Hey friends, I'm back from Berlin now but thought I'd share an interesting place that I discovered there during my recent visit.
Berlin has some of the best vegan food in Europe, so whenever I visit I am always very keen to try out new restaurants. As you can probably tell from my previous posts, I am a bit of a burger fanatic, and am always trying to find the ultimate veggie burger.
I was doing a few searches online to find a good burger place in Berlin, and I stumbled across Attila Hildmann's restaurant. The food looked really promising in the photos, exactly what I was looking for! But after looking at the reviews on Tripadvisor and Facebook I began to become a little discouraged. There seemed to be a lot of negative feedback, but most of it appeared to be attacking the owner, not the food!
A little more delving revealed that some of the community evidently were not fans of his in-your-face marketing style or his relentless self promotion on Instagram.
Still, I wanted to see for myself as the negativity seemed to stem from a disliking of the brand, not the food. So with an open mind I set off to see for myself.
The restaurant is situated in Schillerstraße off of the popular shopping area of Kurfürstendamm.
The place is small and minimalist in decoration and manned by a very friendly and multi- lingual staff who were happy to make recommendations and explain the menu.
There are lots of options to chose from and it took us a while to decide as everything sounded really great!
I was also very distracted looking around the restaurant as I found to my surprise that everything that was for sale was made by Attila Hildmann's brand, and all 100% vegan.
'Today we decide on the world of tomorrow with a knife and fork. Every meal counts: for your health, for those without voices and for the planet.'
Hildmann actually started his culinary career as an author, and has penned 11 Vegan cookbooks since 2009. His 2012 book 'Vegan for Fun' was named cookbook of the year by the Vegetarierbund Deutschland (the German branch of the International Vegetarian Union).
All of these publications are available to buy at the restaurant, as are a myriad of his other products made under the Attila Hildmann brand name such as chocolate bars, chocolate spreads, Bolognese sauce and condiments.
The biggest range marketed in store and online however is his own line of 'Daisho' bio energy drinks and sports wear adorned with the Daisho branding.
After a good deal of browsing the products, we sat down and ordered- going with the waiters recommendation of the Sushi burger and the Popeye burger.
We chose to go for the menu, which seemed a little steep at €19.90 for a burger, Daisho drink and an order of fries.
I went for the 'Blood' Daisho drink with Matcha and Guarana, which I later found out were twice as strong as a Redbull! Not too sure about the claims for them being a 'natural' energy drink if they're that potent but the flavour was pretty good and it didn’t have a chemical taste like regular energy drinks.
I was also happy to find this on the back of the bottle:
'From every bottle, 5 cents goes to animal welfare, environmental or social projects.' 🐮🦊🐵
Soon, the food arrived, and I must say I was very impressed with the presentation! Everything looked incredible and very appetising. Clearly a lot of care was taken with the creation and presentation of the food and I couldn't wait to dig in!
The Sushi Burger:
'Breaded fried aubergine, Wasabi- mayo, Thai- ketchup, pineapple, mushrooms, sprouts and fresh coriander between two fresh sushi rice plates.'
Wow.. just wow. This is without a doubt the most special burger I have ever tried! The flavours were amazing and oh so sushi like! The homemade sauces made it so succulent and there was a nice crunch to it in the middle which made it super satisfying to eat!
The Popeye Burger:
'Spinach- almond cream, apple- onion chutney and beetroot chips.'
Again, this burger was packed full of flavour and different to any other burger I've ever had. This one was more meaty having a patty and definitely a more hearty meal. The sauces and sweet chutney gave it a very nice balance of flavours. Amazing!
Even the fries and the homemade sauces were delicious, I couldn't fault the meal at all. In fact I was looking around and seeing what other people ordered so I could plan what to buy when I return in future!
After tasting the quality and uniqueness of the food, I think the price is justified. The food is far superior to a fast food joint so it is fair that the price reflects that.
As much as I enjoyed my experience at Attila Hildmann's restaurant, I was still curious about all the negative feedback I'd seen so decided to do a little more digging.
I discovered that the vegan community take issue to his lifestyle and his unrelenting marketing style. Namely his sometimes ostentatious flaunting of wealth- eg driving around in a Porsche branded with his logo (and with leather seats) and apparently flashing wads of cash on Instagram. Not what we have come to expect from vegan business owners who are usually more focussed on the plight of the animals and spreading the vegan message than displays of excess.
Not that I'm questioning the ethical standing of his business, in fact I was very impressed to see that a percentage of the profits from the sales of his drinks are donated to animal and environmental projects, a fact that not even the most staunch vegan can deny to be an admirable, charitable move.
But his no- nonsense, all business attitude does seem to have hit a nerve in the community. I read a few articles which commented on his alleged lack of tact, controversial comments in the press and distasteful PR moves but translations of the German article were hard to decipher and therefore insufficient for me to draw any conclusions.
He mentions himself his oppositional attitude to veganism in the foreward to his book, 'Vegan For Fun', admitting that he still purchases leather shoes and that he doesn't buy into a 'I'm a better vegan than you' way of thinking. To him it is more something to have fun with, and says that each journey begins with small steps.
I tend to agree with him partially. I too think that small steps in the right direction are better than no change at all. It is disheartening to be judged and compared to others when you are trying to set out on a journey and evolve as a person. Criticism can make someone feel despondent or even give up, which doesn’t benefit anyone- especially the animals.
But I also see that in his position, it does look more than a little hypocritical to be profiting from advocating the vegan lifestyle to save the animals and the planet while simultaneously wearing leather and driving a sports car. The two worlds do seem somewhat opposed.
However, you can’t argue that he has created an impressive vegan empire and his un-preachy style of veganism and distinctly UN-vegan branding and presentation may also be beneficial to the community.
One crucial step in showing people how amazing a cruelty free, plant- based life can be is to show them how good food can be without meat! So if Attila and his intense marketing and PR strategies (whatever you think of them) can get a few omnivores curious about trying the food, does that not have some worth to the community?
I defy anyone to try the burgers at Hildmann's restaurant and not enjoy them, and that's part of the battle isn't it? To show the world how delicious a vegetarian life can be and how possible it is!
Let me know what you think! Vegans, what are your thoughts?
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