BRUSSELS: Toshiro Fujii, known as Toshi, who has worked for more than 10 years with San Degeimbre at L'Air du Temps as his sous-chef and who has been at the helm of the SAN group of restaurants in Brussels and Gent for the past four years will open his own restaurant together with chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre this month. This will be the third Brussels restaurant of Sang Hoon Degeimbre though this time he will be partnering and supporting Toshiro in creating and developing his own identity and cuisine. The restaurant will open its doors on 26 March in Saint Gilles instead of restaurant INADA which closed following the chef's retirement. Inada was a well known restaurant run by Japanese chef Inada who cooked French cuisine with a Japanese twist. Toshi has been running the SAN restaurants in Brussels and Gent since the first San restaurant opened in the Saint Catherine area in 2015. The Japanese chef from Kyoto worked in various kitchens in the south of Belgium after leaving … [Read more...]
Nobody injured following fire at The Jane: restaurant to be closed for four weeks
UPDATED: The Jane in Antwerp will be closed for at least 4 weeks, chef Nick Bril has announced following a fire that interrupted lunch service today 9 March and led to the cancellation fo the dinner service. "In view of the damage from the fire, we will unfortunately be closed for at least two weeks. We will have our vacation period and we will continue to work during those two weeks to repair the damage. We hope to open again in four weeks." The Dutch chef in charge of The Jane said luckily there were no injuries and the fire brigade quickly controlled the fire. Colleagues from restaurants Spiga d'Oro in Mechelen and L'Epicerie du Cirque in Antwerp immediately offered to take guests that had a reservation at the restaurant this evening. Nick Bril said "we greatly appreciate the solidarity of our colleagues and will keep you updated as soon as we have more information." "We want to apologise to all guests who were at The Jane for lunch for the abrupt end. We will get … [Read more...]
New LESS Eatery by Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens in Bruges
'We wanted to create a cosmopolitan space, something new for the city' Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens have opened LESS Eatery in Bruges. The new ‘eatery’ as they call it welcomes its first guests on Monday March 11 and it is an impressive space. The eatery on one of the main squares in Bruges will be open from breakfast till late dinner with customers able to walk in for a coffee and a pastry in the morning, for bites during the mornings or afternoon and lunch or pre-theatre dinners to late dinners. This is the first time that Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens have a restaurant in the city centre. They operated Hertog Jan, a three Michelin star restaurant in Zedelgem on the outskirts of this Belgian city as well as the old LESS in the former Hertog Jan spot. The latter is expected to become a traditional Flemish restaurant. Joachim and Gert told Food and Wine Gazette that they wanted to move to the centre because they wanted to create a cosmopolitan space with a … [Read more...]
Nick Bril’s new Antwerp restaurant to open in April
Nick Bril, chef of award winning restaurant The Jane in Antwerp will be opening a new restaurant in the Belgian city of Antwerp in April. The restaurant will be housed in a new hotel that is set to open on the site of the former military hospital right across The Jane. The hotel called August Antwerp is operated by the owners of Antwerp hotel Julien. The former Augustinian convent will become a modern retreat with a bar and restaurant, wellness with swimming pool. hidden gardens, a shop and 44 hotel rooms. The Dutch chef who partnered with Sergio Herman to open The Jane after working with him at Oud Sluis for many years told Food and Wine Gazette last year that he would be working together with a new hotel which is opening its doors just 100 metres away from The Jane. The new restaurant will be more simple and more accessible than the cuisine of The Jane, a two Michelin star restaurant. “The hoteliers of Hotel Julien, a renowned boutique hotel in Antwerp … [Read more...]
6 top chefs from Asia to cook in charity dinner at Hertog Jan
On Wednesday 19 December, just three days before the last service at Hertog Jan, 6 of Asia's top chefs will be guests of Gert De Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens and cook a dinner in aid of Music for Life. Together with Gert and the entire team of Hertog Jan, they will cook a special dinner that evening in aid of Music for Life 2019. Gert and Joachim announced the closure of their three Michelin star restaurant in Zedelgem on the outskirts of Brugge in January this year. They have decided to conclude the Hertog Jan chapter meaningfully. All the proceeds from the evening will be donated to the Alexine Clarysse Fund. For the evening, there are only 26 places available and these will be auctioned. This is a unique opportunity to experience a final dinner at Hertog Jan while at the same time supporting a charitable event. 2018 has been a very special year for Hertog Jan founders Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens. Later this month, on 22 December, they will close a chapter in … [Read more...]
The hunt for that elusive Belgian third star
When Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens announced they would be closing their flagship three Michelin star restaurant Hertog Jan in Zedelgem, Belgium at the end of this year many started to speculate as to which restaurant or restaurants would clinch the third Michelin star. The closure of Karmelit, the restaurant of chef Geert Van Hecke in Bruges in 2016 had already been seen as a blow to a country that takes gastronomy so seriously. But, after last year’s announcements that the guide had visited a number of restaurants many times with international inspectors including Brussels restaurants Bon Bon and Sea Grill as well as La Paix (at the time 1 star), many where speculating that this would be the year that Belgium would get a new 3 Michelin star restaurant if not more. But when the tyre company announced the publication of the new guide for 2019, there were no new announcements at the top end. The rumour mill doing the rounds had been mentioning in particular Christophe … [Read more...]
A tour of the world in 75 recipes: San book launched
Sang Hoon Degeimbre, Belgian chef of L’ Air du Temps in Liernu and creator of three successful San restaurants has launched a cookbook called San, Around the world in 75 recipes. The book is inspired by recipes of dishes that have been served in the San restaurants since the first one opened 3 years ago in Brussels. The concept behind the restaurant is to serve food in a bowl and to eat it with a spoon. The menu changes every month according to the seasons and the travels of San and his team and is always inspired by Belgium, Korea or cities around the world. Out of over 100 dishes that have been created at the San restaurant over the past three years, 75 recipes have been selected. The main criteria has been that of ensuring that the recipes could easily be replicated at home and where quantities of certain components of the dish are not impossible to make at home. The book is published by Racine and the photography is by Frederic Raevens. It is currently available in … [Read more...]
No new 3rd Michelin star for Belgium but David Martin finally clinches 2nd star
Belgium has gone down from three Michelin star restaurants to 1 restaurant in the span of two years. Following the closure of Karmelit, the restaurant of Geert Van Hecke in Bruges in 2016 and the announced closure of Hertog Jan by Gert de Mangeleer in Zedelgem next month, the only restaurant to retain 3 stars in Belgium is Hof Van Cleve. Despite speculation that there could be potential candidates for a third star, the Michelin guide decided to retain all 2 Michelin star restaurants at that level and at least reflect for another year as to who to elect to the highest echelon in the red guide. However, there was good news for David Martin of La Paix. After having been named the chef of the year by Gault & Millau just a few days ago, his restaurant was finally awarded with a second Michelin star. Another restaurant to clinch a second star was Table de Maxime in the Wallonian hamlet of Our. Young chef Maxime Collard is the chef working there and he owes his success to Geert … [Read more...]
Brussels: Apero meets philosophy at Notos restaurant each month
In our rushed and busy times, we often don't sit down to reflect a bit about questions that impact our life, our relationships or our future. Brussels Greek restaurant Notos has teamed up with Apostrophos to organise themed philosophy evenings merged with an aperitif. Every month, on a Tuesday different themes from Greek philosophy will be explored. These will be mixed with a Greek wine and some traditional Greek dishes served by chef Constantin Erinkoglou. The first event was organised in October and centred around Philosophy vs Democracy. The discussion was very topical focusing on populism, fake news and posing questions as to where truth has gone. The next event which will take place on Tuesday 20 November is titled: The odyssey, or how not to forget: How do we not forget and how are we not forgotten. This is the theme that will be explored. The event (in French) starts at 7pm and lasts an hour. The cost of the session is 28 euros per person which includes a glass of … [Read more...]
David Martin of Brussels restaurant La Paix is chef of the year for Gault & Millau
David Martin, chef of Brussels restaurant La Paix was named chef of the year by Gault & Millau when they announced the publication of the 2019 guide. A year after the chef had been told by Michelin that they had visited his restaurant more than 10 times but didn't consider him worthy of 2 Michelin stars, the French born chef who has been awarded the highest accolade by Gault & Millau for his personality, vision, expertise, creativity and courage. "He is inspired by French, Belgian and Japanese cuisine. This intelligent and enterprising chef has given the restaurant a new identity," said Gault & Millau at the awards ceremony which was attended by over 1,000 guests in the restaurant business in Belgium. Martin was also co-owner of a second Brussels restaurant, Bozar led by chef Karen Torosyan but decided to sell the restaurant to the latter earlier this year. He has opened two fish shops in Wallonia and has taken over the operations of a fish restaurant in Brussels … [Read more...]