My Vegan Week in Paris

...and why in 10 years, Paris will be the destination for vegan cuisine.

I recently traveled to Paris for a week. The trip was 50% work, 50% vacation, and 100% vegan. I turns out, after extensive research, that French people really like butter and cheese. So I won’t say that Paris is exactly the optimal place for vegan dining. With that said, I enjoyed a fantastic week of food, and will argue in this post that if right now Paris is like a C- as a vegan cuisine hotspot (compared, say, to New York, or any city on the West Coast of the U.S., which are all A+’s), all signs point to Paris becoming the destination for vegan food in the next decade or so. I’ll start with a bit on why Paris is currently a bit vegan-challenged, then talk about my hypothesis that this is going to change, then will talk about my week there and all the restaurants I visited.

Why Paris is Not — Right Now — A Vegan Paradise

To be clear: Paris has perfectly good produce, and you could get a salad anywhere full of fresh green lettuce (if you ask for no cheese, and then remind them that no cheese includes crumbled cheese, and also ask for no dressing). But anywhere in this post, when I say “food”, assume I mean “food with actual calories and preferably some protein”. Contrary to popular perception, vegans are not ruminants, cannot survive on kale, and in fact don’t eat more lettuce or spinach than anyone else does. I eat ~3000 calories a day and I don’t like lettuce. So the fact that every brasserie in Paris can provide salad is not bad, but is essentially a no-op.

So when I compare to the U.S. cities I was born in (New York) and/or live in (Seattle), here are a few reasons Paris is barely functional for vegan dining in 2013:

• Even “bread for breakfast” is complicated. Bakeries in Paris play the breakfast role that DnD and Starbucks play in the U.S., and in the U.S. there are always bagels, most of which at this point are vegan (though not all; bagel vegan-ness is complicated and outside the scope of this discussion). In the U.S., If there aren’t bagels, there’s a wheat bread something something that still feels like food. Not so much in Parisian bakeries. Croissants are of course the standard breakfast fare, and other than at the hippie vegan places, there are not vegan croissants available. Crepes play a similar role (fast, non-gross carbs), but are also not vegan-friendly, and even the nominally-vegan gallettes (which contain neither milk nor egg) are often difficult to order vegan because they’re cooked on a buttered pan, without an available substitute.
• One cannot bank on Asian food. In the U.S., basically every Chinese or Thai restaurant has tofu... in fact they want you to eat their tofu because it’s cheaper for them than meat. Asian food is much less common in Paris than in major U.S. cities, and tofu is actually not a given. Maybe a third of Asian restaurants I peeked into had tofu on the menu, I figure maybe half had tofu on the premises. Sushi places on the U.S. West Coast also have a near-universal menu of vegetarian and vegan options, e.g. inari and avocado rolls. I didn’t see inari anywhere in maybe 10 Japanese/sushi places in Paris. And if maybe 50% of soup/noodle/Pho places or dishes in the U.S. use a meat broth, it appeared to be about 90% in Paris. What all this means in practice is that in a group scenario, the blanket approval of Asian restaurants breaks down.
• Other ethnic food is not uncommon, but is less distributed. If you walk any block in Manhattan, you’ll see a steakhouse next to a Thai place next to a Middle Eastern place next to a pizza place next to a Starbucks. It’s not that there are no non-French restaurants in Paris, but that most neighborhoods are all French restaurants (which actually mystifies me a little... every block seems like 10 brasseries in a row with the same menu). So if you’re wandering with friends and you’re not in the Middle Eastern neighborhood, count on a low probability of falafel. And, as per the general theme here, count on a low probability of non-animal protein. On the flip side, there are several neighborhoods chock-full-o-falafel.
• One cannot bank on chain food. In the U.S., I know that if I’m in a rush and it’s time for breakfast... Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Panera have bagels. If it’s lunch... Subway has a veggie patty, McDonald’s and Burger King have veggie burgers (which are no more or less disgusting than their meat products), and Chipotle and Baja Fresh have awesome black bean burritos. Bottom line: chains have functional, non-animal-based food. Not so in France. Chains are generally less common (certainly part of the appeal of Paris for “food tourism”), and none of the chains have the vegan-friendly products they carry in the U.S. (Starbucks, for example, doesn’t have bagels).
• Substitution is not part of the culture. “Can I get x with y instead of z, with the q on the side?” is a standard request in the U.S., vegan-ness aside. In the U.S., other than at the fanciest restaurants, places and servers generally want the customer to have what they want and — within reason — are not offended by substitutions. Maybe this is one of the few upsides of our out-of-control tipping system, which doesn’t exist in Europe. You probably won’t get glared at if you request substitutions in Paris, but you’ll get a confused look, and your request will likely involve a lengthy exchange with the kitchen that ultimately results in less clarity on what you’re actually eating. It’s just not a thing.

Bottom line: don’t plan to walk outside with a group and say “we’ll find something on this block” unless you aren’t particularly hungry. I was mostly in Paris for a conference, so there were plenty of people around and I never had to leave my wife to fend for herself. In fact once I settled in and said “this is going to be an adventure and I look forward to traveling to a new (pre-selected) place for every meal”, I had a blast, and saw several neighborhoods I wouldn’t have seen if I could have counted on eating near my hotel.

Why Vegans Will Be Flocking to Paris in 10 Years

Although Paris doesn’t compare favorably to most U.S. cities for vegan dining right now... you heard it here first... I predict Paris will be the place for vegan dining a decade from now. I personally have no tofu in this fight (i.e., I have no trips planned to Paris and may or may not ever be in Paris again), so I wouldn’t call this “optimism”. Rather, a few clear trends point to a real rise in vegan dining in Paris:

• French people love animals. Europe in general, and Paris in particular, has a wildly dog-friendly culture. Can you imagine bringing your dog into a restaurant in Manhattan? Unless you're an A-lister eating a restaurant you partially own, not so much. In Paris, every park is a dog park. Dogs are off-leash all the time (and consequently dogs are well-behaved all the time). Overall, French people display a clear empathy for animals that is above and beyond the mean empathy for animals in the U.S. This does not tip the scales toward vegetarianism overnight, but it helps. Empathy for cows isn’t the same as empathy for dogs, but it’s a little further down the same emotional axis.
• French people love the environment. We definitely hear a lot of trash-talk about American environmental habits coming from Europe (and France in particular), and I admit to having assumed this was just a case of “it’s easy to hate cars when everything is close together so you don’t need cars”. But I have to say that the sense of environmental activism in Paris was palpable, everywhere in the city. The public transit system is incredible compared to even the best subways in the U.S., and is constantly growing. The main city parks and gardens (e.g. the Tuileries) are maintained with organic supplies and no pesticides. Just like in all of our stereotypes, cars are tiny, motorcyles are tinier (and ubiquitous), and consequently gas mileage is off the charts. Overall: I was wrong, France, your environmentalism is quite sincere. And again, though this doesn’t turn anyone into a vegetarian, it puts a cap on how large the meat industry can grow, and is likely to make the population much more responsive to the argument that reducing meat intake (without giving up meat) can contribute to environmental protection just like reducing oil consumption (without giving up cars). So I could absolutely imagine a “meatless Monday” (or perhaps “sans viande samedi”) becoming a cultural tradition, which would open the door for meatless menu options and increase enthusiasm for meatless restaurants.
• Paris is full of hippies. Paris has to have more artists and college students per capita than any European city, particularly in the summer. And where there are artists and college students, there are hippies. And where there are hippies, there are vegetarians. And where there are vegetarians, there are vegetarians who need to eat. You see where I’m going with this.
• Natural and organic food is exploding in Paris. Grocery stores in Paris tend to be smaller than American supermarkets. Consequently grocery stores can turn over a little faster than in most of the U.S., and it was very clear that in the ~2 years before I visited, an astonishing number of crunchy natural grocery stores had opened up, including large and expanding chains like Naturalia and Bio C’Bon, as well as a number of smaller local markets. Natural and organic is not equivalent to vegetarian-friendly, but in practice, every one of these places carried tofu, soy milk, and all sorts of meat substitutes, comparable to what a Whole Foods would carry in the U.S. (despite being so much smaller). This points to both a growing market and a growing distribution channel for non-animal protein and a general open-ness to a change in food culture.
• Everyone speaks English in Paris. Being comfortable as a traveling vegan or vegetarian largely hinges on being able to communicate with proprieters and servers. And often a phrasebook falls short here (aside from being an annoyance), because asking questions like “is the pan greased with butter?” or “can you make the pad thai without fish sauce?” is a challenge if you’re operating one-noun-at-a-time. So certainly for Americans, the fact that basically everyone in Paris who works at a restaurant, hotel, or grocery store speaks excellent English provides a ton of comfort and clarity on what one is eating. This has nothing to do with French people wanting to eat vegetarian food, but this list is about why Paris is may be on the rise for vegan tourists.
• Paris is good at food tourism. Last but not least, people travel to Paris in part for the food, a fact in which the city takes great pride. If there is a city where vegan/vegetarian travelers are going to be willing to travel a few extra blocks to say “I ate at this fantastic restaurant in this neighborhood that sounds super-European”, it’s Paris. If there is an opportunity to expand food tourism — and the claim that Paris is the culinary capital of the world — to a growing population of vegetarian and vegan travelers, entrepreneurial Parisians are going to figure out how to capitalize.

So overall, I’m not claiming that Paris is going to turn vegetarian, or that 90% of restaurants are going to have vegan options. But I do think that a mild cultural shift will occur that allows, say, 50% of restaurants to have vegan options (maybe around what you’d find in New York, for example), and that this will be enough to make Paris a destination — if not the destination — for vegan dining.

Last But Not Least, My Week in Paris

So that’s all great for the vegan visiting Paris in 10 years... what about right now? In fact I had a jolly time sampling vegan food in Paris, and — as I mentioned above — the fact that I had to plan each meal and travel to eat turned out to be a positive: I saw parts of the city I might not otherwise have seen, and probably had more variety than I would have had I dined at the majority of restaurants, which are pretty consistently “French food”. Here are a few highlights:

Gentle Gourmet Café (Metro: Bastille) Seasonal, small menu of French-ish vegan cuisine. Atmosphere fancier than the price would suggest (which is generally a positive, though actually it felt a little too quiet and "nice" for my taste). Friendly, quick service. Nice location right across from the quay. Most importantly, this was the only place I ate at twice, which is putting my... mouth where my mouth is. My first visit was for lunch, where I spent about €16 for an excellent portobella burger, fries, bread, salad, and coffee. I went back because while in Paris, I wanted to get my croissant on, and this was the only place I came across advertising vegan croissants, so I went back for breakfast. I was not a vegan for 30+ years, so I’ve had my share of croissants. This was on par with the best croissant I’ve ever had. And it was vegan! On the flaky/dry side, which is exactly how I like pastry. Mmmmm. I had two.

Grand Appetit (Metro: Bastille) I had lunch here, and spent €6.6 (which BTW is less than a coffee in Paris) for an excellent plate of vegan sushi w/tofu. Vegan sushi is easier said than done in Paris: the standard vegan options that are always available in the U.S. (e.g. inari) aren’t standard fare here. But this is not a sushi place, it’s a cool, menu-on-a-chalkboard café that serves interesting food, a variety of cereals, and takes pride in tea. And I always love when a super-hippie place is run by someone who doesn’t look the part; the dude looked straight out of Fiddler on the Roof. Very friendly, spoke English, took credit card.

M.O.B. (Metro: Filles du Calvaire) This is an American import; they also have a location in Brooklyn. It’s a hip vegan burger place, somewhere between health food and fast food. I spent about €7 for a large plate with a veggie burger and fries. The place had character, the service was friendly, and I liked the vibe of the one giant communal table. But that’s the good news... this was probably the worst meal I had in Paris. As I mentioned above, I’m sort of down on vegan places that don’t serve a lot of protein, because I can get perfectly good bread and vegetables anywhere. From the very small menu, I picked the veggie burger, which was super-soggy, and definitely a relative of the Garden Burger family of veggie burgers (i.e., no protein). The fries were really heavy. And I don’t think I just ordered the wrong thing; the was quite limited, though some of the vegan desserts looked appealing. Overall, not a must-visit.

My Kitch’n (Metro: Brochant) Ate dinner here. The menu of the day had just two plates and two smoothies on it (and vegan carrot cake). Very cool “hippie home cooking” vibe. I had a couscous curry/bean bowl; it was great. Very casual dining in a lively market. I almost missed the place; the address I had was the address of the market, which itself is quite hidden from the side of the street I was on. But I’m glad I wandered a little to be sure before giving up. This is definitely the closest to the “restaurant”/“just a counter” border on my list, but there are tables, and the service was friendly, so I’m calling it a restaurant.

East Side Burgers (Metro: Saint Ambroise) Ate lunch here. Fast food vegetarian/vegan burger/dog/fries place. A certain “fast food is cool” charm, and the fries were good. Service was friendly. Looks like a burger stand (in a good way) upstairs, but downstairs seating area nice. Burger was not good. Like super not good. Greasy, runny yellow cheese substitute. Generic, pasty white bun. Lots of unnecessary paper and wrapping for a dine-in. Cool menu of vegan desserts that I didn’t try.

Sol Semilla (Metro: Jacques Bonsergent) This was easily the hippiest place I ate at in Paris. More like modern Orange County hippie, less like ‘60s grunge hippie. All into supplements and wheat germ and what not. That was neither good nor bad. What matters is that the food was excellent; I had a hippie noodle-y thing, a hippie smoothie thing with some kind of grass in it, some raw chocolate beans, and an awesome hippie vegan chocolate dessert. Servers were very helpful in helping us sort out what everything was; even if the menu had been in English, I had no idea what all their wild superfood hippie supplements were. Seriously, be ready for a dose of that... it was sort of like “Janis Joplin meets GNC”. Strikes against the place: more expensive than other places I ate. Not expensive by the standards of “going out to dinner and eating meat”, but more expensive than any other place on this list. I spent about €25 (just for me) and left a little hungry. Also, though I’m totally cool with the half-grocery-store-half-restaurant vibe, there were people literally standing around our table who neither worked at the restaurant nor were customers. Just people coming and going and passing packages to the proprietors, or waiting for people to come in and out of the kitchen, or smoking outside the door (while holding the door open). I’m not sure what the deal was, but it was a strange vibe. I got the sense it was very typical. But my food *tasted* fantastic, and I can’t say the vibe wasn’t unique. And given how much other folks recommend this place, I would put it on a “visit if you’re sampling vegan food in Paris” list.

Quick Thanks

First thanks to all the people I stole all the pictures from on the Web; I’m too lazy to carry a camera. Second, thanks to the three sites I used when I was planning where I would eat in Paris: happycow.net, a blog entry on the Hungry Hungry Hippie blog, and veganparis.com.