This European Country's Oldest City Is Home To The World's Only 2-Michelin-Starred Vegan Restaurant

Vegan food isn't always the first thing that comes to mind when people imagine dining at a prestigious Michelin-star restaurant. De Nieuwe Winkel, chef Emile van der Staak's restaurant in the Netherlands, is aiming to change that. Located in Nijmegen, one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands (dating to 5500 B.C.), De Nieuwe Winkel is currently the only vegan restaurant in the world with two Michelin stars. Van der Staak's inspiration for his seasonal menu (it changes three times per year) in part stems from time spent at Food Forest Ketelbroek, a massive 6-acre garden near Germany's border, planted with edible crops designed.

When booking a table at De Nieuwe Winkel, you'll get a different experience depending on when you visit. Van der Staak's Awakening menu runs from March to June and celebrates the blooming flavors of spring. The Growth menu runs from June to October and offers fresh summer flavors. Finally, the Abundance menu runs from November to March and provides diners with the year's botanical gastronomy finale.

When you think of a Michelin-star restaurant, it's easy to imagine a place where you don't belong. This isn't the case at De Nieuwe Winkel. The restaurant makes a point to create a welcoming environment for all guests, vegan or otherwise. The open kitchen allows diners to see where the magic happens, one plate at a time. Staff members understand that vegan cuisine is new to many guests, and work to educate, inform, and surprise. The restaurant's ambiance certainly has a wow factor, but many guests are astonished by the flavors van der Staak creates using plant-only ingredients.

While De Nieuwe Winkel is currently the only vegan restaurant in the world with two Michelin stars, there are other big players with plant-based menus. Eleven Madison Park, a restaurant led by chef Daniel Humm, is a plant-based U.S. restaurant with three Michelin stars, located in New York City. However, in October 2025, Eleven Madison Park changed its menu to offer animal proteins alongside vegan options.

As the global market for plant-based foods continues to grow, an increasing number of global consumers (not just those in America's vegan capital of Los Angeles) are making the switch to vegan and vegetarian diets. And this shift from animal-based to plant-based foods doesn't mean a decline in dining experience satisfaction. In a comment to Michelin, Emile van der Staak stated, "De Nieuwe Winkel shows through botanical gastronomy that this is not a sacrifice, but a journey of discovery full of creativity, flavor, and inspiration."