Our favourite Glowcations, Paris

Historically, France has never been vegetarian or vegan friendly. Until now if you visited Paris then an omelette and a look of horror was was as good as you could hope for. Times have changed. So much so that the perennially cool Marais district is now nicknamed Veggietown. Here’s our top three vegan and vegetarian cafés in Paris:

Café Mareva

Our Glowstar model, Fabienne Dobbe, often works in Paris and loves this inspirational Canal St Martin café.

Owner Mareva was working in finance when she discovered that she was dairy intolerant and started making her own food.

The whole of her menu is gluten and dairy free and the signature Italian waffle is made with dairy free parmesan. Fabienne describes the sweet potato avocado waffle as “unforgettable”. It’s thin and crispy, and comes with a  generous amount of avocado, rocket, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and a perfectly poached egg.

The sweet waffles are equally worth ordering – gluten free and topped off with a choice of ingredients. We suggest fresh fruit, house made praline, chopped almonds, maple syrup and whipped cream.

To read Fabienne’s full review click here.

Café Pinson

Café Pinson is one of the first and best vegan addresses in Paris. It has a fresh, organic menu, a cosy setting and is in a great location in the Marais.

Café Pinson is known for their signature nourishing bowls. Our Parisian Glowstar Caly’s (AKA @veganfeelsgood) loves the Bol Equilibré .
It’s a “Balanced Bowl” and a combo of brown rice, chickpeas, seaweed tofu, grilled organic vegetables, coriander, purple cabbage and radish with a peanut-tamari dressing.

Everything is home-made, organic and gluten-free and their cuisine is inspired by the principles of naturopathy meaning that they believe in the “Let food by thy medicine” philosophy.

Caly’s tip, don’t miss out on the energy balls!

To read Caly’s full review click here.

Sloe

This new concept store in Paris’ North Marais has fast become the go-to hot spot for health-conscious Parisians. It brings together a gym, Pilates and cross training, plus a shop – with organic skincare – and a café.

In typical French fashion, there are two set menus. The petit dejeuner (breakfast) which is an açai bowl with juice and the set lunch menu – a spring veggie bowl with a smoothie and dessert.

Our Glowstar Fabienne is a fan of Sloe’s açai and describes it as a perfect blend, without too much banana and super-chilled. It comes with toppings like mega-crunchy cinnamon granola made with almonds and hazelnuts, coconut chips, fresh blueberries and raspberries. Our tip, get a a big dollop of creamy peanut butter for the perfect finishing touch. If you’re there at lunch, go for the spring veggie bowl which is packed with red cabbage, stir-fried broccoli, grated carrots with pumpkin seeds, grilled zucchini, beetroot hummus, bean sprouts and egg.

To read Fabienne’s full review click here.

 

 

Café Mareva, Paris

Mareva was working in finance when she discovered that she was dairy intolerant and started making her own food.

She enjoyed creating it so much that she quit her job, went to pastry school and a few months later opened Café Mareva sharing her love for breakfast – and waffles – with the rest of Paris.

The space

Café Mareva has a pretty, tiny terrace with two tables. The wall next to the restaurant is decorated with super cool graffiti. Inside is a complete contrast from the vivid colour outside to a simple, clean interior with stripped back white, brown and brick walls. A bar displays fresh, baked treats and at the back of the restaurant, it opens up with more seating space.

The little things that make the difference

The whole menu is gluten and dairy free and the signature Italian waffle is made with dairy free parmesan.

You can order the waffles, and other dishes on Uber eats. Don’t forget to get a stamp card. If you get nine stamps the tenth coffee is for free.

The fresh  juice test

Mareva don’t have a regular green juice, but do offer two juices of the day. We had the choice of a blend of watermelon, lime and mint or orange, carrot and apple. The mint based  juice had a good splash of lime in it which added interest.

What we ate

We wanted a balance of sweet and savoury and, as Mareva is known for their waffles, we had to try one! So we had the sweet potato and avocado waffle plus a sweet waffle with fruit and also the red berry smoothie bowl.

The sweet potato avocado waffle was unforgettable. It’s thin and crispy, and came with a very generous amount of avocado, rocket, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and a perfectly poached egg.

By contrast, the sweet waffles are gluten free and you order a plain waffle and top it off with a choice of ingredients. We covered it with fresh fruit, house made praline, chopped almonds, maple syrup and whipped cream.

This waffle was truly amazing!.

The house made praline combined with the super crunchy chopped almonds and whipped cream were an amazing. It tasted like my childhood with loads of Kinder chocolate.

The red berry smoothie bowl was a great complementary dish to the rich waffles.

It wasn’t actually an açai bowl, but it tasted like one, which we really liked. It came with house made cereals (like roasted rice puffs) and fruit.

The fresh fruit salad was just a fresh, simple salad with fruits of the season- blackberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, strawberries, apple, cantaloupe melon and nectarines.

What we’d go back for…

Since I have a really bad intolerance for dairy, the gluten and dairy free waffles literally made me glow from inside and out. Add a sweet potato through the mixture and you make my day. The menu was a menu for my heart!

The bill

Smoothie Bowl  9.90EU
Pancake Mareva  9.90EU
Fruit bowl  5.90EU
Avocado waffle  10.90EU
Juice of the day  4.00EU