outside view of Ohlala
On 11th October 2014, Ohlala in Berlin celebrated their fourth Birthday. Unfortunately I missed the party they threw to celebrate this milestone, but I was lucky enough to be invited to join the team for dinner a week later! I caught up with them, shared some delicious food and heard a bit about what exciting projects they’re working on next.
Since it opened in 2010, Ohlala has been a cornerstone of the Berlin vegan scene. Located in the eastern Berlin district of Friedrichshain, it broke ground as one of the few places in town where you could get vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free pastries – all with a French influence – including quiches and creative sweet baked goods. Since 2010, Friedrichshain has changed a lot and the vegan scene has exploded, turning into a hotspot for vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurants and cafés. In fact, the area probably has one of the highest concentrations of listings on HappyCow in Europe, if not the whole world!
For the first three years, owner Clarissa was solely responsible for all areas of the business, more or less working alone in the café. In January 2014 she was joined by Gwen, whose job it is to develop the services, products and markets. Together they recruited a team, which today stands at 10. Since I last visited the café, not only has the interior changed, but the range of food on offer has increased too and they are now 100% vegan! In addition to quiches and patisserie, they offer Flammkuchen (traditional German dish similar to pizza), crepes and offer a vegan and gluten-free brunch every Saturday and Sunday. They are now also offering a jarred gourmet deli range called Deli’ce, including the extremely popular “Salidou” (salty caramel), bolognese sauce and carbonara sauce. Everything in the Deli’ce range is produced freshly on the premises and is made without preservatives. They tell me that they are working on increasing production so that they can offer their Deli’ce products elsewhere other than in-store.
the noodle soup we enjoyed
Another thing that the team is really excited about is the catering service that they are launching. Alongside Clarissa in the kitchen, chef Daniel and pastry chef Sonja have been working on new and exciting recipes. They had been busy all afternoon in the kitchen and I was really excited to sit down and sample some dishes! First up was a light noodle soup with pak choi, seaweed, spring onions and coriander (cilantro). This was really fresh and the seaweed offered a really interesting depth of flavour. Then came a potato salad with sweet potatoes, pickled red onions, spring onions and a tangy lime dressing. This was a really refreshing change from the usual creamy, fatty texture that you associate with potato salad and went down a real treat. Next up was cannelloni with a delicious ragú which contained a variety of different tomatoes as well as carrot, and was served with a fresh rocket and cherry tomato salad. The dish was absolutely fantastic and the sauce tasted so rich and full-bodied that it felt like I was eating dinner at an Italian grandma’s place! Finally for dessert, one of Sonja’s amazing creations was brought out. A prototype for a dessert that would be supplied to one of Berlin’s most well-known gourmet restaurants, it had a base of almond financier, was layered with heavenly white chocolate-caramel-almond praline and raspberry puree, was topped with white chocolate and mint cream and was finished with a delicious small piece of nougat on top. It was a really lovely experience, not only because of the amazing food, but also because it really felt like a family meal.
the delicious dessert prototype
The additions to the team mean that alongside the offerings that have brought them so much success over the past 4 years, they can also concentrate on other projects. The chemistry in the team is amazing and the talent, creative energy and dedication shows that they really have a good chance to do something unparalleled in the vegan scene in Europe. Their passion and knowledge about food was really striking and their attention to detail was really noticeable – we had a ten minute conversation about different types of carrots and ways to prepare them for example! We talked about two different aspects of catering – the visual and the taste – and how they combine both and offer what they call a “taste experience”. They were full of new ideas for exciting and crazy new creations and are constantly developing new dishes. They’ve got exactly the right audience in Berlin to try out new things and develop new ideas – Berliners are some of the most brutally honest people on the planet!
Ohlala catering
They aim to offer the first vegan catering service which reaches the highest level of quality in the industry, while still surprising the guest with new ideas. They also told me that they want to be renowned in Europe for the quality of their pastries and supply other restaurants that might not have the time or resources but want to offer high-quality sweets. They want to be the best – not just in the vegan scene, but in general – and fill a gap in the market and provide something that they feel is lacking. Plus, as one of the team quite rightly pointed out: “Vegan must be a food that everyone on earth can enjoy. I think this way is the better way to convince people to go vegan!”
If you’re looking for catering in Berlin, Ohlala can cater for any event, corporate or personal, and offer fine and tasty food at reasonable prices. They can come up with a tailored concept to meet your requirements as well as your budget. For Christmas they are also offering the “Golden Holiday Box”, which is a goody box with a full menu for the holiday season. It can be pre-ordered and collected in time for the festive season – you don’t have to worry about cooking at Christmas!
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