At Le Botaniste, plants are the flavorful stars of the plate

SOHO, Manhattan -- New York's Le Botaniste is a restaurant that specializes in plant-based food but doesn't skimp on flavor.

Le Botaniste started in Belgium before its five locations opened in New York City.

"My wife and I decided to take a whole career change 12 years ago and started from scratch here in New York. This is where I met Alain, the founder of this place, my partner, who really created that idea of the vegetable side of it and I grew into it," said co-founder Laurent Francois said.

"Alain is the creative genius behind the concept. He's been traveling all around the world for his other baby which is called Le Pain Quotidian. He was 'missing vegetables when I am traveling.' Vegetables are always the side dish and I really want to do something vegetable-focused, because it's not just good for you, it's good for the planet," he added.

Their goal is to provide different taste palates.