Green dining guide We’re Smart last year first crowned the Distillerie the best vegetarian restaurant. Other accolades for Mathieu include a Michelin star, a Michelin green star for sustainability and a Gault&Millau honour as Luxembourg’s best chef.

"My first source of inspiration is nature. It brings calm and allows me to sharpen my senses. And just like my kitchen, nature is always in motion. The wealth of plants is incredible: we discover new applications every day, and will continue to learn all our lives. My suppliers also inspire me with their beautiful products," Mathieu said in a statement.  "Plant-based cuisine is not a substitute kitchen, but a kitchen in itself. It is delicious, colourful, comforting, light, highly gourmet, uplifting, fine, rustic... It is what you want it to be,” he said.

Other top vegetarian restaurants in the ranking include De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, Vrijmoed in Ghent, Belgium, and Piazza Duomo in Alba, Italy. The list includes a total of 100 restaurants from around the world.

The We’re Smart guide evaluates restaurants on whether their menus are comprised of at least two-thirds fruit and vegetables, but also on other criteria, such as culinary creativity, their ecological footprint and social impact.

Mathieu not only uses locally farmed fruits and vegetables for his menu but is also an avid forager, incorporating plants from around the château in his creations. For the of Delano, Mathieu created a series of dishes from foraged plants and took Delano on a trip from .  

“It’s a philosophy of life. It’s happiness,” he said about his cuisine in tune with nature and the seasons.