Quietly reshaping Cologne’s food scene: 3 women driving bold, meaningful change

Kaddy Saidykahn, Maria Karpathiotaki and Laura Pörsch. 3 women, 3 paths into entrepreneurship and one thing in common: courage. They’re reshaping Cologne’s culinary landscape quietly, confidently and with style. They run places that are more than restaurants. They create environments that reflect what they stand for. And they show that leadership in hospitality can be reimagined: female, bold and values-led.

A host with a stance: Kaddy Saidykahn leads Vunky with charisma, creativity and pure enthusiasm

Kaddy Saidykahn is the managing director and owner of Vunky on Eigelstein. The place reflects her: elegant yet down-to-earth, sensual yet precise. Art on the walls, plants in tall vases and dishes that refuse to bow to trends. If anything, the very opposite. It’s a strictly regional and seasonal kitchen – and that’s a real challenge for any chef.

Born in Gambia and raised along the Moselle, Kaddy has seen plenty of the world and had her fair share of experiences along the way. Her path took her from training as a foreign-language correspondent to working as a photographer. She spent ten years in a Cologne hotel before she and her partner, Tom Mackenroth, decided to become hosts themselves. “The place found us, not the other way around,” she says.

I ask how my team is really doing – not just to be polite.
Kaddy Saidykhan

Kaddy Saidykhan

Vunky defines itself as a spot for plant-based cuisine rooted in regional cooking and real responsibility. “We support farmers whose livelihoods are on the brink,” Kaddy explains. Unusual for higher-end dining: there’s no head chef, no rigid hierarchy. The menu is created as a team effort – everyone has a voice. “We want everyone to be creative,” she says.

Kaddy is fully aware that she leads with a distinctly feminine approach to leadership. “I ask how my staff are doing – not just to be polite, but genuinely.” Maybe that’s the real revolution in a field where pressure is often part of the daily routine.

Opening times: Tue–Fri midday–3 pm & 6:30–11 pm | Sat 6:30–11 pm | Sun 10 am–3 pm
Address: Eigelstein 127–129, 50668 Cologne (Neustadt-Nord)

Where tradition meets what’s next: Maria Karpathiotaki and her vision of a modern Ouzeria

Maria Karpathiotaki of the Ouzeria represents the next generation. She’s thirty, trained in hotel management, currently training as a sommelier, and has been running the family restaurant for five years – after taking it over during the pandemic. “I had to learn how to let go. And so did my father,” she says.

For a long time, people asked for my husband – they assumed he was the one running the place. I had to earn that respect myself.

Maria Karpathiotaki, owner of the Ouzeria

The Ouzeria used to be a Mediterranean tapas spot; today it’s a place for casual fine dining with Mediterranean soul. Her vision: a modern concept free from labels. “We don’t want to be boxed in as ‘Greek’,” she explains.

Niko, her husband and head chef, creates dishes like feta foam with tomato sorbet, a contemporary take on a Cretan classic. For Maria, change isn’t a contradiction but a necessity. “You have to be free enough to try new things and flexible enough to admit mistakes.”

Being underestimated as a young woman? She talks about it openly. “People wanted to speak to my husband first because they assumed he was the one running the place. I had to earn that respect myself.” Today she leads with sensitivity and purpose. “Women often pick up on moods earlier. That really helps keep a team together.”

She embodies a generation redefining leadership not through force, but through awareness. Her parents now look at her achievements with deep pride. After all, she’s guiding the restaurant into the future with a vision entirely her own.

Opening times: Mon–Thu 5 pm–midnight | Fri–Sat 5 pm–12:30 am
Address: Brüsseler Str. 68, 50674 Cologne (Innenstadt)

Between respect and responsibility: Laura Pörsch learned hospitality from the ground up

Laura Pörsch runs several Cologne institutions, including Café Bauturm, Café Ludwig im Museum and Café Feynsinn. Even the Moxxa roastery is part of the family group. Her father, Achim, opened the first café almost forty years ago. Today the business has around two hundred employees.

I can only lead if I know exactly how much work goes into every single task.

Laura Pörsch, junior managing director of various cafés

“I basically grew up behind the counter,” Laura says with a laugh. Today she runs the family businesses, knowing every position, from service staff to the people in administration. Talking to her, it quickly becomes clear that she leads by listening. “I can only lead if I know how much work goes into every single task,” she says. She calls herself a “junior managing director” – officially only in Düsseldorf, where the family has recently taken over the opera’s gastronomy.

But anyone who meets her can sense it: the title doesn’t matter. Her leadership style is built on empathy and clarity. “I respect my team’s boundaries, just as they should respect mine.” And she says things you rarely hear from people in gastronomy: “Right now, I wouldn’t recommend anyone go into hospitality. Not because I don’t love it, but because the industry is struggling so much.”

Laura Pörsch talks about the lack of political support, fair wages, honest products and the absurdity of a schnitzel for 11.90 euros. She believes in sustainability, transparency, family and in the fact that the industry needs to change.

She embodies that change herself. “We’re not old white men,” she says with a grin. And she doesn’t just mean her family, but an entire generation of women who are raising the bar.

Café Bauturm
Opening times: Mon–Thu 9 am–1 am | Fri–Sat 9 am–2 am | Sun 9 am–midnight
Address: Aachener Str. 24, 50674 Cologne (Neustadt-Süd)

Café Ludwig im Museum
Opening times: Tue–Sun 10 am–midnight
Address: Heinrich-Böll-Platz, 50667 Cologne (Altstadt-Nord)

Restaurant Café Feynsinn
Opening times: Mon, Tue, Sun 10 am–10 pm | Wed–Thu 10 am–11 pm | Fri–Sat 10 am–midnight
Address: Rathenauplatz 7, 50674 Cologne (Neustadt-Süd)