Vegetarian Food
Indigo Elephant – Basel
Our Offer
coffee, vegetarian, vegan, fresh products
Interview with Benjamin Cihla, Managing Director of Indigo Elephant Restaurant
Benjamin, you offer varied vegetarian food. Which one, however, is your favourite menu?
I don’t have a specific favourite menu. I like to get involved with new dishes from all over the world. It is important to me that my food is prepared with fresh and high-quality ingredients. When the person who prepares it does so with pleasure and expertise, usually something very tasty is created. Our „Harra Barra Tikki Burger“ is currently my absolute favourite on our menu. A derivative of an Indian „Street Food“ classic. A breaded vegetable patty with spicy mango chutney, crunchy onions, avocado and chilli mint yoghurt.
How did the idea for a vegetarian coffee bar come about? And, what is your name „Indigo Elephant“ all about?
The idea was born on a one-year journey through South-East Asia. On this trip, I started to eat vegetarian for the most part. At that time, I attended cooking courses in different countries and intensively dealt with vegetarian nutrition. It also was there that the name of our coffee bar was born. Back then, I often flew with the „IndiGo“ airline, a counterpart to our „EasyJet“. The word „Indigo“ fascinated me. Elephants are known to be one of the largest vegetarian mammals. Therefore, our logo is green and not indigo blue.
At the end of this extended journey, I knew that I wanted to do something with modern vegetarian cuisine at home. Since coffee has always been a passion of mine, it was obvious to combine both into one concept.
You haven’t been around long, yet the principle of the vegetarian coffee bar seems to work. What is characteristic for Indigo Elephant?
We want to offer our visitors a cosy place where they can take a little break. Strengthen their bodies with refreshing drinks, as well as tasty food, and simply relax. We have high demands on the quality of the products we use and hence process them carefully. One of our principles is that we don’t serve anything to our guests that we wouldn’t serve to our grandmothers. And yes, we love our grandmothers.
Are the majority of your guests vegetarians?
Absoluetly not. In the morning, we are usually visited by people who like racy coffee. And, perhaps also want to treat themselves to one of our delicious original spelt butter croissants with Glarus mountain butter. During lunchtime, our guests mainly come from the surrounding offices and shops. We are also allowed to welcome many tourists and expats. In summary, I would say that most of our customers are people who appreciate fresh and tasty cuisine, like Italian coffee. And, like to try something new.
What are your plans for the future with Indigo Elephant?
As of now, our coffee bar is still in its first business year and we are busy gathering experience. The aim is to find out what goes down well with our guests and where we can improve our offer. Furthermore, I’d like to open our kitchen a few evenings a week to offer vegetarian and vegan tapas, accompanied by some great wines.
Interview: MyCityShops, dha, 2018
from the kitchen
About Indigo Elephant Restaurant
Indigo Elephant has been around for almost a year, and we offer you a wide range of vegetarian meals. We consciously make sure that we work with fresh products. In addition to our popular vegetarian food, we also offer delicious coffee.
Location Indigo Elephant
Indigo Elephant Restaurant
Elsässerstrasse 29
4056 Basel
Tel. 061 544 80 26
Opening hours
Mo-Fr 09:00 – 17:00
Eat Vegetarian – Basel
On the Facebook channel of Indigo Elephant Restaurant you can find out everything about new menus.
