The Jane restaurant in Antwerp, Belgium considered to be one of the most sought after tables in the world has made it easier for customers looking to book at The Jane to get a table. Nick Bril, chef of The Jane and co-owner of the restaurant with Sergio Herman said that after hearing a million times that it is impossible to get a table at the restaurant he thought it a good idea to launch an active platform instead of posting about last minute table availabilities in in their normal feeds. To this end, the restaurant has created a new Instagram account called The Jane Instantly. Every week, the restaurant will list the possible booking options which makes it considerably easier that checking the website. "This feed will be all about weekly booking options, so the communications via that profile will be for offered options that week," Nick said. Restaurants have used social media before to try and sell last minute tables that become available but this is a very interesting … [Read more...]
10th edition of Jong Keukengeweld: getting young chefs to cook for young people in Flanders
67 young top chefs from Flanders, Belgium will be taking part in the 10th edition of Jong Keukengeweld which offers young people between the ages of 18 and 30 the possibility to dine in one of 67 restaurants across Flanders for the price of 49 Euros including wine, water and beer. The price rises to 50 euros if the restaurant has a Michelin star or a Gault & Millau score from 15/20. The Flemish tourism minister Ben Weyts launched the campaign earlier this week saying that the 10th edition features a record 67 top chefs each with a passion for local products and Flemish gastronomy. "Young people are going to be spoilt for choice," he said. He said that Flemish gastronomy is bursting with talented young chefs that are striving for perfection while focusing on flavours and stimulating senses. The 67 chefs, which include 23 newcomers were selected by a jury led by Jan Buytaert. "Through this initiative many young people are finding their way to top Flemish kitchens he … [Read more...]
Return leg: Christophe Pauly to visit three Belgian chefs
Christophe Pauly who hosted three Belgian chefs last year at his restaurant Le Coq aux Champs in Soheit-Tinlot, Belgium, is returning back to cook in their kitchens in the second leg of an interesting round trip After the success of these four-hands dinners at his restaurant, it was always the intention of the Belgian chef to reciprocate the visit by visiting the chefs in their restaurants. The dates for these dinners have now been announced. He will cook with Dimitry Lysens in Tongres at his Michelin star restaurant Magis on 20 September at 8pm. This will be followed by a visit to Filip Claeys' De Jonkman in Bruges on 18 October at 8pm and to Brussels to cook with Karen Torosyan at restaurant Bozar on Sunday 18 November for lunch. Moreover, Pauly has also inited a former mentor René Mathieu, the creative and passionate chef of La Distillerie at Chateau de Bourglinster in Luxembourg to cook at his restaurant. The latter, who focuses on vegetal cuisine and was the first ever … [Read more...]
Matthieu Beudaert: “Tasting menus are dead, we want gastronomic freedom”
Chef Matthieu Beudaert, a former art historian turned chef and his wife Sofie Delbeke have announced that they have decided to close their fine-dining restaurant Table d’Amis and gastro bar Gust to reopen in a more casual style a new restaurant called Beudaert. The decision comes a few weeks after the 9th anniversary of the opening of the restaurant in the Belgian city of Kortrijk. “We have been reflecting for a long time and on a trip to Bordeaux and San Sebastian last summer we became convinced that fine dining and long tasting menus was not what we wanted to do any more,” Matthieu told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview. “We no longer want to force our guests to spend a lot of money on a tasting menu. Our new place will have an a la carte menu and it will reopen on 2 September. We will change the interior and the concept and name but we believe that the restaurant in its current format restricts us,” he said. Table d’Amis in the Flemish city of Kortrijk was considered to be a … [Read more...]
Opening the senses to something new as Ana Roš cooks with Christophe Hardiquest at Bon Bon
Before she decided to take up cooking around 14 years ago, Ana Roš was heading to Brussels to work with the European institutions where she had just been offered a job. As fate had it her partner’s father was retiring from the restaurant he owned, the Hiša Franko and there was no one to take over his work expect Victor who would become her husband. On the spot and against the will of her father she decided to stay in Slovenia and build her career in the restaurant. Having knowledge of 5 languages, she did not start in the kitchen but soon she realised that this would be necessary. Yesterday (4th July) she was in Brussels again, this time not because of the offer she had received 14 years ago but rather on the request of Christophe Hardiquest, a chef she really admires after a dining experience she had at the restaurant before this visit. She was the fourth guest to cook at Bon Bon in the series of Bon Bon Origins dinners that chef Christophe Hardiquest is organising as he … [Read more...]
Belgian chef Yves Mattagne to cook at gastronomy week in Crete
Belgian chef Yves Mattagne is currently the guest of the Radisson Blu Beach resort in Crete. He is there for a gastronomy week which started on Wednesday and will come to an end on Sunday 8 July at the Bellevue Restaurant. Guests for the dinners will be able to savour the food of the two Michelin star Brussels restaurant Sea Grill with a view of the Aegean Sea. The Belgian chef will be preparing Red Tuna with a baked goose liver nougatine, fried garlic, daikon, fennel and combava followed by a Tiger Shrimp with Coconut bouillon, verbena, cabbage, red curry, lychee and tangy tomato. This will be followed by a sea bass with oyster maki, burnt leek, romanesco, cockles and haselnut mouselline and a lamb cooked in hay with orange blossom, hummus and ras el hanout juice. The dessert is a banana chiboust served with rjum vanilla, caramel with butter and carat crumble. Mattagne is the chef of Sea Grill since its opening in 1990. The restaurant was awarded with a Michelin star in … [Read more...]
Kasper Kurdhal (Le Chalet de la Foret): The offer from Ferran Adria that was too good to accept
When Ferran Adria was riding the crest of popularity he offered Kasper Kurdahl, then 27, the possibility to become his sous-chef and go to Seville to open a restaurant with him. Most people would have jumped at that opportunity or pinched themselves to make sure they heard it right. But Kasper is not like that. While most people would think this is too good an offer to refuse, the Danish chef thought otherwise and reasoned that that it was too good an offer to accept so he turned it down. Were you too young I asked him. “No. I was very precise about it. If I had accepted, I would have become a product of el Bulli for the rest of my life. I did not want that. I wanted to be myself,” the Danish executive chef of Le Chalet de la Foret, in Brussels, Belgium told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview. Kasper doesn’t look back at that decision and does not regret it. “I am happy with the decision I took at the time. I think I did the right thing,” he said. “Ferran was a genius, an … [Read more...]
Le Chalet de la Forêt: Creating emotions by joining the creative forces of two chefs
If you happen to arrive to Le Chalet De la Forêt blindfolded or haven’t paid any attention to how you got there, you will not believe that you are still in the Belgian capital, Brussels. Nestled in the immense Sonian Forest a bit further away from one of the main parks of the city, the Bois de la Cambre, is a chalet that houses this two Michelin star restaurant. The road leading to the restaurant is stunning whichever season you pass through it. Be it the austere winter months, spring, summer or autumn when the leaves turn golden, it always has a magical feel especially at dawn or dusk. In this location, Pascal Devalkeneer, the chef and owner of the restaurant and Kasper Kurdhal, the executive chef have joined their creative efforts and are starting to push boundaries hoping that they can take the restaurant to the next level. Why this restaurant is not really on the radar screen is something that intrigues me and you can learn more from my interview with Kasper Kurdahl in … [Read more...]
Q&A with Karen Torosyan: ‘You need to eliminate the excess’
In the second part of our interview with Karen Torosyan, chef of Bozar Restaurant in Brussels we get to know more about the chef who earlier this year bought the restaurant from David Martin of La Paix. The chef of Armenian origin arrived in Brussels when he was 18 years old and has established himself today as one of the most artisanal chefs in the country if not Europe. He is known for his pate en croute which made him famous not just in Belgium but also outside the country particularly when he won the pate en croute championship in 2015. But it was the evening that Michelin awarded Bozar Brasserie with a Michelin star that marked his career. On that day, Karen knew that he would be the master of his own destiny. Your best ever meal? I would say there are three. One was at Hof Van Cleve in 2013. The other was at Astrance both for the philosophy behind the cooking and also the service. It was unforgettable. Pascal Barbot is on another planet. The last was at La Paix the … [Read more...]
Ana Ros, Emmanuel Renaut, Peter Goossens and Arnaud Lallement to cook at Bon Bon
Christophe Hardiquest, chef of two Michelin star Brussels restaurant Bon Bon has announced the line up that will complete his Bon Bon Origins collaborative dinner series this year. Ana Ros, Emmanuel Renaut, Peter Goossens and Arnaud Lallement will cook together with Christophe in separate events that take place from July to October. Christophe Hardiquest, chef of the two Michelin star Brussels restaurant Bon Bon launched Bon Bon Origins out of the desire to rediscover traditional Belgian recipes that have stood the test of time but deconstructing them and bringing them to life again in a contemporary way, he will be organising collaborative dinners with different chefs that are focused on their own terroirs. Since the beginning of this year he has organised three dinners already with Belgian chef Gert de Mangeleer of Hertog Jan, Portuguese chef Jose Avillez of restaurant Belcanto and the French Alexander Couillon of La Marine in Noirmoutier. The first of the remaining … [Read more...]