FREA Bakery opened its doors this March, just one street down from their much-hyped vegan zero-waste restaurant FREA – the first in the world. Customers are greeted with a mouth-watering display, including all the vegan croissants your stomach can handle. Rather than butter, they make their own signature margarine, developed at the ‘FREA Lab’, where they lovingly concoct the zero-waste recipes which have made FREA such a hit.
To accompany your pastries, pick up some fresh sourdough bread or take a seat in their café for a delicious breakfast of cardamom croissants served with homemade hazelnut butter and apple-lemon jam. Matthias Abraham, a Bavarian with a passion for baking and an expert-level CV to match, is the in-house baker who spent six months experimenting with hand-pulled sourdough in order to create the perfect seed-rolled loaf.
Alongside home-brewed kombucha, FREA Bakery also makes its own roasted hazelnut milk, adding a unique flavour to your morning cappuccino. Following the “full taste, zero waste” philosophy of the original restaurant, all the leftovers from the bakery are dutifully handled by their famous coffin-like “Gersi” composting machine, including any paper packaging.
The zero-waste principle is further engineered into the baked goods: leftover baguettes are transformed into croutons, breadcrumbs are introduced to mini ferments to make bread miso, unsold croissants are repurposed into sweet hazelnut bites. One word to the sustainably wise: If you want a slice of the action, go early – you’ll be lucky to score a table past 10am.
FREA Bakery Gartenstr. 9, Mitte, Wed- Sun 8-15
