They believe in a better world: fairer, more supportive and more sustainable. And they bet on him. That is why they have turned their businesses into private spaces from which to champion respect for animals, health or sustainability. Or all at once. We suggest a walk through some of the restaurants, pastry shops and wine shops in Madrid that do without any product of animal origin to reinvent the world from a place that is not at odds with responsibility or ethics. Until recently, there was a butcher shop (Compassion) and a cheese shop (Vegasaria) in the capital in a vegan version and with a physical store, but one day they decided to move to online life to be more profitable, supply stores and restaurants and achieve more change world. One in which they also enjoyed eating. Because who said that embracing veganism was giving up pure pleasure? Gastronomy also shines here, and it does so with a note.
There is the classic glazed with sugar, the cream-filled ones (chocolate and hazelnut, red fruit jam, banana pudding or brownie) or those covered with delicious and original glazes (raspberry and sprinkles or chocolate, pistachio and smoked salt). . But donuts don't end the offer. Its windows also house the famous New York Rolls, cinnamon rolls, palm trees, croissants and even some savory proposals, such as stuffed bagels. All accompanied by specialty coffee, smoothies or juices.
This is the commitment, to offer a completely vegan experience for those with a sweet tooth, that Delish Vegan Donuts made in 2018, becoming the first artisan donut shop in Madrid. Years later, the initiative brought together two stores (one at c/ Cristo, 3 and the other at c/ Corredera Alta de San Pablo, 12), a workshop and a delivery service on the M-40 (and nationally on certain products). They also make cakes to order in which you can choose the size, the base flavor (chocolate, vanilla, red velvet or rocher) and the filling (vanilla, chocolate and oreo). Totally on demand!
In his workshop, everything is exclusive recipes that do not contain eggs, milk or butter. They only use high-quality plant-based ingredients. To do this, Delish Vegan Donuts works with suppliers who share its values and use ingredients from sustainable and organic sources.
His latest creation (and hamburger nº11) is the Cachopo Burger. The “cachopo” is made with marinated mushrooms (from the day before), dried tomato, melted cured cheese and double batter, with onion confit and creamy cheese sauce, and of course, tomato, lettuce, pickles and a special sauce. It goes inside a brioche ecopan made in the neighborhood of La Latina. This forceful 100% vegetable recipe is made exclusively with natural and unprocessed ingredients. Like everything at Viva Burger (c/ Costanilla de San Andrés, 16), a business run by chef Magdalena Madariaga.
In this vegan-friendly burger paradise, all plant-based meats are made with vegetables: a base of leeks, mushrooms, onions, garlic, beets, carrots, red cabbage, and parsley, plus apple, peanuts, and rolled oats to tie the whole thing together. nature in a unique texture. And all their breads are whole-grain artisans, made with mother yeast, kneaded and baked by the baker in the neighborhood where the restaurant is located. Vegan cheeses are made with coconut oil, gluten and soy free.
Viva Burger also offers salads, wraps, skewers, croquettes, and desserts. Of course, be sure to try other hamburgers such as the Queen (whole wheat bread and seeds, melted cheese, caramelized onion and grilled tomato), the Chingona (corn and spelt bread, with avocado, alfalfa sprouts, pico de gallo and jalapeños) or the Mallorquina (corn and spelt bread, homemade sobrassada, a touch of sweetness from slices of dehydrated figs and crunchy onion).
Ingredients matter: organic flour, raw sugar (unrefined) and authentic Belgian chocolate. The result is a chocolate cake and raspberry mousse. There is also Lemon Pie: with organic lemon cream, Italian meringue and gluten-free artisanal brisa dough (no crushed cookies). These are just two of the proposals, and star products, from the Dolce pastry and bakery
Some sweets come out of his little workshop. Others, Ester, who started this adventure six years ago, orders them from Italian artisan suppliers. Because she comes from there and she has proposed to bring bits of Italy, in the most traditional and healthy way possible (all the products she uses are organic), to her vegan corner in Madrid. This is the case of some special sweets such as Panettone, Pandoro or Colomba, which coexist with palm trees, cupcakes, croissants or cinnamon rolls. If you want a whole cake, it is best to order it 48 hours in advance. You can choose from the type of cake and if you want it with or without gluten, to the sweetener.
From the combination of street food, represented in its hamburgers, with comfort food, through much more elaborate and traditional dishes with surprising combinations and details typical of international haute cuisine, the Vegan Greenhouse District was born in 2022 (c/ Conde de Romanones, 10), the result of the merger of three restaurants: Distrito Vegano, La Modernista and La Tía Carlota.
In this way, chef Pablo Donoso brought together his kitchen in a single space, with the goal of always: “veganizing” Spanish and international cuisine with dishes such as his Boeuf Bourguignon (vegetable soy meat, cooked over low heat with wine and brandy , seasonal vegetables, mushrooms and bacon), Lacón a la Gallega, Criolla Potatoes, Vacalao (yes, with V) al Pil Pil (vegetable meat loin marinated in seaweed with French onion, cherry tomato and black garlic ali oli, in bed of baked potatoes and artisan Pil Pil sauce), Neogyozas (handmade and stuffed with spinach, seasonal mushrooms and caramelized onion, with Tonkatsu sauce and Sweet Chili) or Avocado Reina (freshly cut Hass avocado, stuffed with vegetable meat with a seafood touch, soy scrambled eggs, vegan mousse, crispy onion and black olives).
From breakfast (in brunch format, until 12:30 pm) to dinner, the restaurant offers a wide range of vegan recipes. The chef's latest invention has been a Veggie Tapeo Menu (made up of dishes from his menu) with which he wants to celebrate that very Spanish custom of eating delicious food and trying a little of everything, now in a 100% plant-based version.
The proposal (to be shared between two people) includes Galician ham made from pea protein, roasted with smoked paprika sauce with baked potatoes; mango humus with crunchy cauliflower and nopal tortilla chips; vegamares or a 100% plant-based version of the typical Madrid-style Roman squid, made with mushrooms, crunchy gluten-free batter and black garlic ali oli; La moder salad, a vegan version of the Russian salad; and arroz a la marinera, that is, Valencian bomba rice with seaweed, mushrooms and artichokes from Tuleda. There is no shortage of organic sourdough bread from the Obrador San Francisco.
Donuts, dots and rolls. At VegAmazing Donuts (c/ Conde de Romanones, nº14), a family project that began almost four years ago, everything revolves around a leading product. Although some classics such as the glaze or the toasted hazelnut, chocolate and hazelnut praline cream filling never fail, the shop (and also a cafeteria) offers other original proposals such as its vanilla donut, toasted almond and biscuit cream filling biscoff or donut covered in vanilla, Maria biscuit, orange zest and filled with delicious custard. Among the seasonal ones and those that arrived with spring, the one with lavender and lemon vine and the one with white chocolate, freeze-dried strawberries and matcha cream with strawberries stand out.
The rolls can be traditional (cinnamon) or highly original (pistachio, rose water and raspberries). And the centers of the donuts? You can sweeten yourself with dots of sugar and cinnamon. There are so many toppings, toppings, and fillings that it's hard to decide. And also a wide range of herbal teas, coffee, hot chocolates, Chai latte, homemade lemonades or totally natural juices. To start the day with a healthy breakfast, you can choose between a fresh coffee with soy or oat milk and a donut or toast. There is tomato and olive oil; hummus, avocado and pumpkin seeds, or cream cheese, grapes and agave syrup.
Its many and highly varied dishes are reminiscent of foreign cuisines, such as Venezuelan or Italian, because its chef, Carmelina "Mela" Spatafora, blends intercontinental styles and flavors in her "kasa" (as the final "ka" abbreviates of the name of your restaurant): Cookaluzka (c/ de Lira, nº8). The rest is cooking (“cook”) with a lot of “light”: in a natural way, without artifice and betting on the local raw material. This has been the case since February 1, 2017.
There is the menu full of vegan creativity and there is its daily menu, with no less charm, which is always different. While on Monday he takes you to Thailand with a chickpea pad thai, on Wednesday he invites you to stroll through the most indigenous corners of Latin America, with a Creole pavilion or a Moorish pavilion with Christians; and on Saturday he serves you lasagna or different pastas made on a recipe from his Italian grandmother.
To start, there is the fried yuka, served with pico de gallo in our house sauce with fresh avocado and zumaq; sweet potato sticks in coconut sauce with dill, with a touch of paprika and cinnamon; or the hummus (with its touch of raspberry and cinnamon) and the babaganoush (with smoked eggplant and tahini and raspberry mince, accompanied with pita bread, carrots and zucchini) in the house style.
Then come the fusions of flavors that resize vegan cuisine. This is the case of polpettone, a typical Neapolitan dish: a salty cake made with meatball filling. In this case, the chef spices it up with North African flavors and stuffs it with German-style “sausage”, roasted “vacon” with cashew cheese and prunes, and serves it with quinoa blended with cashew, walnut and basil pesto, all topped with Albariño wine sauce and figs (or plum, depending on the season). Seven hamburgers that compete in originality and five desserts complete the menu, which also includes three dishes for children.
The most traditional Italy, in a vegan version. This is the proposal of this trattoria that arrived in the capital five years ago, which places its emphasis on pizzas made according to the Neapolitan tradition. Its dough, in addition to being completely handmade, has a high hydration and a long fermentation, which makes it more digestive. The Pepperoni and Piparras pizza has San Marzano tomato, homemade vegan mozzarella, pickled piparras and plant-based pepperoni. The one with Sausage and Friarielli is made with San Marzano tomato, homemade vegan artisan mozzarella, friarielli cream and Beyond Sausage sausage. These are two of the dishes recommended by Nacho Sánchez, chef and owner of Pizzi
Beyond the pizzas, the restaurant also offers a good handful of starters: boletus croquettes with matachana black pudding sauce or a table of vegetable antipasti and pan pizza, based on pickled artichokes, cashew Mahón cheese, plant-based mortadella and friarielli . Pasta also has its leading role and its magic: orecchiette with boletus, vegetables and rice cream; and Chantarella mushroom ravioli with red pesto and a mild reduction of piquillo peppers, among other options. If there's room for dessert, the chocolate coulant with double chocolate ice cream is pure delight.
In the purest traditional Italian style, Pizzi
The description that accompanies its name already indicates it: Warehouse of Natural Wines. Those that are made with only (and here the adverb is important) grapes and without additives of any kind and at no stage of the process (cultivation, harvesting, elaboration, transformation), respecting the natural processes of fermentation and, above all, respecting work on the land: the vineyard. Natural wine is wine obtained with the least possible intervention. Of course, the cultivation must be organic out of conscience, either with or without a certificate. And in the elaboration, there must not be any additives or any oenological process that distorts its nature (no micro-oxygenation, no reverse osmosis, no aggressive filtering, no clarification, etc.). Without adding or removing anything. "The term 'natural' is used to distinguish it from organic wines, which may contain additives and make use of certain oenological processes," explains José, one of the owners of La Productería (c/ Barbieri, nº21).
His store is dedicated to the exclusive sale of natural wines, an adventure that started in October 2020 with his wife Vanessa. Today, they have 69 wineries represented, mostly from Spain and France, but also from Austria, Argentina and Italy. In total, about 150 labels to choose from, naturally.
Vanguard, creativity and high aesthetic sense. The elements: vegetables, fruits, cereals, legumes, nuts, mushrooms, seeds, superfoods and flowers, always in season. The result: 100% plant-based haute cuisine created by renowned American chef Matthew Kenney, leader in this culinary proposal, under the mantra that sustainability is the way of life of the future. Mudrá (c/ Recoletos, nº13) is a restaurant to enjoy the gastronomy revolution with dishes developed by an innovation team in which the flavors, textures, colors and concepts of the usual and familiar are transformed into a disruptive proposal . The ordinary becomes magnificent.
Start with an Artichoke Tiradito, a Mushroom Ceviche or their Miso butter onions (miso-glazed French onions, avocado cream, toasted pistachios and pea sprouts). Continue with some of their sushi pieces: Tokyo roll (aubergines marinated in Japanese barbecue, Chinese cabbage, chives and kanpyō) or Uramaki dragon (breaded oysters, cashew cheese and carrot, with avocado topping, passion fruit sauce and potato threads ). For the main course, the options are many and varied: double portobello burger, tikka masala cannelloni, MK scallop or Pad thai tempeh, among other recipes. Finish with a Coconut Dulce de Leche Cheesecake or a Berry Crumble.
On the one hand, there is the authentic flavor of Italian cuisine and on the other, the freshness and sustainability of a vegan proposal. The gastronomic offer of Choose Ristorante Naturale (c/ Segovia, nº17), which came into the world on June 19, 2020, reflects the past and present of its creator and owner, Giada Grifasi, a passionate vegan of Sicilian origin. For this reason, most of her dishes are inspired, especially, by the Sicilian tradition. Of course, made exclusively with ingredients of 100% vegetable origin.
Its menu includes starters, pastas, risottos, salads, specialties, children's menus, pizzas and desserts that will change on June 19. The new gastronomic proposal includes dishes such as Paccheri al ragú di mare or Pizza affumicata (smoked).
