A vegan restaurant in southwestern France has earned a Michelin star, the first for a unit that serves only animal-free products in France.
Claire Vallee runs the ONA restaurant – which means Non-animal origin – in the city of Ares, near Bordeaux, which he launched in 2016 due to crowdfunding from supporters and a loan from a green bank.
“I thought a train hit me,” Vallee told AFP when she received a call from the Michelin Guide informing her of her decision.
In addition to Monday’s classic star award, Vallee also won a green star, which Michelin introduced last year to reward units with a strong record of ethical practices.
ONA is “the first vegan restaurant in France to win a star,” a Michelin Guide spokeswoman told AFP.
Vallee offered seven dishes on her gourmet menu before being forced to close ONA due to Covid-19 restrictions. Her favorite combinations include pine, boletus and sake mushrooms or celery, tonka and amber.
Traditional French banks gave the young chef a short chance when he came to them in search of a loan to start. “They said the outlook for veganism and herbal foods is too uncertain,” she said. The location chosen for her restaurant in the Arcachon basin on the Atlantic coast was also not considered promising enough.
Vallee said he had no grudges: “Everyone’s doing their job.”
Vallee continued to provide financing through crowdfunding, without the need for collateral, and through Le Nef, a bank that specializes in loans for projects that it considers ethical. “This proves that nothing is impossible,” she said.
Vallee admitted that he wondered along the way “if we were good enough, because cooking with vegetables is difficult and innovative.”
But she added: “The most important thing is to enjoy doing this.”
Although she is now considered a pioneer of vegan cuisine in France, Vallee said she simply followed in the footsteps of others, selecting the Jean-Christian jury that ran the Mano Verde restaurant in Berlin.