A Vision Rooted in Resilience and Respect

The hotel has never been just a workplace. From the beginning, it was about creating a space where people feel accepted, where nature is respected, and where visitors leave with more than memories of the sea. What my grandfather understood long before many others was that travel can change us — if it is done with awareness.

Born on Iž, he knew the island intimately: its scarcity of water, its hard soil, and its traditions rooted in both struggle and abundance.

“On an island, you learn quickly to be resilient and resourceful.”

he often told me. “You respect what you have.” Those values — resilience, resourcefulness, respect — became the foundation of everything he created, and they remain the words I would use to describe him.

From Struggle and Abundance to a Hotel with Purpose

When he opened the first vegetarian hotel on the Adriatic coast 25 years ago, it was far from an obvious choice. “It was an opportunity and a risk I decided to take,” he once said. The idea was born out of his travels to India with his teacher, Maheshwarananda, and it was never just about food or tourism. What he wanted to create was a place where people could slow down, reflect, and explore a more spiritual way of life.

Naturally, the locals met the idea with skepticism. “They were mostly mocking us the first ten years,” my grandfather recalled with a laugh. “They remained tolerant for the next 10 years and, five years ago, accepted our concept as normal. Change comes gradually here.” While many locals struggled to see the point, international visitors were often quicker to embrace it.

“The first intention, one present to this day, is introducing people to spirituality, raising consciousness, and being humane toward all living things,”

he explained. “This is a challenging thing to do in tourism, especially when guests come only for a week or two. But what matters is opening that window of possibility, letting them know it exists. That it is something worth striving for.”

Guests feel the special spirit 

That sense of possibility is what guests feel when they arrive. Many speak of being drawn not only by the vegetarian food but by the energy of the place — the sense of community, of guidance, of retreat from the noise of everyday life. Guests often say the same thing when they step through the door: “We’re home.” That simple phrase captures everything my grandfather hoped to achieve—a vacation not for luxury, but for the soul.

Even as the hotel expanded and the next generation of our family took over daily operations, its essence has remained unchanged. What we offer is not just space and programs, but connections — between people, cultures, and ourselves with the world around and within us.

Hotel Korinjak will stay vegetarian

When I asked my grandfather about the future, his words stayed with me: “I am certain the hotel will stay vegetarian, and what undoubtedly deserves special attention now and in the future is educating people to move toward the more spiritual path, to change their perception of everyday life. Constant practice, making it a daily habit, begins the moment they wake up.”

 As I study the island and reflect on the challenges of sustainable tourism, I see just how forward-thinking his vision was. Long before “green travel” became a trend, he understood that tourism could either exploit or protect a place. His choice was always clear. For him, and for us, it was about living with nature, not against it.

That is the inheritance we carry forward. Hotel Korinjak has evolved over the years, with each generation leaving its mark, yet the spirit remains the same: a simple, mindful place where people rediscover what truly matters. When I once asked him what the tourism industry needs most, he just laughed: “It should have more places like this, haha.”

This is a guest article from Mikela Vlahov.

Der Beitrag Growing Up at Hotel Korinjak: My Family’s Journey as Croatia’s First Vegetarian Hotel erschien zuerst auf GREEN TRAVEL BLOG.

So why a vegan Christmas dinner?

If you conjure up a vegan recipe variant, you generally use fewer resources and cause fewer emissions than if you opt for a variant with animal ingredients, according to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme. So does that motivate you to check out some alternatives to the usual meat classics for your holiday menu this year? For us in any case!

Therefore, we have put together a menu for you from the vegetarian/vegan recipes of our Green Pearls® partners. In this post, we’ll tell you which dishes are suitable for Christmas with family and friends and how to prepare them. Let yourself be inspired 😉

Aperitif

As an appetizer, we found a super delicious sweet potato hummus for you at CERVO Mountain Resort in Zermatt. The sustainable hotel’s kitchen combines oriental, italian and welsh influences in a creative and unique way. The CERVO Mountain Resort kitchen team procures all ingredients regionally, i.e. products come within a maximum radius of 150 km. To accompany the hummus, consider serving vegan lentil chips of your choice or fresh bread for dipping. With this tasty appetizer, you can get yourself and your guests in the right mood for the festive evening. Click here for the recipe!

Appetizer

There’ s nothing like a warm soup as a light appetizer don’t you think? The Naturresort Schindelbruch in Saxony-Anhalt attaches great importance to regional cuisine and has the perfect vegetarian dish for you with its delicious chestnut seed soup . If you eat a vegan diet, or want to whip up a vegan version for someone in your festive party, it works beautifully with this recipe. Simply replace the animal elements of milk, cream and butter with plant-based alternatives made from oats and soy. Have fun preparing it!

Main course

“Sea & Mountains” Dumplings

Some recipes can be wonderfully varied depending on taste or completeness of the ingredient list 😉 The “Sea & Mountains” dumplings by Luca Sordi, chef at the vegan hotel LA VIMEA in South Tyrol, are perfect for this. So get inspired and modify the recipe according to your or your festive guests’ preferences, or cook it 1:1.

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Dumplings “Sea & Mountain”

South Tirol mushrooms, seaweed salad and Mediterranean aromas (inspired by the Earth day and plated like the sea).

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Keyword Dumplings, Mushrooms, Vegan

Prep Time 0 minutes minutes

Cook Time 0 minutes minutes

0 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

The pasta dough

• 300 g Durum wheat semola flour (pasta flour)
• 150 g Water (warm)
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil extra virgin
• 2 g Black charcoal
• 1 pinch Salt

The filling

• 100 g Vegan ricotta (or other vegan mild cheese)
• 300 g Mix of raw mushrooms (Chef Sorte used Oyster and Shitake)
• 2 cloves Garlic
• Aromatic herbs (rosemary, savory, sage, thyme)
• Salt & Pepper

The blue cauliflower cream

• 250 g Cauliflower
• 150 ml Cooking water
• 50 g Seeds oil
• 2 g Blue pea flower powder
• Nutmeg, Salt & Pepper

The seeweed salad

• Seaweed (Chef Sordi used Dulse and Wakame)
• Olive oil extra virgin
• Fresh chili, Lemon zest, Garlic, Parsley

The caviar

• 50 g Tapioca pearls
• olive oil extra virgin
• smoked paprika, salt

The foam

• 150 g Almond Milk
• 8 Juniper berries
• 1 pinch salt

Instructions

The Dumplings

• Mix the flour, salt and charcoal.Pour the warm water and oil on top of the dry part and mix energetically (by hand of with help of kitchen aid).

  You need to get a dark gray dough, with plastic texture, not too dry.

  Give to it a rectangular shape, cover with kitchen film and keep it in the fridge for at least one hours.
• Cut the mushroom for the filling and cook them in a super hot pan with olive oil, garlic and herbs. Add salt and pepper just at the end, when well cooked.
• Blend them with the ricotta, getting a homogeneous mix

  Season with fresh thyme or savory and in case more salt and pepper.
• With the help of a rolling pin make a 2 mm pasta sheet.

  Cut the pasta with a round pasta cutter or other circular tools – Chef Sordi made 9 cm but it is up to the final size you want to get. Up to you!
• Put the filling in the center of circular pasta, make the pasta around a bit wet and close it with the technique you prefer. Chef Sordi use a “culurgines” shape (sardinian pasta) – you could find plenty of videos on

  youtube also for similar shapes (gyoza, momo, chineese dumpligs).

  Boil for 4 minutes in salted water.

The blue cauliflower cream

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Chop the cauliflower in small florets. Put the cauliflower in and cook for 8-9 minutes.

  Blend them, still hot, with some cooking water, the oil, salt pepper nutmeg and blue pea flower color.

The seeweed salad

• Cook the seeweeds according to the pack instructions and cool them down.

  Mix in a little bowl some oil with finely chopped aromas: garlic, chili, lemon zest, parsley.

The caviar

• Cook the tapioca pearl for about 20 minutes or until the pearls are completely transparent.

  Strain them an wash them several time under fresh water.

  Season with oil, salt and smoked paprika.

The foam

• Bring the water to a boil. Turn off and infuse the (previously broken) berries for 15 minutes,

  Remove the berries, add the salt and cool down to about 40°C (just warm).

  Make the foam with the help of a stick blender.
• Warm the cauliflower cream and put couple of spoon on the plate.

  Procede to put the pasta, seasoned with just some oil and fresh herbs.

  Put now the seaweed salad, at room temperature.

  Finish with the smoked caviar, the foam and some cress.

Potato Strudel

The open kitchen concept at Biohotel Sturm in the Rhön means you can watch the kitchen team prepare your order. Use this idea and prepare the menu for the party together with your guests. This will automatically create a happy, relaxed atmosphere in which you can create something as a community, i.e. cook your dinner. On top of that, it’s less work for you as the host and you don’t miss out on anything by standing alone in the kitchen for hours.

The Biohotel Sturm’s vegan potato strudel recipe is perfect for this. If you already cook the potatoes in advance, the rest of the preparation goes really fast. Here’s to good cooperation 😉 Click here for the recipe.

Vegan Neapolitan Cauliflower Salad

Some foods have great stories to tell. So does the Vegan Neapolitan Cauliflower Salad from Chef Paola at Eco Park Hotel Azalea in Trentino. As a rich and traditional side dish, it was traditionally prepared by her grandfather on Christmas Eve. Over the holidays that followed, the family kept adding “leftovers” so that the salad tasted a little different each time. In the process, a folk story was told. Sustainability at Christmas, that’s what it’s all about. Have fun recreating the cauliflower salad and telling stories!

Colorful gnocchi

The next recipe also comes from the kitchen of Eco Park Hotel Azalea. At this amazing resort in Trentino, especially at Christmas, there are incredible things to do for young and old (if you want to learn more, feel free to read on here – LINK to the blog Alternative Winter Vacation). But not only that, the chef Paola knows what children like: colored gnocchi. These delicious potato gnocchi get their different colors with the help of natural plant powder. With the sauce of your choice, this colorful dish is guaranteed to leave nothing on the plate. You can find the recipe here.

Dessert

From the villa wonderland of Keemala, Thailand, we received this unusual and refreshing dessert recipe for an organic, lemon-flavored Longan Cheesecake. After you have had all the hearty, hearty food and probably a piece or two of chocolate or a sugary cookie or two, this lemon dessert is perfect. The Longan fruit used for it is believed to improve skin health and grows on the Longan tree, which belongs to the soap tree family. You can get the ingredients for this special dessert at the Asia Market.

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Organic Longan Cheesecake with Lemon Flavor

This refreshing longan cheesecake will sweeten your day or round out your festive menu. Serve with homemade longan tea.

With organic longan, you'll strengthen your immune system and keep your skin healthy, because it contains vitamins C and A, as well as the minerals iron, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Thai

Keyword Cheesecake, Lemon, Longan, tarte

Servings 1 cake

Ingredients

cake

• 250 gr Flour
• 1 Egg
• 70 gr White sugar
• 120 gr Cold butter
• 1 Pinch Salt

Filling

• 125 gr Dried organic longan
• Cinnamon powder
• 125 gr Dried organic longan
• 50 gr Red beans
• 125 gr Orange juice
• 50 gr Lemon yellow
• Almond paste
• 500 gr Cream cheese

Decoration

• 125 gr Fresh strawberry
• 50 gr Blueberry Fresh
• 50 gr Black grape (without seeds)

Notes

Preparation

1. Knead all the ingredients for the short pastry using a food processor for a few minutes. It works the same way with your hands.
2. Press the dough in a tart pan and prick it with a fork to let the steam escape and prevent bubbles from forming under the crust.
3. Once the tart is in the oven, saute the dried longan, red beans, cinnamon, orange juice and salt.
4. After 10 minutes, pour everything on the tart, leaving half for the top layer, then bake it for another 20 minutes at 180 °C.
5. For the last layer, mix the cream cheese with the grated lemon zest and put it on top.
6. Garnish with breadcrumbs and dried longan.
7. Decorate the plate with mixed fruits and edible flowers.

Your Christmas menu can look this creative and appealing without any meat, and optionally even completely without animal ingredients. It sounds incredibly delicious, doesn’t it? Could we inspire you to prepare a vegetarian or vegan menu? Feel free to let us know what you’re serving on Christmas Eve.

Save one of the pins so you can have the recipes at your fingertips when the time comes.

Der Beitrag Christmas menu differently – Vegetarian and Vegan options for goose and duck erschien zuerst auf GREEN TRAVEL BLOG.