A combination of historic ambiance, hearty vegan food (based on traditional German cuisine), and decadent desserts, Coox and Candy has become a must eat stop for vegan travelers in Germany.

Is this your first restaurant?

Yes, it is.

When did it open?

February 2011.

Do you want to have more than one restaurant?

We would like to grow and open a small take-away shop in the center of the city and maybe another restaurant in the next two years. In the meantime, we’ve been putting together our own vegan snack-food truck.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

I personally love our Golden Crispy Tempeh served with snow peas, carrots, and quinoa.

What’s your most popular appetizer?

Green Bruschetta: cucumber and avocado on roasted bread.

What’s the most popular entrée on the menu?

Hummus Rosé with Chicory Leaves: delicious hummus paired with beetroot and served with fresh chicory leaves and bread to dip.

What’s your most popular dessert?

Our delicious homemade cream cakes, especially the traditional German Schwarzwälder-Kirschtorte (Black Forest cake).

What do you feel is special about your restaurant?

Our great atmosphere in an old house in Bad Cannstatt, our gorgeous and friendly service staff, and a creative menu serving fresh vegetable cuisine as well as new vegan interpretation of classic meat dishes like roulladen (German roulade) and schnitzel, using tofu and seitan products.

How often do you change your menu items? Do you have daily or weekly specials?

We have a seasonal menu for spring, summer, and autumn/winter. Moreover, we change the menu every week and have varying daily specials. This is especially important for our many regular guests who are looking for variety.

Do you have gluten-free, soy-free, and sugar-free options on your menu?

We have some gluten-free options on the menu: mashed sweet potatoes, rice, or millet as side dishes, and our salads and soups. We use many soy products (tofu, tempeh, soy milk, soy cream) but we can arrange some soy-free meals on request. And we offer agave syrup if someone doesn’t like sugar in tea/coffee. We don’t use stevia yet. Our cakes always use normal sugar.

What do you do to reduce your environmental impact?

We use eco-electricity in our house; our website is also hosted on a server using eco-electricity. We have electric hand dryers in our bathrooms instead of paper towels. We buy only fair-trade coffee, fairtrade tea, and fair-trade soy products.

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned as owner or chef of this restaurant?

It’s so much easier to explain the vegan lifestyle if you offer somebody a delicious meal, a sweet dessert, and good coffee, instead of talking to the person in the street showing him bloody pictures of dead animals.

What led you to want to open a vegan restaurant, and/or what led you to the vegan diet yourself?

We were looking for a job combining our love of vegan cooking and cuisine with our deep need to fight for animal rights. I became a vegetarian when I was thirteen, after seeing how a neighboring farmer killed a little lamb. I became a vegan when I was twenty, after I realized that even organic milk and eggs mean that some baby animals have to be born and killed for my consumption habits.

In the time since your restaurant first opened, how has the plant-based food movement changed? Do you find more demand now for vegan food?

Our restaurant was really popular from the first day we opened. Lots of newspapers and TV stations came along to interview us. And now, lots of people know about this one vegan restaurant in Stuttgart and talk about us. As a result, even more people became curious about our place, and now we’re completely booked nearly every evening. Thanks to that big media coverage, more and more people came to understand what vegan really means. We don’t have to explain the reasons for our food choices as often anymore.

Since your restaurant first opened, has your view of what constitutes healthy or delicious food changed? Have you changed the types of foods you offer?

What’s changed is my appreciation for the preferences of our clients. We discovered that they aren’t so enthusiastic about whole foods like wholegrain pasta, brown rice, or Ayurvedic dishes. Many of our guests are more into vegan interpretations of classic meat dishes; for example, our veggie “duck” filet with homemade bread dumplings. It’s a seitanbased duck alternative, served with dumplings, brown sauce, and braised red cabbage or vegan schnitzel. These are not primarily healthy dishes, but they’re delicious. At the same time, for the more health-focused customer, we serve fresh juices, raw food, and classic vegetable dishes. Another trend we’ve acknowledged on the menu is green smoothies; we began serving these in the summer of 2013 and people love it!

Where do you see the plant-based food movement going in coming years?

It’s becoming bigger and bigger!

Celery-Breaded Cutlet with Wild Rice and Mixed Vegetables

Serves 4

For the celery cutlets:

12 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

2 firm celery roots (approximately 2 pounds), peeled and cut into ½" slices

For the mixed vegetables in a light sauce:

4 large carrots

12 radishes

2 cups Brussels sprouts

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2⅛ cups soy milk

½ cup cornstarch

1 to 2 teaspoons salt, to taste

½ to 1 teaspoon black pepper, to taste

¼ to ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

1¼ cups canola oil

For the breading:

¾ cup bread crumbs

¾ cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon pepper

2⅛ cups cold water

Rapeseed oil for frying

To assemble:

2 cups wild rice mixed with white rice, cooked according to package instructions and kept warm

1 lemon, sliced (garnish)

For the celery cutlets and mixed vegetables with sauce: Start with the celery cutlets, so they have time to cool before they are breaded. Bring approximately 12 cups of water to a boil, then add salt. Add celery root slices to the salted water, bring to a boil again, reduce heat, and cook until al dente (5 to 7 minutes). Meanwhile, peel and slice the carrots into ⅓" slices, trim the radishes and wash thoroughly. Brush Brussels sprouts with oil and, using a knife, cut a ¾"-deep X at the base of each. Take celery root out of the water and let cool. Save the salted water for later.

Now prepare the sauce: Place the onion on a baking sheet, brush with a little bit of oil, and put it under the broiler until golden brown; add the garlic and broil again for 1 minute. Pour soy milk into a saucepan; add the broiled onion and garlic and bring to a boil. When the sauce boils, bind with the cornstarch and once again bring to a boil. Season the mixture with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Puree the sauce with a hand blender, until the onions are fine and the spices are well distributed. Keep circulating the blender as you add the canola oil in a thin stream.

In the celery water, cook the vegetables, adding separately: Start with the carrots and cook for about 10 minutes; then add the radishes and cook for 5 to 7 minutes; finally, cook the Brussels sprouts until al dente (10 to 12 minutes). Drain the water and immediately add the hot vegetables into the sauce.

For the breading: Put the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. In a separate bowl, stir flour, spices, and water until smooth. Dip the celery slices in the liquid mixture, coating them well; shake them off and then roll them in the bread crumbs. Heat oil in a pan and fry both sides of the cutlets until golden brown.

To assemble: Distribute vegetables and warm rice on plates, add the cutlets, garnish with lemon slices, and serve.

Saffron Rice with Barberries with a Pot of Flavorful Vegetables

Serves 5

For the rice:

1 cup rice

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon crushed saffron threads

¼ cup dried barberries*

For the vegetables:

1 large onion, chopped

8 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons black mustard seeds

2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds

4 cups warm water

2 teaspoons salt

1¼ cups sliced carrots (½" slices)

¾ cup peeled and diced potatoes (1" dices)

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1" pieces

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1" pieces

¾ cup red lentils, rinsed**

¾ cup yellow lentils, rinsed**

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

For the chutney:

½ cup tamarind paste*

½ cup date paste*

For the garnish:

Parsley

Black mustard seeds

Fresh fruit

* Available in Turkish or Persian-Indian grocery stores.

** In contrast to other lentils, must not be soaked.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the rice according to the package directions with salt and saffron. Meanwhile, rinse the dried barberries under hot running water and set aside. When the rice is cooked, carefully fold in the barberries.

Fry the onion in 8 tablespoons of oil in a large pot with the black mustard seeds and whole coriander seeds. Add 4 cups warm water then salt and bring it to a boil. Gradually add the individual vegetables, according to the cooking time: First, add the carrots in the boiling water and cook them for 15 minutes. Then add the potatoes and cook for another 10 minutes. Then put in the bell pepper pieces. Finally add the red and yellow lentils and let the whole mixture cook for another 15 minutes. The lentils and starchy vegetables will begin to bind the liquid in the pot. Once the boiling vegetables are cooked, add turmeric and cumin, taste, and add salt as needed.

To make the chutney, combine the tamarind paste with the date paste in a large bowl and puree both ingredients together with a hand blender. (You can also use a food processor.)

To assemble: Arrange everything together on plates and garnish with fresh parsley, black mustard seeds, and fruits of your choice (kumquats and physalis are fun additions).