What you notice first is the smell. Hearty spices like in a home-style kitchen are in the air, and it is invitingly bright. Only the shiny white tiles on the walls around the sales counter are reminiscent of a conventional butcher’s shop. And a few wall hooks from which a stuffed cow dangles instead of ham or salami – “Friends Not Food” is the slogan. Upholstered benches line the wide window fronting Frauenstrasse, a single wooden table in country house style stands in the corner and feel-good soft rock from the nineties plays in the background.
Since it opened in mid-January, the “Vegan Fleischerei” has gotten off to a good start, says Markus Dorsch, who runs the Dresden-based concept as a franchisee in Munich. His team hardly has time to breathe, especially during the snack bar on Saturday. In fact, the shop door keeps opening and closing and a queue forms at the sales counter. This doesn’t bother the customers, so there is more time for orientation and trying things out. Conversations quickly arise: “I just need a moment, I’m new”, “Has anyone ever tried the salami with fennel?”, or “What is the herring salad made of?” The sales team patiently advises, cuts up new sample cubes every minute and passes spoonfuls of herring salad across the counter. By the way, it’s made of eggplant and actually makes the brain believe that you’re eating fish.
Lyoner and Leberkäse also taste so authentically like meat that you would hardly be able to tell the difference in a blind tasting. This also corresponds to the feedback from “real” butchers who are customers and give feedback on the seasoning, says Markus Dorsch. The products are made from soy or jackfruit, eggplant or based on oils.
According to Dorsch, the undisputed bestseller is the liver casserole for 4.50 euros. But as in every butcher’s shop, opinions differ as to which mustard belongs on the roll. “Once with ketchup and hot mustard, once with ketchup and sweet mustard and once as it should be,” the salesman shouts as he serves it.
With salami, kabanossi and bratwurst, i.e. those products whose texture is coarser in the meat original, you can taste a clear difference. But that doesn’t mean that these alternatives disappoint, because they each impress with the right mix of spices. In addition, there is no difference in price compared to animal competitors, explains Dorsch. “We are in the good average category among Munich butchers. The only thing we don’t have are underpriced enticement offers. Because it can’t be that the slice of meat loaf costs half as much as the roll. Especially since we have organic rolls.”
This is what a vegan sausage platter looks like with three types of salami, liver sausage, bockwurst, goat cheese and two different Lyonnais.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
The customers are mixed – the interest in vegan products has nothing to do with Lent.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
The ox shred burger without meat is popular. But the best seller is the liver casserole.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
The audience at the vegan butcher shop is mixed. Many young people come who found out about the opening via social media and are stopping by for the first time. But also regular guests who have integrated the vegan range into their weekly shopping. Like Harald Langer. The 57-year-old from Munich shops here every week. His wife eats exclusively vegan, he still eats meat on special occasions, but doesn’t actually need it anymore. “On the one hand, I eat vegan because of ethics and climate protection, but on the other hand, it’s healthier. As you get older, you shouldn’t eat so much meat anyway,” explains Langer.
Operator Markus Dorsch often experiences this with couples: the woman follows a vegan diet and the man is still skeptical. But when you taste the food, the smile comes automatically. “We don’t want to force anything on anyone. You can tell a lot about how something tastes, but at the end of the day you just have to try it.”
That’s what a local resident also thought when she tried the vegan ox shred roll for the first time. “Spicy and delicious,” she says after the first bite. She actually ended up going to the vegan butcher shop after a week of fasting. She actually wanted to start this day slowly with a soup, but vegan ox shreds were also fine.
Sausages without meat: fine bratwurst, garlic bratwurst, bratwurst, bockwurst.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
If you’re in a hurry: goulash is also available in a glass.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Markus Dorsch sees Lent as an opportunity for his vegan sausage. “People consciously want to avoid meat, but that is no longer a seasonal thing. Because of the many flexitarians who have one meat-free day a week or, conversely, only eat meat one day a week, this is in the middle of society and in the “It’s in people’s minds. It’s more than just a trend.”
If everything goes according to plan, Dorsch wants to open a second branch on Häberlstrasse at Goetheplatz by March 9th. As soon as things calm down there, the issue of catering partners can be addressed. “There have already been more inquiries than I would like, including from canteens of large, well-known employers in Munich.” It is also not ruled out that the Vegane Fleischerei will at some point apply for a stand at the Viktualienmarkt in order to further “culinarily improve” Munich, as Dorsch says. They’re not looking for beef with the butcher’s row.