Wageningen, the first to be bestowed this title by the Dutch Vegetarian Society, has earned it because of the number of vegetarian outlets per head of its population. It concerns strict vegetarian restaurants with the quality label ‘Gastvrij voor Vegetariers’ (we welcome vegetarians) and the number of restaurants participating in the Vegetarian Restaurant Week this week.
Certificate
Wageningen has just four restaurants. But it beats other cities comfortably when it comes to the count per head of the population, says Floris de Graaf, director of the Vegetarian Society. Below Wageningen are Lelystad, Groningen and Amsterdam. The title comes with a certificate, which De Graaf handed to alderman Lex Hoefsloot yesterday afternoon.
Advertisement
Manager of Drinks & Bites Addie Roelofssen is not overly excited about the title. ‘It doesn’t call for uncorking a bottle of champagne. We do serve vegetarian meals but our passion lies elsewhere. But I am not surprised that Wageningen has won. There are many vegetarian customers in Wageningen and this title is of course a nice advertisement for Wageningen.’
Hospitable
The only strict vegetarian restaurant in Wageningen is Vreemde Streken. Heerlijk and ‘t Carillon also carry the we-welcome-vegetarians label and take part in the vega week. Drinks and Bites also takes part but does not promote the label. Participation means having at least two vegetarian menus, one of which is specially put together for this week. A vega menu costs 25 euros in this special week. For this amount of money, Drinks and Bites serves up the following: Appetiser: carpaccio of mushrooms, avocado, Moroccan salsa, Parmesan cheese, cucumber julienne and Aceto vinaigrette. Main course: risotto with fine vegetables, green asparagus, poached egg, piquillo pepper, almonds and garlic mousse Dessert: chestnut pureé, Baileys, caramel, savoury crumble and caramel ice-cream.