The vegetarian chef behind the fine-dining French restaurant has been serving vegetarian menus upon special request for years
I think it was 2014 or so when I first heard the news that chef Emmanuel Stroobant had become vegetarian. The decision, as one might imagine, raised a lot of questions and eyebrows. Yes, chef Stroobant was trying to live a healthier lifestyle, and no, he wasn’t turning his award-winning restaurant Saint Pierre into a vegetarian restaurant. The latter was welcome news for Singapore’s greedy gourmets, at the time obsessed with luxury products like uni and wagyu (many, we dare say, still are).
Plus many older and well-travelled diners remembered the semi-successful, semi-failed (depending on who you talk to) revolution that acclaimed French chef Alain Pasard attempted in his legendary Paris restaurant L’Arpege. In 2001, Passard announced that he was eliminating meat from his menus. Instead, he would plan his meals around the produce being grown at biodynamic farms he was running in Sarthe, Eure, and Manche. The announcement was met with much furore from French gourmands, but by the time Passard reintroduced animal proteins onto his plates in 2010, many of his patrons preferred to order his vegetarian menus.
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In the years since Stroobant went vegetarian, he’s earned two Michelin stars for Saint Pierre, plus opened other award-winning restaurants, for example the two-starred sushiya Shoukouwa and most recently Shoukouwa Shinjidai. He has, without a doubt, cemented his place as one of Singapore’s top chefs and restaurateurs.
In recent years, thanks in part to awareness of climate change, food security and health concerns, an increasing number of consumers have been seeking out plant-forward and vegetarian meals. Whenever friends have asked me to recommend a high-end vegetarian dining experience, I would always recommend Saint Pierre (and Revolver). I had assumed that because of Stroobant’s own personal dietary choices, he would have a fantastic vegetarian menu available. That assumption, it turns out, was wrong.
Saint Pierre has always catered to vegetarians, but upon special request. However, in recent times, so many patrons have been asking for vegetarian menus, that the restaurant has, for the very first time, officially launched one. In contrast to the Opulence menu, the vegetarian menu has been called Elegance.
