I am Michèle Vanbesien, inspirer of Natuurelles since 2016.

In 2014, I was stranded in the banking industry as a private banker with burnout. Through career counselling, I arrived at my dream of running my own food business. Cooking is my passion. I loved sitting on my grandmother's kitchen counter as a child to watch her cook. Her cooking was very classic, but there were always lots of fresh vegetables.

Turning something healthy into something unhealthy is not an art. But making something healthy into something tasty is less obvious. And that is exactly what I love: making healthy tasty comfort food.

I love the cookbooks of Yotam Ottolenghi.Thanks to him, a new world opened up to me with new flavour sensations and combinations that often inspire me in the kitchen of Natuurelles.

Until a few years ago, I was a real carnivore. I always preferred to eat vegetables but meat was part of most of my meals. Out of love for our planet, I consciously became vegan. I do not impose my choice on anyone, in my family I am the only one who eats vegan. Of course, I do like to inspire.

Vegan cooking required some adjustments in the kitchen, but it soon turned out to be an enrichment that I still feel really good about. Now I love introducing people to the plantbased cuisine. Eating vegan made me more food conscious myself.

When we had to switch from small restaurant to takeaway during the lockdown, it was frightening at first. But soon I found that this opened many doors for me. I could cook without time pressure and could really focus on the cooking process and creating dishes. The mindful cooking was born and the concept changed to caterer.