A taste of Cologne: three women shaping the city’s food scene

Mülheim’s living room: Haldi Spoon and Mama Gursharanjit

Step into Haldi Spoon in Cologne-Mülheim and you’re greeted by a small slice of India. On one side, pots and pans clatter and sizzle in the open kitchen; on the other, guests settle into the colourful dining room, eating, chatting and laughing. And under the glass tabletops, handwritten notes lie scattered – small love letters to the restaurant and its owner.

“Many call me Mama,” says Gursharanjit Kaur Jawanda, smiling as she pours a steaming chai. It makes sense: in her early sixties, she radiates a warmth that fills the entire room.

She came from India to Germany in 1987, worked with her husband in an Italian restaurant and eventually opened her own place in June 2021. “I actually wanted to stop working,” she says with a wry smile. “But cooking is just too much fun.” For her, the restaurant is a living room and the guests are family.

One of her most popular dishes is her own invention: the Naanizza is a mix of naan and pizza, topped with curry and cheese and baked in the oven. An idea from Cologne with an Indian soul, just like her. “Cooking is love. When it comes from the heart, people can taste it.”

Today, Gursharanjit wants to encourage other women. She believes that self-employment can bring real freedom for older women with migrant backgrounds and that they should dare to take their own path far more often. Work, she says, isn’t just about earning a living but about self-determination. Perhaps the most powerful spice in her life.

Opening hours: Tue – Sun 5 pm to 9 pm
Address: Dünnwalder Str. 49, 51063 Cologne (Mülheim)

Next level: Mona Baumgarten brings both heart and precision to her cooking at Augustin

A few kilometres away, at Augustin in the Classik Hotel Antonius, the smell of freshly brewed coffee still hangs in the air. Breakfast service is over; the last hotel guests are easing into their day. In the kitchen, Mona Baumgarten pulls on her white chef’s jacket, ties back her hair and starts her mise en place with calm, focused movements. She chops vegetables, checks temperatures and speaks to her colleagues in short, clear sentences.

Before moving to Cologne, she worked in several fine-dining restaurants, always driven by the desire to understand what really lies behind Michelin-level cooking. At places like Villa Leonard, Résidence and Christian Bau’s restaurant in Saarland, she refined her craft and discovered just how much discipline and precision go into every plate.

Her style is classic French: pâtés, terrines, profiteroles. “I don’t need to reinvent anything,” she says. “I just want to cook well.” Her mentor, Michelin-starred chef Eric Werner, has been a defining influence. “He supported and challenged me. When I do something well, he says: ‘That works – but you can make it even better.’”

Whether there are more men or women at the stove doesn’t matter to her. In the kitchen, it’s about skill, respect and a love of the craft, not gender. Independence means a great deal to her, and respect is the most important ingredient. “In the kitchen, you still have to mind your Ps and Qs,” she says — even when the pressure peaks.

In her quiet determination, her subtle humour and her love of craftsmanship, you sense the attitude that makes Cologne’s food scene so special: groundedness meeting precision. And together, they taste like the future.

Opening hours:
Breakfast buffet: Mon – Fri 7 – 10 am | Sat – Sun 7 – 10:30 am , 22 euros/adult
Dinner à la carte: Tue – Sat 6 – 10 pm | Sun 5 – 9 pm
Address: Dagobertstr. 32, 50668 Cologne (Neustadt-Nord)

A pastry chef with backbone: Julia Huppertz and her Cologne-based pâtisserie Veedel Pastry

Julia Huppertz’s world looks quite different. Her pâtisserie, Veedel Pastry, isn’t in the city centre but in a small production kitchen in Niehl. No café, no display counter. Instead: cakes and tartlets that look like tiny works of art. Julia – tall, with big glasses and a knitted twinset instead of a baker’s jacket – works with a small team of women on refined interpretations of classic pâtisserie.

Before finding her dream job, she studied business administration and real estate management, working in offices and on development projects. Until one day she realised she wanted to create something with her own hands. In Switzerland she learned the basics from a world-champion pâtissier; in Milan she completed a master’s in food and beverage management. Back in Cologne, she founded Veedel Pastry, with a rented kitchen, a little three-wheeled Ape for sales and a whole lot of improvisation.

Today she supplies markets, caterers and events. Sustainability, regional sourcing and animal welfare matter just as much to her as flavour. “We’re not a French pâtisserie,” she says. “We’re the Kölsch version – with heart, humour and craftsmanship.”

Her tartlets and cakes are sweet but never overly sugary, elegant but never pretentious. Julia sums up her motivation like this: “I love sweets. I love animals. And I love people.” From those three heartfelt passions, her business has grown. She wants to foster awareness and appreciation for beautiful desserts, creative craftsmanship, regional ingredients and humane animal farming. A clear statement charmingly served.

3 women, 1 flavour

Three women from Cologne who couldn’t be more different – yet they speak the same language: the language of passion. Their kitchens mirror their personalities; their dishes tell stories of origin, courage and the love of a craft. Perhaps Cologne tastes so good because the people who cook here stay true to themselves.