For the fifth year running, the Michelin Green Star has shone a light on the hard work pioneering restaurants have put into the field of sustainable gastronomy. Nine new restaurants involved in noteworthy green initiatives have been recognised. Here they are with an excerpt from their Michelin testimonies…
1. La Cour de Rémi, Bib Gourmand in Bermicourt (Pas-de-Calais)
“At La Cour de Rémi, a family estate restored by the current owners, the food is generous, local and seasonal. The produce is carefully sourced, either from the estate’s kitchen garden and orchards or from a hand-picked network of small producers.”
2. Le Domaine du Châtelard in Dirac (Charente)
“In partnership with the charity Charente Nature, a beach for endangered tortoises has been created along with ‘toad crossings’ for the many frogs in the grounds. In the kitchen, local and seasonal produce is very much to the fore, with everything grown on the estate (saffron, nuts, fruit, vegetables) certified organic.”
3. Les Jardiniers in Ligré (Indre-et-Loire)
“At the heart [of Les Jardiniers] is the vegetable garden, mulched and drip-irrigated, treated with plant-based remedies and surrounded by hedges which are replanted to shelter wildlife.”
4. La Bastide de Moustiers in Moustiers-Sainte-Marie (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence)
“…we farm using a bio-intensive approach on living soil. Our producers and other artisan suppliers are located within a radius of 80km. Our chef and his team transform the ingredients from root to leaf.”
5. L’Art de Vivre in Narbonne (Aude)
“As in their vineyards, at L’Art de Vivre, the team works in harmony with nature. Much produce comes from the estate’s farm, cultivated according to biodynamic principles, while fish from the Mediterranean is caught using sustainable methods.”
6. Bellefeuille – Saint James Paris in Paris’ 16th arrondissement (Île-de-France)
“Artisan producers (market gardeners, fishermen, livestock farmers) are chosen for their environmentally-friendly methods. The fixed menu follows the seasons and uses the whole of each ingredient, with very little meat. Kitchen waste is collected and transformed into compost.”
7. La Galinette in Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales)
“La Galinette combines a restaurant and two hectares of vegetable garden, orchard and olive grove, cultivated using organic methods for more than 20 years. The chef selects the seeds allowing a great diversity of colours, textures and flavours on the plate, whilst contributing to the preservation of the plant gene pool.”
8. En Pleine Nature in Quint-Fonsefrives (Haute-Garonne)
“The inspiration for the cooking is found in nature (the chef’s kitchen garden, foraging…) and in the work of the restaurant’s local producers, who are very much to the fore on the surprise menu.”
9. Le Saint Hilaire in Saint-Hilaire-de-Brethmas (Gard)
“… there is no fixed menu, simply a choice between two surprise offerings, which showcase the best local and seasonal produce. […] And in the dining room, the knives are artisan-forged, the tableware is produced by a potter in Alès and the jeans worn by the staff are made in Florac.”
With a total of 94 restaurants awarded, France has more Green-starred restaurants than any other country in the world. This, says the Michelin Guide, reflects “French restaurant owners’ ability to envision the future of gastronomy in a more sustainable manner and to devise inspiring initiatives”.
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