Stefino Veg

It wasn’t until we arrived in Bologna that we realized Italy really is closed in August. Our first hint was when a Couch Surfer wrote to us asking why we were coming in August when everyone is out of town on holidays, tourists fill the streets, and many of the shops and restaurants close their doors for the month. Well, we certainly didn’t plan for it. The reality of the situation came crashing down when we arrived at Stefino Veg, an all vegan ice cream parlor, only to find the door closed and a small sign saying the staff would be on holidays from August 6 to 18.

Vegan in Bologna, Italy

Stefino Veg

Chocolate and Mediterraneo Gelato from Stefino Veg

Had Stefino Veg been open, we probably would have enjoyed a scoop or two of ice cream that looked something like this little bowl of goodness Feather from the Vegan Around the World blog had while she was in Bologna.

There are two Stefino Gelaterias in Bologna. Stefino (Via Galliera 49/b) has gelato made with dairy and Stefino Veg makes gelato with fruit and soy milk. They are owned by the same people and share a website so it can be confusing.

Stefino Veg
http://www.stefino.com/
via Riva Reno 7/A
Bologna Italy (40122) (at piazza Manfredi Azzarita)
Tel: 0516494447

Centro Natura Vegetarian

Centro Natura

After getting over the disappointment of Stefino Veg being closed, we set out to Centro Natura, a self-service vegetarian restaurant that’s attached to a yoga and wellness center. We were crossing our fingers as we walked up to the door but found yet another “Closed for August” sign.

flickr: valeriedoucette

flickr: Dan Fimm

I have two friends who have visited Bologna and eaten at Centro Natura. They took some photos so now we can see the yummy organic vegan food we missed. Sigh…

Centro Natura Vegetarian
www.centronatura.it/
Via degli Albari 6
Bologna Italy (at p.zza Maggiore)
Tel: 051-223331

Homemade Vegan Italian Food

Pasta al Ragu

Okay, here is the part where I stop complaining about vegetarian restaurants being closed. There is nothing like a lack of restaurant options to inspire you to cook homemade meals. This was the case in Bologna, but I can’t take credit for it. Francesco and Marica, our lovely Couch Surfing hosts, were very excited to show off the culinary delights they make at home, which are both vegan-friendly and inspired by traditional Italian food. The first dish they made for us was pasta al ragu. This typical pasta dish is usually made with a meat sauce but in our case the meat was substituted by textured vegetable protein, also known as TVP.

Scaloppine al Limone

Pasta al ragu was lunch. On the dinner menu was the vegan version of scaloppine al limone, or veal escalopes with lemon sauce (ewwww!!!!), which Francesco and Marica made with local and organic seitan. Our seitan al limone was paired with a delicious vegetable side dish that consisted mostly of red and yellow bell peppers. This was a very memorable meal and definitely a dish we’d try and recreate at home.

Grilled Eggplant, Tomatoes and Rocket

The following evening, we had another fantastic dinner featuring more of Italy’s beautiful produce. I don’t think there is a name for this dish. It was a salad of sorts with a layer of grilled eggplant, cherry tomatoes, a few onions and some rocket/arugula and olive oil on top.

Potatoes with Fresh Herbs and Olive Oil

We also had some boiled potatoes with fresh herbs.

Borlotti Bean and Corn Salad

And to round out the meal, a salad of borlotti beans, corn, onion and herbs.

Valsoia Chocolate Spread

So that was dinner and lunch. But what about breakfast, you ask? Why chocolate spread on “toast,” of course! Valsoia, maker of awesome soy ice cream, also whips up a darn good chocolate spread. The toasts were small, round and dry bread cracker things. Kinda like Melba toast, but thicker.

Valsoai Chocolate Spread on Toast

Our Italian hosts loved eating this for breakfast and we couldn’t resist the invitation to join in on the morning treat.

Fruit for Breakfast

By the third morning, we were craving some fresh fruit. Melon and grapes fit the bill.

Il Fior di Loto Rice Biscuits

We also switched things up with a bag of Il Fior di Loto rice biscuits, which, surprisingly enough, also paired well with the chocolate spread ;-)

NaturaSi – Il Supermercato della Natura

NaturaSì

In Bologna, there is a NaturaSì health food store, which is quite large and has many interesting vegan products.

Seitan

There we found a selection of seitan…

NaturattiVa Ice Cream

…lots of rice ice cream by NaturattiVa…

Biscuits

…cookies and biscuits galore…

Chocolate Spread

… and many brands of chocolate spread.

NaturaSi Finds

We left the store with a few purchases to share with our hosts: NaturattiVa raspberry and rice milk ice cream cones, Il Fior di Loto rice biscuits, Baule Volante cola bottle candies, a Baule Volante coconut chocolate bar, and a BriBon lemon ginger chocolate bar. This little lot of treats was kinda pricey, about €12.00 Euros ($16.44 USD) for everything.

NaturattiVa Raspberry and Rice Milk Ice Cream

I’m sad to report the raspberry rice ice cream cones weren’t as good as we were hoping they’d be. The ice cream was really hard, not very creamy, and the raspberry stuff on top was gooey and like diluted jam.

Natura Si
www.naturasi.it/
Via Montefiorino, 2/D, Zona Stadio
Bologna Italy
Tel: +39-051-6144011

Go Vegan!

I’ll leave you with a picture of this vegetarian graffiti we spotted on a garbage can in Bologna. It translates into something like…vegetables such as meat, save animals, go vegetarian. At the end was this website link: www.cambiamenu.it