It’s hardly news that consuming more vegetables is good for both you and the planet. But when it comes to eating out, finding restaurants that serve great greens in an eco-friendly way can take some digging.
An invaluable resource in this regard is the We’re Smart Green Guide, an online platform promising to provide an overview of the best vegetable restaurants around the world, compiled using reviews of more than 1,500 eateries across 49 countries. The guide, which rates restaurants based on the ‘culinary use of fruits and vegetables’, is the brainchild of Frank Fol, former head chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Sire Pynnock in Leuven, Belgium, and a passionate spokesman for cooking that puts greens first and lends sustainability centre stage.
The 2024 edition of the Green Guide – which features the top 10 vegetable restaurants around the world – is set to be unveiled in Valencia, Spain this November. But with Japan, a country with a time-honoured tradition of plant-based cuisine and home of some of the world’s best-quality produce, We’re Smart decided to do an early unveiling. The top 10 vegetable-forward Japanese restaurants in this year’s Green Guide were announced on September 14 in Nagaoka, Niigata prefecture.
The choice of venue was apt, as Niigata is a rising culinary destination with a rich agricultural heritage and a vibrant community of producers dedicated to growing regional heirloom vegetables such as okuchi lotus root and green kagura nanban peppers. These delicacies and their producers were celebrated as part of a local gastronomy tour held in conjunction with the Green Guide’s awards ceremony.
Here are Japan’s 10 best veg-focused restaurants for 2024, as per the Green Guide:
- Villa Aida, Wakayama
- Sanaburi, Niigata
- Mutsukari, Tokyo
- Florilège, Tokyo
- Maz, Tokyo
- Tsushimi, Yamanashi
- Faro, Tokyo
- Sojiki Nakahigashi, Kyoto
- Narisawa, Tokyo
- Respiracion, Ishikawa
For more on We’re Smart and the Green Guide, check out the website. And to find out more about the vegetable scene in Niigata, take a look at the video below.
