41 test batches for one croissant that shatters.
The founder grew up in Ghent. In May 2009 the city made Thursday a vegetarian day, the first in the world to do it, and Donderdag Veggiedag turned meat-free into a school-canteen fact.
She trained as a pâtissier, and the butter bothered her. So she rebuilt the recipes she loved: plant butter for the koffiekoeken, aquafaba for the merveilleux, oat milk for the tarte au riz. It took 41 test batches to get a croissant that shatters.
Then she opened Zoetekauw near Dageraadplaats in Zurenborg, where the Belle Epoque houses already shout in stone. A pale shop would have looked shy next to them.
Why kauwtaart?
The Geraardsbergse mattentaart is a curd tart from Geraardsbergen and Lierde, and that name is protected in the EU. A plant-based tart from Antwerp may not use it. So ours chews instead.
- May 2009
- Ghent makes Thursday a vegetarian day, a world first. Donderdag Veggiedag.
- 27 layers
- In every croissant, folded with an 82% fat plant butter and no palm oil.
- 1894 to 1906
- The years Zurenborg’s turreted houses went up, a few steps from the shop.
- Psst.
- Hungry?
- Koffiekoek. Gone.
- Croissant. Also gone.
- Merveilleux. No eggs, no regrets.
- Everything here is plant-based. Nobody noticed.
