Kobe Desramaults, one of the most internationally recognised Belgian chefs, has announced he will close his restaurant In de Wulf in December 2016. Speaking on a radio programme on Studio Brussel yesterday, Desraumaults said "I am 35 years old and I have been working hard in this restaurant for 12 years. It is now time to reflect on what to do next," he said. "I have given my all for the past 12 years at In de Wulf. I would have to be mad to continue doing the same thing," the Flemish chef said. The Flemish chef created one of the top destinations in the world for foodies (it was number 1 in the Top 100 European list of Opinionated about Dining in 2014 and 4th in 2015) in the 'middle of nowhere' in Dranouter. In De Wulf, which has a Michelin star, and which disappeared from the 51-100 list in the 50 World's Best Restaurant list this year, has been Kobe's focus for the past 12 years. Desramaults, who also has two restaurants De Vitrine and De Superette (also a bakery) in Gent, … [Read more...]
A race to deliver: Deliveroo launches in the home of Take Eat Easy
The days when the only thing you could order for home delivery was a pizza or a meal from a fast-food outlet have been over since the launch of restaurant delivery services opening in different cities around the world. The service is hotting up worldwide with a number of platforms entering the market with the aim of offering a service to both customers and also restaurants who would otherwise not offer deliveries. The same could be said for Belgium. Deliveroo, a UK restaurant delivery start-up launched in Brussels on 6 October setting it in direct competition with a similar start-up Take Eat Easy, which is Brussels based and which had launched in 2013. Deliveroo, with its motto 'Proper Food, Proper Delivery' is offering a delivery service from 'quality restaurants' to homes and offices. The company was founded in February 2013 in London by William Shu and Greg Orlowski. With proprietary software and a logistics platform, it offers deliveries from high quality restaurants or … [Read more...]
Au Grand Forestier: A new restaurant by the owners of a Brussels institution
The Au Vieux Saint-Martin is a Brussels institution that needs no introduction. Serving Belgian specialities since its opening in 1968, it can be found in one of Brussels most prestigious squares, the Sablon. The owners of the restaurant, Albert-Jean and his son Frédéric Niels, whose family have a long-standing tradition running restaurants, have recently opened a second restaurant, Au Grand Forestier in the south of Brussels in the commune of Watermael Boitsfort. It is one of those places which only locals or people in the know will visit. Set just next to the Forest des Soignes, you will find it hard to believe that you are only a few kilometres away from the Brussels city centre. A typical Belgian brasserie, it serves all the traditional Belgian dishes such as the steak tartare or 'Américain' with fries, or tomatoes stuffed with crayfish. This is an ideal place for tourists coming to Brussels and wanting to find a typical Belgian brasserie that is off the beaten track. … [Read more...]
Q&A with Peter Goossens: “We need to find a system to eliminate food waste also in supermarkets”
Peter Goossens, chef of Hof Van Cleve is the most internationally recognised Belgian chef having been in the 50 World's Best restaurants for many years. He has held three Michelin stars since 2005 and has received 19.5 out of 20 in the Gault Millau guide since 2004. After our long interview with him, here is the second part in a question and answer format. Who are the rising stars of Belgium? There are many great chefs in Belgium. Just at Hof Van Cleve we have trained so many chefs. We recently tried to compile a list and counted over 200 chefs that have worked at the restaurant. My sous chef Marteen Bouckaert will be opening a restaurant at the beginning of next year. Then there is Michael Vrijmoed and Tim Boury just to mention a few names. Over 70 chefs who worked at Hof Van Cleve are cooking in their own kitchens (at different levels). What's your view of guides and lists of best restaurants? Lists are very important because they help you to become internationally known. … [Read more...]
Interview with Peter Goossens: ‘Belgium has one of the best cuisines in the world but no one has said it yet’
"Belgium has some of the best chefs in the world and its cuisine is among the best in the world. But there is no one who has said it before. In France, gastronomy is part of their culture, they say it is part of their patrimony. When the French go abroad they say that they are ambassadors of gastronomy," says Peter Goossens in an interview with Food and Wine Gazette. Goossens, chef of top Belgian restaurant Hof van Cleve, is probably Belgium's most internationally known chef. And rightly so given the list of awards he holds. He's been awarded the highest achievements in all the top guides, has got near perfect scores for his cooking and has been representing Belgium in the World's 50 Best Restaurants since 2006 (this year he slipped out of the top 50 places for the first time) but still holds three Michelin stars and a near perfect score in the Gault Millau guide (19.5 out of 20). So when Goossens speaks, you need to take note of what he is saying because on top of the talent, … [Read more...]
Brussels: an underestimated culinary destination
Millions of people enter Brussels, the capital of Europe, each week. Most come for business or work meetings, some come en route to visit other places in Belgium like Bruges, Gent or Antwerp, others to work and still some to visit what is the administrative capital of Europe. No one comes for its food. That is a mistake, because the food scene in Brussels is incredibly varied and surprisingly good. The same can be said of Belgium, an underestimated culinary country, if ever there was one. Tourists visiting Brussels will normally head to the Grand-Place area and to what has now become one of the largest pedestrian zones in Europe, near the Bourse (Stock Exchange), which will soon be turned into a beer museum and the Place St Catherine area. They will be lured into one of the many restaurants serving mussels and 'French fries'. They will know that Brussels and Belgium is well known for its beers and chocolate, but few are aware of the culinary diversity or richness of the … [Read more...]
Third edition of Flemish food bash to be held in Gent in November
Less than a month after the successful second Flemish Food Bash event and the charcoal has to still turn completely to ashes, Belgian and Dutch foodies are in for yet another treat this November. A third, albeit, smaller event has been announced. The event takes place on 15 November in Gent. The location has not yet been revealed but organiser Vincent Florizoone of Grand Cabaret restaurant and host of the event said on Facebook that the third edition will be similar in size to the one held at Café d'Anvers last year. Unlike the recent event which attracted a huge number of international chefs and mixologists, the next event will mainly have Belgian and Dutch chef and mixologists. No further details have been announced but the organisers have promised lots of fun as they get the 'fire started again'. The event will be held indoors. The second Flemish Food Bash turned out to be a huge celebration of gastronomy and fun. It was billed as the most starred restaurant … [Read more...]
Second Flemish Food Bash is a huge success
The Flemish Food Bash turned out to be a huge celebration of gastronomy and fun. Despite a stormy start and heavy rain, the day came to a lovely end as chefs, pastry-chefs, butchers, cocktail masters, bakers and cheese masters among others brought a smile to the thousands who turned up at Oostduinkerke, Koksijde on the Belgian coast. Driving from Brussels on Sunday morning was easy which is not always the case on the weekend in the direction of the North Sea. The weather forecast looked threatening but then again it had been the same for the past few days with no signs of any storm after the unusual hot spell. It started to drizzle as I arrived but it did not look threatening in the beginning. But by 1pm, it was pouring and the two large tents which were aimed to house the chefs ended up being not only a shelter from the rain but also a stand-up restaurant for the people present. I was near Heinz Beck (above), three Michelin star chef of La Pergola in Rome when we heard the … [Read more...]
The story of Stella Artois
When you drive into Leuven, your senses are immediately heightened. One of the things you see is the Stella Artois brewery (which also makes Jupiler and Leffe). But what hits you most is the amazing aroma of the beer being brewed. It's a smell of yeast which reminds me of my childhood back in Malta. Living only a few kilometres away from one of the only breweries in Malta, we would get a whiff of the beer being brewed everytime the wind blew in our direction. The history of Stella Artois dates back to 1366. It was in this year that the original Den Hoorn brewery was founded. This brewery laid the foundation for the taste and standard of this Belgian beer and the symbol of the Den Hoorn Brewery is still displayed on the beer's label. At a visit to the Stella Artois brewery recently we not only got a glimpse of the factory but also a look at its history. When the University of Leuven was founded in 1425 it not only brought knowledge to the city but it added to the know how of … [Read more...]
First Generation W International Food festival next year
Generation W, the organisation that groups chefs from Wallonia, Belgium will be organising the first Generation W Food Festival and International Congress at the Citadel of Namur on 4, 5 and 6 June 2016. It is a bid by chefs from the French speaking part of Belgium to showcase their region and their cuisine. When we interviewed Sang-Hoon Degeimbre of L' Air du Temps who is considered as one of Belgium's best chefs, he had told Food and Wine Gazette that it was time for Wallonia to market itself to the rest of the world and showcase what it had to offer. Sang-Hoon Degeimbre is one of the founders of Generation W, He said that the collective will also produce an e-magazine which will focus on in-depth articles to provide information about the culinary patrimony of the region and which will enable outsiders to discover the gastronomic wealth of this region. This magazine aims to complement a book called Generation W Editions which was published in 2014. Generation W was set up … [Read more...]