Not so long ago, we might have thought that a plant-based meal was missing something. Or that it was unhealthy. Can we change our views about food? Globally-renowned vegetable chef Frank Fol says we can and we are. Here he tells us about a whole new cuisine of taste, colour and magic: in our best restaurants and in our kitchens at home. A new world, he says, that is here to stay.
Chef Fol, who is the Vegetable Chef?
I have been involved in plant-based cooking for over 30 years. From the beginning it was all about creativity. About the fact that a chef could make a difference by using more vegetables. That it could be done in a creative way: making them the star of the dish. And that meat, could become secondary to vegetables.
This approach was my starting point. Over the years, we have added the health aspect of food. We had to start living healthier and more sustainably, including consuming less meat and more vegetables. It has been quite an evolution over the past thirty years.
In 2009 I started ‘the best vegetable restaurant’, an initiative that resulted in the We’re Smart® Green Guide. At the time, I worked hard to create as many ambassadors as possible: a thousand Frank Fols, who spread the same message as me, all over the world. And we succeeded. I am very happy that today, the general public has accepted this message.
What’s going on in vegetable-based cuisine?
More and more customers are looking for restaurants where you can eat vegetable-based food in a high-quality, culinary way. As a result, we see a new generation of chefs who are discovering the added value of it: how creative you can cook with fruit and vegetables. And they managed to share this everywhere: in many restaurants and around the world.
Nowadays you can find high-quality gastronomic vegetable cuisine everywhere in Belgium and the Netherlands: These are the types of countries that are pioneers. And it is with conviction, that is also important: not because it is a trend. It seems that this new perspective in food is structural.
Of course, not 100% of the public is on board yet and many countries are still in the early stages. We are learning. But you do see that people are discovering how delicious vegetables can be, and that you don’t really need anything else.
Customers now also realise that you can eat beautiful food in a plant-based restaurant, in a way that is healthy… and with taste. Because we can talk about health, if it doesn’t taste good, people will stop eating plant-based foods. So, everything starts with taste.
“You see that people are discovering how delicious vegetables can be, and that you don’t really need anything else”
What kinds of vegetable innovations are being created?
There are pioneering restaurants and chefs such as chef Emile van der Staak of De Nieuwe Winkel in the Netherlands. He is currently making waves with his vegetable kitchen [Editorial: Chef Emile used fresh, wild vegetables and herbs from the local Ketelbroek Food Forest].
Then there is chef René Mathieu from Luxembourg. For two years in a row, our We’re Smart® Awards has rated his La Distillerie as best vegetable restaurant in the world. Just like chef Emile, he uses wild harvest in his dishes. In addition, chef Mathieu knows the medicinal side of what he picks well and is familiar with the lesser-known flavours. He builds a story on it and delivers something very tasty.
What I saw recently in Japan was also very interesting. Japan is a country where nature and the seasons are sacred: they are part of the culture, and you must respect that. So, in contemporary Japan you see that more and more chefs are making use of nature, and plant-based restaurants are starting up everywhere. That is also a beautiful evolution.
You now see the same thing happening all over the world. Chefs everywhere are taking the initiative to become pioneers in their countries. Those are the kind of chefs we are looking for, that is the kind of cuisine we want to promote to the public; to hopefully encourage people to choose more restaurants like this.
“Chefs around the world are taking the initiative to become pioneers in their countries.”
What about drinks made with vegetables?
Actually, a chef who is also a great example to us, is Rodrigo de la Calle from El Invernadero in Madrid. Not only of his vegetable cooking but also of the custom-made vegetable non-alcoholic drinks he works with. Rodrigo creates truly magical things.
He has a drinks list of over 30 drinks, which he has tailored to his food recipes. We are talking about vegetable wines, kefir, kombucha, but also about marinated wines. It is incredibly creative and innovative, and for me a new, fun experience. These chefs are all looking for ways to distinguish themselves, with vegetables.
“We’re talking about vegetable wines, kefir, kombucha, but also about marinated wines. It is incredibly creative and innovative, and for me a new, fun experience.”
Are different food flows coming together? For example, kombucha in the health field, but also in the new restaurant kitchen?
Absolutely! Different food streams are flowing together from the belly of society. We can see that going on a lot today. Some kinds of medicinal food, for example, are becoming more popular in restaurants, and we are learning more and more to be creative with them.
So, we already know many chefs who work with their own creations of kefir, and drinks such as kombucha. They make marinades, hot and cold tea, and they work with special herbs. There are so many drinks you can create that go well with food, and without alcohol! That too is an exciting development.
One of the products that will stay with me forever is tofu. We know it from the supermarket. But when we prepare fresh tofu in a restaurant, it suddenly becomes a kind of cream. It becomes a completely different product, not like those blocks we know.
The same goes for tempeh and kombucha. These products are completely different in a restaurant. I know a good place in Antwerp where you can get kombucha. Here it is much lighter and fresher than the commercially available kombucha. All this is intriguing.
Incidentally, food as a proactive medicine is also becoming prominent. It is better to eat healthier than to take medicines, it can be immune boosting. People are becoming more and more aware of this. Let’s hope this goes mainstream too.
How popular is today’s vegetable restaurant?
Restaurants that opt entirely for plant-based and vegetarian foods are fully booked, long in advance. There are still few restaurants that do this. There are many that offer vegetable dishes in addition to their classic menu. But those who go for completely plant-based, sometimes even vegan, those are the kind of restaurants that are in high demand today.
You just have to look at Eleven Madison Park in New York, with Chef Daniel Humm. [Editor: Eleven Madison Park, has been voted the world’s best restaurant in 2017 and became 100% vegetarian in 2020]. It too is fully booked months in advance. Most of these restaurants work with seasonal vegetables. Chefs therefore work with what is available and tastiest at the time, such as the asparagus season in Belgium. As a result, the menus often change.
Chef René Redzepi of Noma in Copenhagen [Editor: Noma has been repeatedly voted best restaurant in the world] works with a “game” season, a fish season and a vegetable season. In June, when the vegetable season arrives, it is fully booked: from day one until three months later. People are looking for those types of restaurants that show creativity with this kind of cooking. It just becomes a kind of marketing tool.
“People are looking for those types of restaurants that show creativity with this kind of cooking. It just becomes a kind of marketing tool.”
Is it easy to begin with vegetable-based cooking?
There are people, and chefs, who struggle with plant-based cooking. It’s all new and not what we’ve learned. But most chefs are open to learning, because they realise that vegetable and plant-based cooking are the types of cooking of the future. And that future is already here. That’s why we help people get started with our ‘52 culinary techniques.’ It soon helps people understand how much they can do with vegetables and fruit.
That’s important because most people do the same thing all the time, which can make food boring. It is precisely thanks to the variation: Of the products, the techniques, and the seasons that you can put something beautiful on the table. This is when a vegetable kitchen becomes infinitely interesting and creative.
“Most chefs are open to learning, because they realise it is the cooking of the future. And that future is already here.”
So there’s no turning back?
Exactly. A lot is happening right now. They say that a change is being made, and that people are starting to approach food differently. We are increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability, health and ecology. You can feel that we have entered a new era, where about 30% of the population is open to eating more plant-based foods and going to those kinds of restaurants.
Basically, vegetables are now king, and more and more people are incorporating plant-based foods into their weekly eating habits. Plant-based cooking is happening now, there’s just is no turning back.
About our interviewee
Vegetable Chef® Frank Fol has been putting vegetable cooking on the map for years. A former owner of a Belgian Michelin-star restaurant, Sire Pynnock, Fol visits the crème de la crème of vegetarian and vegetable-based restaurants around the world, to select the best for the award ceremonies that his We’re Smart® World hosts such as the We’re Smart TOP100 for the best vegetable restaurants in the world.
Fol travels the world as an international advisor in the field of healthy, balanced and plant-based cooking, is a member of Worldchefs Feed the Planet and a UN Food Advocate of the World Food Programme.
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