YANG MING SPRING (SHILIN)
MICHELIN Plate & MICHELIN Green Star
A fated conversation at a tea ceremony led the founder of Yangming Spring (Shilin) Chen Chien-Hung to the start of his vegetarian journey. Not only did he change his own lifestyle, he went and opened Yangming Spring (Shilin) in Yangmingshan, a restaurant that offered dishes very different from other vegetarian restaurants in the market at that time. "I wanted to apply what I learned over the years to highlight and enhance the taste of various produce so that people could truly taste the natural deliciousness of vegetables," he explained in his autobiography.
In recent years, the restaurant has also been the beacon for sustainability through outreach efforts in cooking classes, retail outlets, e-commerce, as well as overseas exchanges.
With the MICHELIN Green Star, Chen hopes the restaurant can be a greater force of good: “Receiving this award is a kind of honor and recognition, but it is also the beginning of greater responsibility.” Next, he hopes to drive a greener supply chain to the restaurant by supporting sustainable smallholder farmers and suppliers that engage in fair trade, thereby strengthening sustainable practices in the industry.
