Mehdi Labed
Plant-Based chef, chocolate maker, R&D enthusiast
Welcome!
My name is Mehdi, and I am currently 27. I've devoted the last few years of my career to finding myself and understanding my cooking style. Although this task is a lifetime's work, and it's impossible, I think, to understand every facet of our personality and our work. I like to think that each project will be a testament to my life at a particular moment, and that the next will be another metaphor for my current experience as a human being. Like an artist who creates a work of art, he won't be able to transcribe everything in his project. I'm a mosaic of many things, a veritable jigsaw puzzle of influences, interests, life experiences and human encounters. My cuisine reflects this, and is progressive, nostalgic in some ways, poetic perhaps, imperfect, challenging, and above all, intentional and self-assured. You can find out more about my background on the “About” page. Thank you for reading and for your precious time.
A deep breath, and a silent lake,
A calm water, a naked body,
A summer breeze, and the finest form of intimacy,
A sauna and a cold plunge,
A dream and the sea,
Freedom and liberty,
July will always be July,
With its paradoxes, and its goodbyes.
Finland, Mehdi Labed, 2024
On plant-based food
In 2015, at the age of 17, and after a trip to Iceland, I made the decision to stop eating meat. A decision perceived as radical at the time, it was for me the conscious and logical path of my existence. While my reasons are personal, my overall view is that every being on this planet deserves a little more respect, kindness and love. Shortly afterwards, I decided to give up all animal products and adopt a plant-based diet. At present, and if we're talking about a pure and simple label, I consider myself more of a vegetarian, because I allow myself to test certain products/recipes, out of curiosity, and also to adapt them in the future in a plant-based version. What's more, I really want to understand a phenomenon/procedure before transforming it, and I'm thinking in particular of chocolate and ice-cream making.
That said, my convictions have not changed, and no meat or fish will ever be used in my cooking. The vast majority of my creations are still plant-based, and have been for over ten years.
