(CNN) – The Michelin Guide has for the first time awarded one of its coveted stars to a French vegan restaurant.
ONA, which means Origine Non Animale or Non-Animal Origin, has received the award in the new edition of the long culinary guide.
The restaurant, located in the small village of Ares, in the south-west, near Bordeaux, is the first animal-free establishment to appear in the Michelin Guide to France since its creation in 1900.
It is among the 54 restaurants that have earned their first star in the 2021 update. Michelin said a “key feature of the 2021 selection is the continued spread of various cooking styles across France.”
“ON ONA … vegan cuisine takes center stage for the first time in a restaurant to earn a star in France,” he said.
Opened by self-taught chef and exarchologist Claire Vallee, the ONA has a seven-course evening menu priced at 59 euros ($ 72). Their specialties include a yellow zucchini ravioli with black truffle gnocchi and a Swiss chard ballotina with vegetable ricotta.
Plant-based options have grown in popularity.
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Vallee said she was excited when the international director of the Michelin guide called her on Thursday to tell her that ONA had won the award. “Cooking with my team is like acting in a theater. You never really know how you get to the end,” he told CNN.
Vallee opened the restaurant in 2016 after funding stakes and getting a loan from Nef, an ethical bank. When the money ran out to complete the work on the establishment, Vallee said he gathered 80 volunteers through social media to help finish the job over two months.
“This is good for the vegan community, as this star shows that French cuisine is becoming more inclusive. That herbal dishes also belong there,” Vallee said.
“The team I work with is very proud. The Michelin star and the green star serve as recognition. It is also for them and for the local producers and the vegetable farmers we work with,” he added.
The restaurant operated only to take away during the initial phase of the coronavirus pandemic and has benefited from state aid, Vallee told CNN.
Exclusively vegan establishments have been increasingly sought after in recent years, along with the rapidly growing popularity of plant-based diets.