Charles Guilloy will run the Olympic Village restaurant, where athletes will be served a vegetarian bourguignon made with seasonal vegetables. Photo: Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters
It will boast the largest salad bar in the world, offer fans vegetarian hot dogs and bring in up to half a million bananas by boat to meet athletes' insatiable demand for the fruit while avoiding the carbon footprint of air travel.
As part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions, the Paris Olympics will make history by offering the largest amount of vegetarian food of any Games.
France, the nation of steak tartare and creamy Blanquette De Veau is the European country with the highest per capita beef and veal consumption, but chefs say the Olympics will transform French gastronomy into a showcase for plant-based eating.
The restaurant in the athletes' Olympic Village, which serves 40,000 meals a day and is open 24 hours a day, will be the largest restaurant in the world. A third of the 500 recipes will be vegetarian, including locally grown lentils and quinoa.
For the first time, a plant-based meat substitute company, Garden Gourmet, a subsidiary of Nestlé, is an Olympic sponsor, providing plant-based burgers and falafels made from chickpeas and beets in a bid to make France more 'flexitarian'.
"We are in France, so food is important," says Georgina Grenon, director of environmental excellence for Paris 2024, "but it's about presenting a different way to eat delicious food, even in a quick way, like vegetarian burgers and hot dogs at a stadium."
With 13 million meals served during the Games - including for fans, staff, volunteers and athletes - the focus is on locally grown vegetables. The 15,000 athletes, who eat according to strict training rules, have access to locally produced meat and fish. But the number of vegetarian dishes offered to them will be much higher than at previous Games.
Meanwhile, of the estimated five million meals and snacks sold to fans at stadiums and venues, 60% of those in Paris and the surrounding Île-de-France region will be vegetarian. This includes a signature vegetarian hot dog that was tested at mountain bike trials last year, where it easily outperformed the meat option.
The story continues
There will also be a special egg muffin for athletics fans at the Stade de France, which often hosts races in the morning, and venues will also offer organic vegetarian crèpes and a vegan escalope sandwich. The city park at Place de la Concorde, where skateboarding, breakdancing and BMX take place, will be meat-free. Officials said this would appeal to the "younger, very international audience".
The strict restrictions on the carbon footprint mean that no food will arrive by air for the Paris Olympics. This means that bananas are shipped by boat from the French Caribbean and that passion fruit, which must fly, is banned.
"Of course, great gastronomy can be vegetarian," says Michelin-starred French chef Akrame Benallal, who was asked to create a handful of signature dishes for athletes. These include a reworked version of its famous savory quinoa muesli, made with quinoa from the south of Paris, a touch of mascarpone and parmesan, and crispy fried grains on top. He also made mushroom croquettes with black cardamom.
"It was about creating a cuisine that would make sense to everyone and that everyone could enjoy, whether athletes eat kosher, halal or vegetarian, it was about everyone having fun," Benallal said. "They have to put down their spoon and say, 'Wow, that's really, really good.'"
One of Benallal's restaurants, Shirvan in Paris, inspired by the Silk Road, already serves 60% vegetarian dishes. "For me, French cuisine is one of the most varied, mixed and diverse in the world, because there is a lot of influence from many countries and its richness lies in its cooking techniques," he said.
Charles Guilloy, chef of the company Sodexo Live!, will run the Olympic Village restaurant, where athletes will eat from washable plates instead of disposable plates for the first time on 3,500 seats. His signature dishes include a dal made with locally grown French green lentils, topped with skyr, cilantro and a piece of cornbread.
"The false stereotype remains that French gastronomy is meat, meat and only meat," Guilloy said. "In fact, traditions are built around excellent, local, seasonal vegetables. Boeufbourguignon is a very French recipe, but I have reworked it for Olympic athletes into a vegetarian bourguignon with seasonal vegetables, potatoes, carrots, peas, young leeks and shallots. I like to eat a vegetarian dish with a knife and fork and that it is just as tasty as animal products. The area around Paris produces great vegetables, from all types of cabbage to cress and lentils. I made a lentil dal with local green lentils and locally grown coriander, because lentils have been a staple product throughout the ages."
Guilloy's other dishes include a Tarte tatin of tomatoes and onions.
Meanwhile, canteens for Olympic staff and volunteers will serve 50% vegetarian meals. On some days only vegetarian dishes are offered.
Philipp Würz, responsible for catering at the Paris 2024 organizing committee, said that for fans we wanted to "reverse the tendency to offer vegetarian options as an afterthought. Vegetarians are in the majority here, there are meat options, but fewer in number."
Athletes will be able to eat according to their culture and dietary needs, from locally produced Korean-style kimchi to Chinese-style rice.
But he said the teams had also asked for good quality pizza and pasta. "We don't just give athletes food for their event. Once their competition is over, they may want to relax and enjoy themselves. At that time there is a surprising amount of demand for a good pizza."
Olympic food in numbers
13M meals served to athletes, staff, volunteers, journalists and fans
40,000 meals per day served in the athletes' restaurant of the Olympic Village, with 500 approved recipes for the 15,000 athletes
Up to half a million bananas arrival by boat for athletes
600,000 cereal bars ordered for athletes in the Olympic Village, increasing to an estimated total of approximately 1 million, including competition locations
