since then the cooking has evolved to something else; now layered on top of the creativity is the commitment to working with local growers,” says Cotter, who was named Food and Wine’s ‘Chef of the Year’ in 2005.

Because Cotter bases his menu on produce from the region, Café Paradiso’s offerings change with the seasons. Several knock-outs do, however, remain available throughout the year. Such is the case with the sweet chilli-glazed, pan-fried tofu. Floating in a coconut-lemongrass broth on a bed of sweet Chinese greens, the tofu is accompanied by soba noodles and a gingered aduki bean wonton. Dished out in an inviting, deep blue and terra cotta-colored dining room, the food is heaven for the palate and the plate.

Those travelers too satiated to move an inch after dinner have the luxury of staying overnight in Paradiso Rooms. Situated over the restaurant, the three, bright contemporary rooms possess double beds and their own large bathrooms with showers. As an added bonus, overnight guests can enjoy breakfast—think punched-up oatmeal with whiskey sultanas and brown sugar—in the restaurant. Fantastic food and a nifty passport stamp, all courtesy of your trip to Cork and Cafe Paradiso.

Winning Warsaw
Sometimes you find amazing vegetarian cuisine in the most unlikely of spots. Take, for instance, the hip yet elegant, vegetarian mecca Biosfeera. Located in the carnivore-friendly capital of Poland, Biosfeera fills a cavernous void in Warsaw’s restaurant scene. The brainchild of Kasia Jażdżewska and three fellow vegetarians, it opened its doors on March 18, 2005 and has been wowing delighted diners ever since. The long wait in customs will seem worth every minute once you take your first bite of this sleek restaurant’s cutting edge offerings.

Speaking through translator and Biosfeera manager Paula Dziemidowicz, Kasia explains the restaurant’s fresh, wholesome, all-natural world cuisine. “ . . .we wanted to collect our favorite dishes from all over the world, to show how rich, original and diverse the vegetarian cuisine can be. That is why we included Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Arabic, Greek, Hindu, and also Polish dishes, since many traditional Polish courses—pancakes, dumplings, potato pancakes—are vegetarian,” she says.

Similar to Café Paradio, Biosfeera’s menu reflects the bounty of the seasons. In the fall customers line up for pumpkin-curry soup while in the spring and summer chilled avocado soup with black olives and fennel leave diners begging for more. During the winter drinks such as steamy Chai Masala spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and orange flower essence and Five Elements Coffee laced with cardamom, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon help to keep out the cold. Warmer weather calls for such refreshing beverages as freshly squeezed carrot juice, the beetroot and apple-juice Natur-all, and Vegan Dream, a banana-and-tofu cocktail.

Along with these seasonal treats, Biosfeera boasts of palate-pleasing, year-round specialties, all served in a funky dining room adorned by local artwork and awash in shades of red, purple, black, ivory and gold. Cream Revelation, a lentil-coconut-cream soup, and Tortilla Bandita, Mexican wheat-corn pancakes overflowing with red beans and guacamole are sure to satisfy. No matter which entrée you chose, be sure to top off dinner with a sweet slice of vegan whole-meal apple pie with nuts, cane sugar, and cinnamon. Delicious! Biosfeera hosts live music on Friday nights, year-round art exhibits, conferences, parties and private events.

Factor in the ingenious cuisine, hip atmosphere, museum-quality art, and festive, live music and an evening of dining at Biosfeera makes your jaunt to Warsaw all worthwhile.

Roman Holiday
Continents away, in a land renowned for its vegetarian cuisine, intrepid travelers will find an unusual addition to the vibrant culinary scene—Little Italy in India. Opened in 1995 in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) by Umesh Mehta, Little Italy promotes upscale, Italian-inspired, veg meals. With a menu devised by Roman chef Andy Misseri and 40 percent of its ingredients imported from Italy, this sophisticated bistro transports its guests from the shores of the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea to the heart of the Roman Empire.

Awarded the titles “Best Italian Vegetarian Restaurant in India” and “Best Italian Chef” by the government of Italy, Little Italy strives to be as authentic as possible while still utilizing fresh, local produce and appealing to Southern Asian tastes. Thankfully, this lofty goal benefits both natives and tourists alike. All can enjoy such Little Italy favorites as Funghi alla Trapanese, a mélange of roasted mushrooms, minced garlic, and chopped parsley dressed with lemon juice and served with warm Italian bread, or Crochette Patate e Funghi. The latter consists of potatoes mashed and blended with mushrooms and parsley and then rolled in homemade breadcrumbs. Fried until golden brown, Crochette Patate e Funghi is accompanied by a salad.

For Ramakrishna Shastry, who works and resides in the seaside city of Chennai, dining at Little Italy represents a special treat, one that will appeal particularly to American visitors. “The food is excellent, just like what you find in America taste-wise. Plus, there’s a variety of dishes and combinations; choose one dish or mix and match pastas, soups, and so forth. And the waiters are pleasant and serving is fairly quick. A great experience,” he says.

With two non-alcoholic drinks, an appetizer, a soup, two entrees and an additional pasta sauce the bill for two people runs about $30 or 1500 rupees. As far as Indian dining prices go, it’s a bit expensive but well worth every rupee. Since its inception, Little Italy has made a huge splash in India, so immense that 30 branches of the contemporary-styled restaurant have sprung up throughout the country. Dig out your guidebook and apply for that visa. It’s high time to try Italian in India.

Exotic London
Some cynical, world-weary travelers write off London as being “too easy” of a destination. Why endure a long, trans-Atlantic flight just to rub elbows with people who look, talk and live pretty much like North Americans? Save your passport page for a more colorful, enchanting place, they snidely advise.

Obviously, these folks have never dined at The Gate. Housed in a spacious, converted loft in the Hammersmith section of London, this upscale restaurant has been “the” vegetarian hot spot since brothers Adrian and Michael Daniel opened it in December 1989. While the locale may be a residential side street in West London, the feel — and food — of this local, seasonal, vegan-friendly establishment is decidedly hip and exotic.

“The cooking at the Gate reflects the diverse cultural background in which we grew up – what one might call Indo-Iraqi Jewish. Our grandmothers blended Indian and Arabic cuisines with the traditional Jewish food of Shabbat and festivals. It became perfectly natural that Adrian and I should apply the same principles at the restaurant. The food we serve is the food of our childhood, modulated by French and Italian influence,” says Michael, who runs the restaurant with Adrian.

At The Gate the goal is to combine texture, flavor and color for an eye popping, mouth watering outcome. As the creative culinary force, brother Adrian whips up such delights as zucchini flowers stuffed with potato, goat cheese and pine nut filling, plantain fritters, and poached pears in spiced red wine with pistachios and vegan ice cream. In the fall and spring he fashions a wild mushroom feast with edible fungi that he and Michael have foraged. All of his masterpieces are presented in a bright, airy room with a vaulted and windowed ceiling, blond hardwood floor, tables and chairs, fresh floral arrangements and oversized photographs adorning the butter-hued walls.

Indulge in one dinner at The Gate and you’ll understand why celebrities such as Madonna and Stella McCartney flock to Hammersmith to check out the restaurant’s latest offerings. Likewise, you’ll see why, thanks to Michael and Adrian Daniels, possessing that London passport stamp doesn’t seem so commonplace.

Istanbul’s Raw Restorative
As soon as your feet hit the crowded streets in Istanbul, you are caught up in the non-stop hustle and bustle of this ancient land. From above the ethereal voices of muezzins call faithful Muslims to prayer five times a day. From the sidewalks smartly dressed merchants implore you to step inside their shops, share some hot tea and buy one of their luxurious, hand-knotted carpets. In the parks men peddle round, sesame seed-dusted rings of bread known as simits to hungry passers-by. People shout. Traffic blares. Music throbs in the air. If only you could slip away from this cacophony and rest for a little while!

At Saf escaping the everyday is what dining is all about. Stationed in the Akatlar Club Sporium and Well-Being Center in the heart of modern Istanbul, Saf serves organic, raw, vegan fare in a modern oasis of healthfulness and tranquility. With an expansive, arced glass wall overlooking the patio and the perfect pairing of rich, earthy tones and natural lighting you feel welcomed and relaxed at once. Settle in at the open bar, which serves organic wine and cocktails, or nestle into one of the deep, cushioned chairs or curved, black banquette and prepare to bask in the calm and creativity of Chef Chad Sarno’s menu.

Heralded by Time Out Istanbul, Today’s Zamam and The Turkish Daily News, the city’s first raw, vegan restaurant serves raw takes on classics from around the globe. Here cauliflower rosettes stand in for arborio rice in risotto while wide zucchini strips trump traditional pasta in pesto pappardelle. Hummus comes from cashews, not chickpeas, and bruschetta gets topped with avocado. In keeping with the raw mandate, most dishes are cooked below 120 degrees Fahrenheit to maintain ideal taste and nutrition.

Why go raw in Istanbul? Besides Saf’s restful atmosphere and delicious, innovative foods, Chad Sarno, Saf’s American chef and founder of Vital Creations LLC and RawChef.com., offers a more scientific reason. As he explained to Today’s Zaman on February 5, 2007, “Since digestive enzymes are destroyed by heat, cooking foods above 120 degrees Fahrenheit completely demolishes their enzymatic content, destroys other nutrients and makes natural oils indigestible.” In other words, for a truly restorative trip to Turkey, drop by Saf for a dinner or two.

True Believer in Tokyo
Occasionally travel takes you not only to another place but to another time. Step inside the restaurant Bon in Tokyo’s quiet, residential district of Hakusan and you will enter a peaceful world of 17th century dining customs. In this elegant, traditional, Japanese-style dwelling Bon specializes in the Zen Buddhist cooking technique fucha ryoki. Introduced to Japan by a traveling Chinese monk in the 1600s, fucha ryoki focuses on a balance of six tastes – bitter, sweet, hot, delicate, salty, sour – and five preparation methods – boiling, grilling, frying, steaming and serving raw. It also works to create harmony and friendship through the sharing of tea and food.

At Bon, which means “Buddhist believer,” guests dine in one of five private rooms, which separately seat up to 10 people. Each room possesses earth toned walls, complimenting tatami mats and a wood-trimmed sliding glass door opening onto a lush, tranquil garden. The Kazuaki family, who started Bon in the early 1960s, built the house as their residence and later transformed it into this serene dining spot.

Meals at Bon begin and end with rich, foamy tea. In between you will enjoy two flavorful soups and six, eight or ten seasonally driven, vegetable-based dishes such as tempura and nimono, boiled vegetables. You also will receive a rich, silky square of chilled sesame tofu, white rice, pickles and fresh fruit. These small, delicate offerings appear in succession and at a measured pace, affording you the luxury of relishing each texture and taste.

The cost to dine at Bon may be steep – between $70 to $100 – but when you’re on holiday, in search of fantastic food, you may need to splash out a bit. Besides, how often do you experience 17th century dining practices in the 21st century? That alone merits another page in your passport.

With a bit of internet sleuthing, guidebook research, and chats with the locals, finding a vegetarian or vegan-friendly restaurant while traveling is not the exasperating quest that it once was. In fact, thanks to the emergence of a group of gifted, innovative, culinary-minded vegetarians, dining out has become a reason to travel. So grab your passport and backpack. We’re headed out to dinner tonight.

Quick Bites
Beyond these exceptional restaurants exists a wealth of top-notch vegetarian eateries in virtually every time zone. For Melbourne, Australia it’s the Vegie Bar. Occupying the corner of Brunswick Street in the funky neighborhood of Fitzroy, the Vegie Bar began as a small vegetarian take-out roughly 16 years ago. Today it’s a sunny, high-ceilinged, vegan-friendly, 150-seat cafe with wooden, communal tables and ample outdoor seating in the summertime. With such large portioned, cooked-to-order options as spicy Singapore noodles with chilies and tofu, a sauté of seasonal greens, tempeh, garlic and ginger over rice and wood-fired Moroccan pizza with a tomato and hummus base, the Vegie Bar lures in hungry locals and healthful eaters seven days a week for lunch and dinner. vegiebar.com.au.

In Rome, Italy Arancia Blu dazzles with dishes inspired by the Mediterranean’s peasant cuisine. Dinner is presented under soft lights and wood ceilings and surrounded by functional wooden wine racks, alluring paintings, and the buzz of university intellectuals. Entrees range from the standard—lasagna with mushrooms, red onions, zucchini and ginger and vegetable couscous — to the sublime — artichoke-potato-mint pie, asparagus meatballs in a sweet Bergamot tea sauce and vegetable dumplings with a spicy coriander dressing. No wonder that Frommer’s claims that Arancia Blu serves Rome’s best vegetarian cuisine. In addition to its expansive dinner menu and willingness to accommodate any dietary need, Arancia Blu offers 250 different wines and assistance with pairing food and drink. arnaciabluroma.com

Nestled in the center of Istanbul, Turkey, Parsifal Vegetarian Restaurant has provided sustenance to weary road warriors for over 15 years. In the upbeat, ochre-walled, blond hardwood-floored cafe a mix of traditional Turkish and French-inspired fare reigns supreme. Dishes such as black-eyed bean salad with walnuts, broccoli gratin, mint and soya burgers, and artichoke dolmas, which are artichokes filled with a mixture of rice, mint, lemon zest and finely chopped nuts, tantalize the taste buds. Good, wholesome cooking from reputedly the only vegan-friendly dining establishment in Istanbul. parsifalde.com

Named for a famous Indian Sikh temple, the Golden Temple in Amsterdam spotlights all-natural, Indian and Middle Eastern foods that ‘encourage the unity of body and mind.’ Along with such customary entrees as vegetable korma, red lentil soup and mezze platters of falafel, hummus, yam curry, and chickpea stew, the Golden Temple concocts a plethora of juice drinks. Concerning their beverage list, the restaurant’s motto is “tell us how you’re feeling and we will blend you a juice to suit your mood.” Popeye Power, a mixture of spinach, celery, apple, cucumber, olive oil and black pepper, and Cooling, Calming, apple, cucumber and mint with a twist of lime and ginger are just two of the rejuvenating non-alcoholic cocktails on tap. restaurantgoldentemple.com.

Based in the affluent neighborhood of Providencia in Santiago, Chile, 28-year-old El Huerto features innovative, all-natural vegetarian food in an unassuming, earth-toned setting. Papaya carpaccio, mushroom pate, gazpacho chilled with avocado and cilantro ice cubes and roasted tofu with sesame enliven a menu brimming with fresh food and ideas. Along with delectable, creative cuisine El Huerto grants its customers inexpensive evening cooking classes dedicated to Thai and Indian techniques. It also hosts yoga courses with certified instructors and occasional live music nights. elhuerto.cl.

[sidebar]
Dining for a Good Cause
Treat yourself to dinner at Biosfeera in Warsaw, Poland and you’ll not only curb your hunger but also fight for the welfare of animals. At Biosfeera diners have the option of donating to Viva! Action for Animals, an international foundation dedicated to ending cruelty to animals. The idea of customers tacking on an additional 10 percent to their bills to help a good cause came from owner Kasia Jażdżewska’s trip to India. There she encountered restaurants practicing this very good deed.

“The well-being of animals and the consciousness around their situation, as well as well-being of all sentient beings, is important for me. We (Biosfeera and Viva! Action for Animals) are, in a sense, in the same team,” says Kasia, who welcomes four-legged guests to her restaurant.

Viva!, which stands for Vegetarians International Voice for Animals, campaigns for the environment as well as animals, educates the public about animal welfare and promotes a vegan lifestyle. Headquartered in Bristol, England, the non-profit organization was founded in 1994 by Juliet Gellatley, who, with the help of Linda McCartney, instituted National Vegetarian Week in England. Additional information about Viva! Action for Animals can be found online at viva.org/uk.

[sidebar]
What a pair!
Determining what wine to serve with a certain dish has troubled both diners and cooks for decades. As vegetarians, we face a unique quandary. Unlike omnivores, we don’t abide by the rule of “red for meat, white for fish.” Red wine for tempeh? White wine for seitan? It’s a mystery.

Not so for Denis Cotter of Cafe Paradiso in Cork, Ireland. For dishes such as his turnip galettes with a reduced red-wine sauce he suggests red. With tofu he goes with Reisling or a Sauvignon. “Because there are so many different flavor combinations in the food, most people come to a compromise with wine,” he says.

Generally, wine experts advise pairing pasta dishes with such reds as Merlot and Shiraz and whites such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. Zinfandels compliment curries and risotto while Fume and Sauvignon Blanc go well with Asian dishes. Foods with a little heat are good partners for a crisp German Reisling.

For vegetables, gravitate toward fruitier reds such as Pinot Noir or a Tuscan Chianti. Steer clear of robust reds, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz, which will overwhelm the veggies. When in doubt, serve white wine. You can’t go wrong with a chilled Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.

© 2009, Kathy Hunt.