Some Of Europe’s Best Vegan Fine Dining Is In The Last Place You’d Expect It: Lafleur In Frankfurt

The most telling thing about Lafleur, an expectedly beautiful, delicate restaurant in the heart of the financial capital of Europe, is that when the restaurateur insisted on adding lobster to the tasting menu during a recent dinner, a group of international food writers resisted. We were there for the vegetables.

It’s a remarkable thing for a German city that’s (incorrectly) perceived as a bit stodgy, a place of gray suits and skyscrapers. Sure, everyone will go a little bit mad for the white asparagus that pops up in gardens around April and May. But an entire, elegantly conceived tasting menu of entirely vegan dishes in a Michelin two-star? That seems like it must have been a tough sell in a city that named a sausage after itself.

And yet, chef Andreas Krolik has been finding success with it for nearly a decade. When he opened Lafleur in 2014, he committed to a vegan menu (alongside a more traditional, omnivorous one) that would be as rigorous and delightful as the traditional fancy-food progressions with premium meats and hand-harvested seafood. The stars soon followed, along with an impressive 19 points from Gault & Millau.

Although a minority of diners at Lafleur opt for the plant-based tasting menu, its dishes—cauliflower with curry, piquillo pepper, salt lemon, and wild herbs; two kinds of spicy carrots in carrot-kimchi broth, carrot green cream, spring onions, chickpeas from Bruchenbrücken, and macadamia nut crunch —have an intensity, depth and complexity that outshine what many cooks are doing with animal proteins.

It helps that Lafleur’s dining room has a close connection with nature. (The restaurant’s name is taken from one of the owner’s favorite Bordeaux wines, which is of course included on the deep wine list.) It’s in the green heart of the city, its Palmengarten, nearly 50 acres that contain 13,000 plant species. The research section of the nearby, affiliated Botanical Garden is particularly fascinating, full of plants that can kill you or cure you, depending on how much you consume.

Thankfully none of the dishes at Lafleur falls into that category. Marinated asparagus is paired with a refined version of Frankfurt’s beloved green sauce (a creamy, herbal concoction that’s usually served with sausages or potatoes, as in the city’s charming Kleinmarkthall).

The mushrooms come from grower Mathias Kroll, who cultivates them in the basement of a former Yugoslavian fight club. Last year, Krolik was awarded the Ethical Cuisine Trophy by Relais & Châteaux.

The restaurant is one of several reasons that Frankfurt—a city whose airport most European travelers pass through at one time or another—is worth a stopover. It’s home to people from some 180 countries, making it one of the most diverse cities in Europe. Roughly half the population was born somewhere else. It has a cuisine to reflect that, ranching from the refined French fare at Erno’s Bistro (an institution since 1974) to the hip Tel Aviv vibe and Israeli food at Bar Shuka (go for the mushroom falafel).

Residents are quick to tell you that their “new old city” was modeled on archival images of the buildings that were there before the city was nearly leveled during World War II. It’s charming. More recently, Frankfurt was an early techno hub and the founding ground for Eurodance musicians like Snap! (of “The Power” fame). A group of artists is now hosting bohemian afternoon parties alongside the river.

And Lafleur’s roasted Norway lobster with almond, tandoori-barbecue sauce, green asparagus, cauliflower cream and bell pepper chutney was, in fact, delicious too.