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If you’re looking for a fine dining experience that swaps protein for plants, these vegetable-centric hotspots are exciting, experimental and entirely meat-free.
The plant-based culinary scene is thriving across Europe with vegetables elevated to epic new heights.
Thanks to pioneering chefs and innovative restaurateurs, the humble leek, potato and beetroot have gone haute, with fresh-from-the-soil ingredients now braised, sautéed or pickled to perfection. From Finland to France, Switzerland to Sweden, these dozen vegetarian and vegan restaurants will ensure you meet your recommended 30 different plants a week.
Joia, Milan
@joia_altacucinanaturale
(Image: Vincenzo Moraca)
If ever there was a forerunner in ennobling vegetables to haute cuisine, it’s this Milanese stalwart. The story begins in 1989, when a group of friends invited Swiss chef Pietro Leemann to advise on their new meatless gourmet venture.
Seven years later, Joia became the first vegetarian restaurant in Europe to win a Michelin star, retaining it ever since.
It is still a hotbed of flair, with chefs utilising ingredients that are organic, biodynamic or sourced from synergistic vegetable gardens in the complex, plant-based dishes. Eggs don’t get a look in, gluten and dairy rarely so.
Madre, Amsterdam
@madre.amsterdam
The folk behind Madre invite you to “spice up your week” with a visit to their modern Mexican restaurant and cocktail bar in the heart of the Jordaan.
This place is fun, flamboyant and fully invested in veganism. Classics are given a fresh-from-the-earth spin with favourites including chipotle mole cauliflower wings, a spiced mushroom picadillo, achiote potato tostadas and yuca fries with jalapeno aioli.
Taco Tuesdays are lively, thanks to a special offer on tacos and well-mixed cocktails; so are the brunches, when the spicy margaritas and mezcal mules flow.
Arpège, Paris
@arpege.paris
(Image: Alex Crétey)
“I want to elevate the humble vegetable to a grand cru,” states Alain Passard on the website of Arpège, which garnered the No.45 spot on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025 list.
He’s certainly put his money where his mouth is. In 2002, he planted a kitchen garden (now over 17 acres) to supply organically grown fruits, vegetables and herbs to the restaurant.
More recently, he eliminated all animal products from his cooking – the only thing you’ll now spy is honey from his beehives. This is veg-centric haute cuisine at its finest (and prettiest).
Tian, Vienna
@tian_restaurant_wien
(Image: Ingo Pertramer)
Gauthier Soho, London
@gauthierinsoho
Classically trained chef Alexis Gauthier has been on a mission for the past quarter of a century to leave the planet in a better state than we found it by “creating a plant-based future of food”. The menus at his eponymous eatery are vegan, served with all the panache of French gastronomy at white linen-covered tables. Opt for the multi-course ‘Grand Dîner’ or the shorter ‘Petit Dîner’ and feast on delights such as fluffy brioche feuilletée with sunflower and miso butter, furikake-crusted tofu and chestnut ravioli. There’s a wine flight and a non-alcoholic drinks pairing.
Lucky Leek, Berlin
@luckyleek
When Josita Hartanto threw open the doors of her purely plant-based restaurant, Lucky Leek, in 2011 in a city known for its currywurst, meatballs and kebabs, it caused a stir.
As it turns out, Berliners couldn’t get enough of her innovative cookery, with Hartanto going on to author three vegan cookbooks.
Her fairly priced tasting menu is a colourful celebration of nature’s bounty, such as carrot quiche with truffle pointed cabbage, curd cheese gnocchi in a ratatouille cream, and poached beetroot tofu.
KLE, Zurich
@klerestaurant
(Image: Erna Drion)
It’s not often a software developer has a career pivot to open one of the most exciting plant-focused restaurants in Europe – but then this is Zineb ‘Zizi’ Hattab.
Having put in some serious shifts in renowned kitchens around the world, Hattab struck out on her own in 2020, opening a 40-cover vegan spot in Zurich’s Wiedikon.
To this day, it’s filled with diners keen to try her four-to six-course ‘surprise’ Mexican-Morrocan-esque menu, though a list of seasonal protagonists (ginger to green beans, pistachio to sweet potato) gives some clue of what to expect.
Encanto, Lisbon
@encanto_joseavillez
(Image: Grupo José Avillez)
José Avillez is a culinary giant.
The Lisbon-based chef leads more than 30 restaurants, 14 of which he owns, with multiple accolades under his apron. So when he opened his first fully vegetarian spot in 2022, describing it as an “enchanted plant world”, it was destined for stardom.
The kitchen’s strong relationship with small-scale local growers plays across the 12-course feast, the likes of pumpkin skewers with citrus peel emulsion; ‘Farmer’s noodles’ of kohlrabi, eggplant and buckwheat; and fig soufflé – complemented by biodynamic wines, craft beers, housemade juices and kombuchas.
YesYesYes, Helsinki
@yesyesyeshelsinki
The food here is as vibrant as the decor (think candy-coloured walls, heart-shaped mirrors, wild banana trees).
Dishes don’t lean into a specific country or cuisine, instead changing according to the seasons and what the nearby farmers are pulling out of the ground.
The fun is to be had in locking forks over the a la carte sharing plates with names like ‘Roots & Greens’ and ‘Comfort’.
Start with the dips (such as whipped tahini with lingonberries; za’atar-pickled lemon-yoghurt) served with fluffy bread from the piping hot tandoor oven in the open kitchen.
Seven Swans, Frankfurt
@sevenswansfrankfurt
Ricky Saward’s 100 per cent vegan restaurant spreads over seven floors in what is Frankfurt’s narrowest building, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the River Main.
But the panorama won’t distract you for long – it’s the set ‘surprise’ menu, with extraordinary dish after extraordinary dish, that steals the show.
Vegetables grown at the restaurant’s permaculture farm are pickled, fermented, sauteed, grilled or pulverised, presented like works of art. Little wonder there’s a months-long waiting list – keep an eye on its Instagram for the nod when bookings open.
Ark, Copenhagen
@restaurant_ark
(Image: Zane Kraujina)
Ark’s earthy coloured, natural aesthetic bears all the hallmarks of Danish design – simplicity, functionality and high-quality craftsmanship.
The same can be said of the fully plant-based cooking. As you’d expect from a country where foraging is a religion, as much as possible is found in the wild and where it’s not, it is sourced locally – veggies are grown nearby and they even co-own an organic mushroom farm, Funga.
Sustainability spills over into the drinks – with leftover wine, tea and coffee grinds converted into housemade liquors and vermouths – and the team even co-owns an organic mushroom farm, Funga.
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