Plant-based in Paris
Bonjour! Do you want to plan active Paris travel? I am Dvora Citron, RN MS, a Plant-based Nutrition and Longevity Enthusiast. I have as much fun planning for my trips as I do taking them! I’ve planned two great trips to Paris so far, this last one in Spring 2023.
How I ate amazing vegan food during my 8 day trip to Paris.
We spent 8 days in Paris last May-June 2024 and I enjoyed so many delicious vegan meals the entire week! I’ve checked to make sure all the restaurants are still open and in business.
I love being my own travel agent
When I plan a trip, I start enjoying myself right away, from the first reservation. There were a lot of things I did to organize and prepare for this trip. It’s really because of how impressed my daughter has always been with how I much I organize and prepare for travel (whether it be abroad or very close by) that she encouraged me to start a blog so I could share all the valuable information and resources with others who would find it helpful. That’s how slant2plants.com got started! (shoutout to Amy and Jennifer at Spark Media Concepts and The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp!).
We arrived in Paris early Saturday morning, parking our luggage at Westin Vendome (WV) in the 1st Arrondizemont. Right away we started off to Jay & Joy vegan cheese and VG Patisserie. I really wanted to go to both of those places to stock up on some vegan goodies because lots of places are closed on Sunday. It’s a good thing that we got on the bikes when we did, because it was much longer than I realized and there was no way we could have walked all the way there after our long and sleepless flights. I was really disappointed to see Jay and Joy was shuttered and learned that they had already been closed for a few months due to a listeria outbreak. Even though it was a far ride into a residential neighborhood that we otherwise might not have visited, we found it quaint and interesting. Luckily there was a popular neighborhood bakery across the street, so we went and got some food. I had some of a baguette and some bread with nuts and fruit. I’m actually not a big baguette fan, but many Parisian boulangeries have a great selection of hearty bread loaves, and they are happy to sell you 1/2 loaf or even a quarter of a loaf and will even slice it for you. We then rode over to VG patisserie. It was smaller and not as appealing as I had hoped, so again, I was disappointed. We tried a few items, and they were just OK. I did like the Citron Tart, especially the name.
I collect most of my information and resources digitally and I organize them into Google Docs that I can access remotely from my iPhone–PORTABILITY is a top priority for me! How I choose a restaurant: location, reviews and recommendations, cuisine (including if there is a vegan option), and days/times of operation. My husband is happy to eat the healthy plant-based food and meals that I eat most of the time, but he is not exclusively vegan. I really appreciate how supportive he is of my food and nutrition choices, and I want to give him the option to enjoy some non-vegan meals as well. This is what sets me apart from other sites recommending vegan restaurants. As I search for the best restaurants and explored our best options, if I didn’t see vegan options listed on the restaurant’s website, than I get in touch with them by email and asked. More often than not, I’d hear back from the staff or chef and usually got a very favorable response. Sometimes, though, the response was clear that they had no vegan options, and I appreciated knowing that in advance.
Juveniles Wine Bar was high on our list of places to try as we’d received several personal recommendations and read lots of great reviews. They had verified by email that they were happy to prepare a vegan meal for me. You can’t make an online reservation—you have to call by phone, and you can only call a few weeks in advance. I decided to make two dinner reservations: one on the first day we arrived and one on the last day before we left early the next morning. My rationale was that in case we could not stay awake for dinner on the first day, we’d still have a reservation for later in the week. We ended up doing fine on that first day, even enjoying wine at dinner that night. To top it off, we walked over to get gelato at Amorino at Rue Montorgueil (they have several vegan flavors!) and being able to walk back through the Les Halles and St. Honore areas of 1re on the way “home” to WV! As it turns out, we did go there on our last night too!
Most mornings, we got an early start and rode VeLib bikes to Land and Monkeys. Land and Monkeys is probably my favorite find in Paris. Even Eric thought their bakery items were as good as non-vegans. Too bad there wasn’t a location closer to our hotel. I’d have a real problem keeping my weight down if there were a L&M location near me.
Paris Restaurant List (with links)
Since our 2019 trip, I couldn’t wait to return to L’As du Fallafel in the Marais. Despite the line, we think it’s worth it to eat inside. There is more you can order, and they actually do a really good job of getting people in and out efficiently. I loved getting the eggplant again and the falafel really is amazing, despite the unexciting plain white pita.
Upon a high recommendation, we biked over to the Left Bank. At the romantic Le Christine we enjoyed the five course dinner with wine pairing. They made me a beautifully delicious vegan meal with nicely paired wine. Whenever chef prepared a vegan meal, the server always described the fresh season ingredients in the uniquely made dish. The dramatic server there was very entertaining, even if she was over the top.
Dinner at Kitchen Ter(re) meant another long trip, this time following our Opera House tour, so we hopped in a G7 cab. Kitchen Ter(re) specializes in pasta. They had promised me a delicious, vegan dinner in advance. I had the best chocolate dessert of the entire trip there that night.
Imagine how surprised I was to walk into this restaurant L’Ardoise across from our hotel without a reservation, and be able to get this gorgeous and delicous gourmet vegetable celebraton! I would definitely recommend L’Ardoise and would be happy to return there again on a future trip! Most of the time, we rode the VeLib bikes to restaurants, and you’ll enjoy reading my post about Velib bikes HERE.
We went to Phillip Excoffier on the last night of our first trip to Paris in 2019 and it was probably our favorite meal. In my email communication with Chef Excoffier, he assured me that he would cook a gourmet vegan meal for me, especially since we would be there during a month when there was an abundance of season produce. The staff were different this time, and the sommelier was particularly good. We enjoyed heading towards the Eiffel Tower on the way there, and went strolled over to the Champ de Mars Park after dinner.
On our last full day in Paris, we rode to the Land and Monkeys at 54 Route to Amsterdam. That day I realized they had an almond croissant filled with chocolate (I’d just been having almond croissants the previous visits). OMG I was in such heaven. I figure I would actually be in big trouble if I lived near L&M because I don’t think I could resist it. Since I was on “vacation” and walking 10 miles a day (plus biking!), I could “afford” this indulgence. We even got some extra pastries to take with us for the next morning, as we were leaving at 6 AM for the airport.
Eating vegan in Paris was a pure joy for me. I could have been there for a month and had no trouble finding delicious options. I had a very long list of places that I didn’t get to—you can only eat so much in one day! The key to my success was planning ahead. That’s my jam.
You can listen to more about our trip HERE. This podcast prepares you to plan a great trip to Paris and many other destinations in France. Annie Sargent’s program is not only educational with great travel advice, it is also entertaining! Her website is loaded with valuable resources. I had the honor of being her podcast guest for a “trip report”, during which we discussed our most recent trip to Paris. I hope you enjoy listening to our discussion on “Eating Vegan in the Land of Baguettes and Brie” (you can find episode #476 on the Join Us in France Travel Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts–Apple, Google, Spotify).
Paris Olympics 2024 Featuring Plant-Based Cuisine
Here are some sites highlighting the plant-based cuisine at the Paris Olympics this summer:
I’d like to know your favorite restaurants in Paris! Please tell me in the comments section, and please sign-up for my email newsletter!
