Vapiano Stories from all around the world

• When the Vapiano Support Center moves... // A story form Bonn, Germany

  Each company has a head office somewhere in the world. Vapiano’s head office – our Support Center – is located in Bonn, the former German capital. It is situated in the middle of the “Rheinaue”, a local recreation area at only some minutes from the Rhine and in ten minutes walking distance to the next Vapiano. I find this a pretty perfect location for a work place! Like this we can enjoy our favourite pasta in the nearby Vapiano at lunch time or have a picnic by the river.

  One can recognize our office not only through the logo by the entrance. The olive trees, lavender plants and herbs in the front garden let already guess that this place belongs to Vapiano.

  It was therefore no surprise that during the first few weeks after moving here two years ago, we got a lot of visits from our neighbouring offices. People came in with a wallet in their hand, because rumours had spread (also on facebook) that a new Vapiano had opened in the “Rheinaue”.

  However, all we could offer them was great coffee, fresh fruits and beverages - but unfortunately no pasta and pizza. Smiling benignly, the hungry guests then left again. Same happened when inaugurating our garden patio - with Vapiano tables, benches and sunshades. From time to time, when we spent our lunch break outside people wanted to join us there to have their favourite pasta…. Maybe we should start cooking here? J

  Jana from Bonn, Germany

• About Mocktails, fresh fruits and more // Visiting Vapiano Dubai

  Also in Quatar, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Bahrain, Vapiano meets its fans’ taste. One of the most popular Vapianos of the region is our Vapiano in the Dubai Mall - a huge shopping paradise with an ice rink, a leisure park and everything that the heart desires. More than this, it is also located by an artificial lake and neighbours the tallest building in the world: the Burj Khalifa, 828 meters tall, with 53 elevators to reach the different levels.

  Samer, from our Vapiano in Dubai, gives us an idea of his region:

  With a yearly average temperature of 27°C, it’s pretty hot in Dubai so that people are always glad to find something refreshing at our Vapiano.

  In order to hydrate and cool down the body, people eat lots of fruits here: mangos, pineapples or water melons, which are imported from other countries as they are not cultivated here. But we’re famous for our locally-grown dates which are usually enjoyed with tea after dinner.

  Also at our Vapiano, we offer lots of fruits – for example our delicious fruit salad with water melon, strawberries, banana, orange and apple, refined with orange juice and grenadine. But also at the bar, people find lots of freshly squeezed juices, shakes and smoothies. Since we don’t give out any alcohol, our selection of non-alcoholic drinks is quite big. Also “mocktails" - cocktails without alcohol - are on the menu.

  By the way, in most parts of the world, the name is Vapiano // Pasta Pizza Bar. Here we call it “Pasta Pizza Café” instead.

• About sharing, impressive neighbours and THE vista // Stories from Taiwan

  In Taiwan, too, people can enjoy fresh Italian dishes, because Taipei, too, has a Vapiano. Julian, Vapianist from Taipei, has some great stories and facts for us from his Vapiano:

  As in Dubai, we also have a big neighbour in our country, Taiwan: Taipei 101, with a height of 505 metres and 101 floors, is currently the world’s third largest building. And even if our Vapiano is on the 10th floor and hence the highest Vapiano in the world, we feel a bit small compared to this neighbour. However, through our panorama glass front or from our balcony you can enjoy the best vista of Taipei 101 and also of the rest of the skyline of Taipei. Between ourselves – there’s probably no other Vapiano to offer you a more spectacular view.

  Apart from the special neighbour, we also have special eating habits. Here nobody simply  eats his or her dish on his or her own, because pizza, pasta & salad are placed on the middle of the table, so that everybody can taste every dish, as is standard practice in many other Asian countries. This is also why we have extra plates so that our guests do not have to literally eat from the table. In addition, we do without the marble boxes on the table which normally hold olive oil, balsamico and the pepper & salt shakers. Because otherwise our guests would not have enough space to place all the delicious dishes on the table!

• Vapiano meets Ramadan // Roula from our Vapiano in Doha tells us more about it

  We have Vapianos all over the world – thus we meet a lot of different cultures, traditions and people. In our Vapianos in the Arabic region, Ramadan is one of the most important events. Thus, Vapiano also takes part in the tradition. Roula from Vapiano Qatar tells us more about it.

  Even as a non-Muslim, the Holy Month of Ramadan feels like a special time of the year. It is a month of giving, peacefulness and introspection. There are things that you can do during this month to either join in or make the most of a less frantic pace of life. So for sure, Vapiano and its Vapianisti in Doha also celebrate this special time of the year.

  Iftar is an important tradition during Ramadan – Iftar means breakfast and refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast at the time of sunset. Traditionally but not mandatory, three dates are eaten to break the fast. And as a lot of our guests - locals and families - come for Iftar to our place, we wanted to create them a wonderful Iftar and our Vapiano remained open until 2 am. We created a special cake for the month of Ramadan: the Cheese Kunafa, a cake with Cow Ghee, Rose Water and Akkawi Cheese, which is very typical for our region. We also served a special selection of Iftar starters in our Vapiano such as dates, dried strawberries, dried apricots and a selection of nuts and currant. And we also enlarged our range of juices with Jallab Juice (carob, dates, grape molasses and rose water), Tamarind Juice (Indian date), Amar El Din Juice (apricot juice).