LE BOTANISTE

Open daily from 11.30am to 9.30pm. Other address rue Franklin (Schuman). Menu: approx. €25.

"Healthy eating must be just as creative and tasty"

Alain Coumont, Founder of Le Botaniste

Alain Coumont, our founder, is a globetrotter. During his travels, he found few places to eat food with organic ingredients, simple and vegetarian.

Indeed, until a few years ago, anyone trying to find a fresh vegetable-based meal outside their own kitchen was faced with a challenge.

So, well ahead of the trend, Alain imagined a 100% plant-based, organic restaurant. He began experimenting with innovative and tasty recipes. His goal: to surprise people with delicious, satisfying, all-plant-based organic meals that are good for the body and sustainable for our planet.

"I've always been aware of the impact our food has on our health and our environment," says Alain. "Le Botaniste was born out of a desire to offer an eco-responsible, organic and, above all, gourmet menu.

Our story begins in Ghent, Belgium, a city that for almost two decades has been considered a vegetarian paradise in Europe. The city is actively implementing measures to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and Thursdays are known locally as "Donderdag Veggiedag". Every week, almost half of Ghent's population goes vegetarian and vegan.

Inspired by Ghent's thriving gastronomic scene and the healthy eating it encourages, Alain and his partners opened the first Botaniste there in September 2015.

They decorate the organic and vegan restaurant with original works of art on the theme of food, 19th-century pharmacy furniture and lush indoor plants reflecting the dynamism of the concept.

Four months later, a second "Le Botaniste" opens on New York's Upper East Side, expanding the concept of fast yet healthy comfort food, focused on quality, freshness and local ingredients.

These core elements enable the team to constantly adapt and encourage smarter, more convenient and healthier consumption and living.

Today, the "Le Botaniste" team serves its certified organic menu in Belgium - in Ghent and Brussels - as well as in New York - on the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Soho, Bryant Park and Midtown East.

Our restaurants remain true to the "apothecary" ambience of our early days in Ghent: rustic shelves and antique pharmacy bottles with vintage labels, white marble counters, abundant bowls of fresh vegetables, colorful enameled cast-iron casseroles, original artwork and iconic plant-patterned wallpaper in honor of our greatest inspiration: plants! With an upbeat international playlist, Le Botaniste is the perfect environment for a casual evening, celebratory moments or quick lunches.

Order your bowl, and it'll be prepared right in front of you, at our long white marble bar - this unique design showcases the ingredients we prepare throughout the day for maximum freshness.