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A vegan restaurant in southwestern France has won a Michelin star, the first for an establishment serving only animal-free products in France.
Claire Vallee runs the ONA restaurant – which stands for Non-animal origin – in the city of Ares, near Bordeaux, which it launched in 2016 thanks to crowdfunding from supporters and a loan from a green bank.
“I felt like I had been hit by a train,” 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 presented last year to recognize establishments with a strong track record in ethical practices.
ONA is “the first vegan restaurant in France to have won a star,” a spokesperson for the Michelin Guide told AFP.
Vallee offered seven courses on his gourmet menu before having to shut down ONA due to Covid-19 restrictions. Her favorite combinations include pine, porcini, and sake, or celery, tonka, and amber beer.
Traditional French banks gave the young chef a little boost when she came to see them looking for a loan to get started. “They said the outlook for veganism and plant-based foods was too uncertain,” she said. The location chosen for its restaurant in the Arcachon basin on the Atlantic coast was not considered promising enough either.
Vallee said she had no hard feelings: “Everyone’s doing their job.”
Vallee then obtained funding through crowdfunding, without the need for guarantees, and through Le Nef, a bank specializing in loans to projects that it considers ethical. “It shows that nothing is impossible,” she said.
Vallee admitted to wondering along the way “if we are good enough because cooking with vegetables is difficult and innovative”.
But, she added, “The most important thing is to enjoy doing this.”
Although now considered a pioneer of vegan cuisine in France, Vallee said she simply followed in the footsteps of others, singling out the late Jean-Christian Jury, who ran the Mano Verde restaurant in Berlin.
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