RistoVegan at Hotel Sylva

I’m happy to report that this place still exists. A small, charming affair at the bottom of Hotel Sylva, it is a haven in amongst all the more traditional pizzerias and fish restaurants. To be fair, there are also a couple of restaurants nearby which offer specifically vegetarian dishes and a couple of cafés advertising vegan gelati and brioches, so wondering if this is the more "bohemian" end of town, but RistoVegan stands out like a beacon. It is also signposted from each end of the street, so is relatively easy to find.
The menu consists of a few dishes, mostly seitan, tofu or tempeh based, the items being based on a wide range of cuisines: Italian, Indian and Mexican for instance. The food itself is freshly prepared and the flavours are as good as any I have experienced anywhere.
My (non-veg) family were similarly impressed by the sheer tastiness of the food.
We could not see past the pannacotta for dessert, and were not disappointed, though there was also apple pie and a rice dessert also on offer.
The place appears to be run by two extremely friendly women (who speak good English), including the aforementioned Barbara, whom I understand to be responsible for the tasty flavours.
Definitely one not to be missed.
I believe it opens daily for lunch and dinner.
Updated from previous review on Wednesday August 06, 2014

Went there in July/August 2013, and sadly there is no "Restobio" to be found at this address, and not anywhere else in the vicinity either. So either the address is wrong or the cafe is closed now.

Which would be a sad loss, since being vegetarian (let alone vegan) is tricky in Cattolica. 90% of all pasta dishes and salads contain meat or fish. I really got the impression that in Italy, unlike most other European countries, there currently is a trend to add even more meat to dishes and not reduce it. For example, for many bars and cafes, a "Caprese" sandwich suddenly doesn't mean just tomato and mozzarella anymore - of course, ham must be added for that extra nutritional value. At Bologna airport, it was impossible to get a non-meat sandwich either at the Carrefour in the basement or at the snack bar right next to it - there's either ham, meat or tuna on everything. As far as I remember, this used to be different in the past.

Also, be advised that "piadina"/"piadine", a local speciality in Emilia Romagna - kind of like a flat sandwich bread with toppings - contains lard ("strutto")in the dough in 90% of the cases. I also found lard to be a common ingredient in prepacked pizza and sandwich snacks at Italian supermarkets.


Updated from previous review on Thursday August 01, 2013

This is a small cafe in a public park that serves only vegan food for lunch and dinner. They are not open every day for dinner so call ahead just to be sure. Food is great! It is also a convenience grocery store with lots of vegan food items to take back to your hotel. They do have some non-vegan items like ice-cream, probably for the visitors who demand them. The owner/operator, Barbara is super friendly and was very accommodating on our two visits to this place. Highly recommended.

Lunch: Ever day from 12:30-2:30pm
Dinner: Thursday-Saturday from 7:30pm-10pm.

But they are open other times for the grocery store items.