The best vegetarian restaurants to try in France

For several years now, vegetables have been taking pride of place in the kitchens of French restaurants! The proof is at L'Arpège, in Paris, with Alain Passard. Since 2001, the great couturier of vegetables has been sublimating the produce picked in his three French kitchen gardens. His colourful dishes are mouth-watering.

Also in Paris, vegetarians will be delighted at Datil. Here, plants and vegetables are brought to life by chef Manon Fleury.

In Lyon, you'll have a delicious time at Culina Hortus, recognised by the We're Smart Green Guide 2023 as the best vegetarian restaurant in the world. The menu features 100% plant-based dishes such as roast butternut disc, seaweed tartare, clove, butternut mousseline, full-bodied clove juice, preceded by roast persimmon, meadowsweet ice cream, gavotte tuile, meadowsweet stock, warm brioche, almond praline.

If you're passing through Dijon, head for Betterave. Here, locavore cuisine is served in a raw, natural setting.

Nature lovers looking for an exceptional vegetarian restaurant in France will fall under the spell of Äponem. Chef Amélie Darvas and sommelier Gaby Benicio have opened this sublime place in a former 17th-century presbytery. With its wild harvest and organic vegetable garden, the products of the land are reflected in evocative menus such as Garden Gastronomy.

Who said that bistro cuisine didn't rhyme with vegetables? Certainly not these fine French restaurants, which are giving a new lease of life to vegetables. In Lille, Bleu canard offers market-fresh, local cuisine. While the restaurant is not 100% vegetarian, it does offer some very appetising vegetarian, and even vegan, options, such as this wheat with pumpkin cream, roasted pumpkin, chard, sautéed enoki mushrooms, burnt onion emulsion and bread pinion.

In Nantes, you'll be delighted to discover L'Agave. This charming Franco-Mexican bistro offers a vegetarian menu made up on the day according to the arrival of vegetables from local market gardeners. For the veggie option, customers need to let us know in advance.

If you're passing through the Basque Country, make a stop at Ahpe in Biarritz. This local bistro adapts its dishes to the seasons and to what's picked, and comes up with some very pretty and colourful dishes where vegetables are the star. You'll love their grilled and fermented organic vegetables, and their innovative desserts like squash, creamy yozu and pear sorbet.

Do you like green lunches and healthy, tasty dishes? Good vegetarian canteens are springing up all over France. In Rennes, Petite Nature is a very tasty vegan canteen with an Asian flavour. We love their rice vermicelli, marinated kohlrabi, raw mushrooms and fresh coriander in a brown rice sheet. Served with a salad of white beans, raw courgettes and fresh mint with peanut sauce.

If you're wandering around Le Puy-en-Velay, try Caulet-Flori with your eyes shut. This gourmet canteen also doubles as a juice bar and offers healthy brunches.

In Le Havre, if you're looking for a vegetarian restaurant, Popi's family is the place to go. Somewhere between a canteen and a coffee shop, you'll find colourful local cuisine, all vegetarian.

Finally, if you're visiting Marseille, head to Razzia for their vegetarian sandwich made with roasted Romanesco cabbage and red cabbage. Not to mention their chocolate almond cake.

It's great to stay in a vegetarian auberge in France. And there's no shortage of them. In the Loire Valley, check out Aux bons vivres, in Yèvre-la-Ville, a delightful inn. The produce is local and seasonal, and all sourced. And while the cuisine is not exclusively vegetarian, vegetables have a place of honour.

In Alsace, you'll be happy to go to La Table verte in Mittelhausbergen. In this former farmhouse, the produce is organic and local, and the dishes are very colourful. It's 100% home-cooked, locavore cuisine, just the way we like it.

If you're lucky enough to be visiting Corsica, why not try the Potager du Nebbio, in Saint Florent. Here, the cuisine features produce from the kitchen garden next door: vegetables, fruit and flowers are all on your plate. What's more, you'll be dining under the olive trees.