This Michelin-Starred Chef Proves Vegan Food is More Than a Trend – It’s the Future!

When chef Josita Hartanto opened her restaurant Lucky Leek in 2011 with her husband, their concept was initially met with skepticism. Lucky Leek’s menu featured simple, clean dishes, rather than extravagant, over-the-top fare. Many thought the Hartantos would fail. Instead, they thrived.

These days, Hartanto is the author of two vegan Cookbooks, with her third — Vegan Genial in 15 Minuten (Vegan Genius in 15 Minutes) — slated for release later this year. Now she’s a Michelin-starred chef, but over the years, one thing has not changed: her staunch stance on how wonderful plant-based cuisine truly is.

Hartanto’s mission is not to mimic meat and dairy in her dishes. Rather, she seeks to honor whole food ingredients and showcase them on their own, proving that vegetables, grains, and other plant-based, natural foods are delicious and worthy in their own right.

Hartanto is known for her masterful layering of textures and flavors. Her dishes, like this risotto dish with pears, oven tomatoes, and bok choi, are creative, elegant, and elevated.

Lucky Leek/Facebook

“You can transform (vegetables) into almost any texture and flavor you can think of,” Haranto told Organic Life. “That is what makes my kitchen so complex and complete, always trying to achieve new textures and tastes by trying out different techniques.”

Choosing Vegan

Even though Haranto became famous for her vegan cuisine, she didn’t begin her career as a vegan chef; she switched to a plant-based diet after learning more about food waste, which propelled her to begin experimenting with meatless flavors and techniques.

“Be creative and have the courage and spirit to try new things,” Haranto told Simple Feast. “If you don’t go your own way, you will always just follow others.”

Her ideology is reflected in her dishes — just look at how vibrant and playful her plating is.

Lucky Leek/Instagram

Her clientele is diverse as well — vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians, and meat eaters alike visit Lucky Leek to taste Haranto’s culinary experiments and Michelin-starred cuisine.

Make Your Own Vegetable-Forward Meals at Home

Inspired by Haranto’s mission, but not in Germany? Don’t worry. Our Food Monster App has lots of tips and tricks to help you cut down on food waste, and begin making vegetable-centric meals that are sure to satisfy.

First, get excited! Here are 6 Signs a Food Waste-Free Future Is Possible, so rest assured that your attempts to cut down on food waste at an individual level are not in vain. For some ideas, we also suggest reading this article about How to Minimize Food Waste. And did you know about these 10 Vegetables That Can Regrow From Their Own Scraps? Pretty cool, right?

This Healing Mineral Broth by Rebecca Fallihee is gluten-free and an excellent way to reduce food waste.

There’s nothing worse than seeing your hard earned produce go to waste but sometimes, there’s nothing that can be done with the small scraps of veggies left from cooking a meal … or is there? Save your seemingly unusable vegetable scraps in the freezer until you have enough to make this healing vegetable broth. The vegetables you use will impart a mild flavor (fewer beets and nightshades, more onions, brassicas, celery, and carrots) to this nourishing broth. You can then use the finished broth in soups, stews, to cook your grains, or simply use it for sipping on its own.

This recipe for Crispy Roasted Cauliflower Leaves by Lorna Hall features cauliflower leaves in a delicious new light. 

Cauliflower leaves are actually really tasty when roasted until crispy with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. The stalks taste a bit like actual cauliflower, but the leafy parts taste kind of like that crispy fried “seaweed” that you get from Chinese takeaways. Really yummy! They’re great as a snack and eating cauliflower leaves means less waste. You’re eating for the planet in multiple ways. Go you!

If you’re interested in finding some more plant-forward vegan recipes or tips, such as how to make your plant-based dishes taste meatier, then we highly recommend downloading our Food Monster App, which is available for both Android and iPhone, and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook. The app has more than 8,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to ten new recipes per day. Check it out!

Lead image source: Lucky Leek/Facebook