Vapiano, Sihlcity, Zurich

Linguine Granchi di Fiume

Ever heard of a working german food concept ? Vapiano is one. Surprising to see the Germans actually successfully making italian food. An italian friend once told me that when the german engineers started analyzing water pressures, temperatures, flow rates… of espresso machines, suddenly decent coffee started appearing in Germany. So with the same seriousness and determination Vapiano was created as a franchise system. To cut to the chase, the food is surprisingly good. You get in line at the pasta station, pick your type of pasta (roughly 10 varieties) and choose a sauce. My choice was a Granchi di Fiume (River lobster) with linguine. The gentleman at the pasta station asked me wether I wanted chili with that and I was so stupid to say yes. The pasta was good, the sauce nice, the only thing which wasn’t good was the heat of the chili which overpowered the subtle crustacean taste. If this is where fast food is moving, fresh ingredients, nicely prepared at decent prices (keep in mind that you get a plate of pasta for the same price as a large Whopper menu with Onion rings) then the future is looking good.