Europe 1 was alongside chef Claire Vallée, at the head of the Vegan ONA restaurant in Gironde, when she learned that her establishment would be one of the new starred stars in the 2021 Michelin Guide. "We are no longer just a restaurant. vegetable, we are now also part of French cuisine, "she responded to our microphone. 

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"I wanted to make this call to let you know that you will receive a first star in the 2021 Michelin guide".

Claire Vallée, at the head of the ONA restaurant, in Arès, in Gironde, received a phone call that changes a life.

Last Thursday, in the presence of a journalist from Europe 1, the chef learned that she was part of the selection of the famous culinary guide, published this Monday noon.

And, at the same time, that his establishment was the very first Vegan restaurant in the world to benefit from such a distinction! 

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"We are also part of French cuisine"

"I am very, very moved," reacts immediately the one who cooks without meat, fish, eggs, cream or butter.

"Congratulations to you and your teams, these stars are deserved, especially in the current context and with the complicated year that the restaurant business has just experienced", replied Gwendal Poullennec, the boss of Michelin.

The phone hung up, the boss, in tears, falls to her knees.

"There are times we want to give up, because it's hard. But there, to be [in the guide]… We are one of the chefs. We are no longer just a vegetal restaurant, we are now also part of French cuisine. " 

Vegetable cuisine discovered in Thailand

A star all the more moving as it crowns a personal journey marked by great determination.

In the kitchen after training in archeology, Claire Vallée discovered vegetable cuisine - which she prefers to the term "Vegan" - during a year spent in Thailand.

With lots of herbs, spices, tofu and seitan, a food made from wheat protein.

And a lot less meat and fish. 

© Pierre Herbulot / Europe 1

When she returns to Arès, she works in a gourmet restaurant… while no longer eating a lot of meat, and realizing that she likes to work less and less, preferring to concentrate on vegetables.

She took the plunge four years ago by buying a pizzeria, which she transformed into a gourmet vegetarian restaurant.

This is the birth of ONA (Non animal origin).

At the time, the funds were raised through a crowdfunding campaign, with the banks not believing in the project.

The establishment is born, without leather in the room, nor any product of animal origin in the kitchen, even honey.

"I'm not a plant ayatollah, however," assures the chef.

"I respect the chefs who work with small producers, local fishermen. The problem is more with large groups, large distribution."

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"With a star there is a little more stability"

After the phone call from the famous red guide, the one who had modestly confided until then "crossing her fingers for the star" said she was "reassured", in the midst of the coronavirus health crisis.

"We are looking a little for funds on the right to the left, to keep the whole structure afloat," she explains.

Especially since the reopening, a recruitment will be necessary: ​​the second of the restaurant, a cook and two servers have left the establishment, tired of short-time working. 

"Are the banks going to follow? We know that with a star there is a little more stability", now welcomes Claire Vallée.

"As they say, it puts butter in the spinach."

Before recovering, in a much more vegetal fashion: "It puts olive oil in the spinach!".