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Arpège, a three Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, France, has removed almost all of the animal ingredients from its menu in favor of plant-based dishes.
The new menu now excludes meat, fish, and dairy products, but still features honey sourced from Arpège’s in-house beehives. The presence of honey means that Arpège is not entirely vegan, but it is the first three-Michelin-star restaurant in France to adopt a primarily plant-based menu.
Read more: Is Honey Vegan? How And Why Bees Make It, Plus 17 Substitutes
Chef Alain Passard founded Arpège in its current form in 1986. The restaurant had gained three Michelin stars by 1996 and has retained them ever since. Passard first stopped serving red meat in the early 2000s against a backdrop of hygiene issues and a lack of animal welfare protections.
According to the Guardian, Passard said at the time that it had been “many years” since he had eaten meat himself. He cited a lack of culinary inspiration in animal products, and added: “I want to become the first three-star chef to use only vegetables, a driving force in the field of vegetable and flower cuisine.”
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Arpège’s new, mostly plant-based menu was inspired by Passard’s “passion for nature,” while the increased emphasis on seasonal vegetables will help to reduce the restaurant’s overall environmental impact.
The updated Arpège menu includes dishes such as flambéed aubergine with melon confit, a “mosaic” of tomatoes, and a carrot, onion, shallot, and cabbage medley. The most expensive set menu costs €420 per person, while a lunch option costs approximately €260.
Read more: ‘I Dined At The World’s Only Michelin 3-Star Vegan Restaurant – Here’s What It Was Like’
Vegan fine dining and Michelin-starred menus
Eleven Madison Park made a similar move away from animal products in 2021, adopting an entirely vegan menu under chef Daniel Humm. In 2022, the restaurant made history by retaining its three Michelin stars for the 11th year in a row, despite the change in menu.
Earlier this year, London’s Plates became the first vegan restaurant in the UK to be awarded a Michelin star. After receiving the accolade, Chef Kirk Haworth commented that rather than emphasizing the word vegan, Plates is “all about flavor, excitement, and innovation.”
Read more: David And Victoria Beckham Praise ‘Spectacular’ Vegan Meal
