Restaurant Boury in Roeselare gets the best score in the latest edition of the renowned restaurant guide Gault&Millau. Like last year, Boury shares this honour with L'air du temps in Liernu (Eghezée). The Hof van Cleve, which was left without a score last year because it changed hands, makes a comeback with a score of 18 points out of a possible 20. Glenn Verhasselt of restaurant Sir Kwinten in Lennik is Chef of the Year.
Once again, Gault&Millau's anonymous inspectors set out this year to try out a whole series of Belgian restaurants. The result is a new guide - the 22nd edition by now - with over 1,400 addresses across the country, with 135 newcomers.
Best restaurant
Once again, the top honour is shared. Boury in Roeselare and L'air du temps in Eghezée each scored 19 out of a possible 20. That puts 5 chef's hats behind their names as well as the label ‘exceptional’. Two Antwerp restaurants are hot on their heels: The Jane and Zilte. Both received an excellent score of 18.5.
Hof van Cleve, headed by chef Floris Van Der Veken, Peter Goossens' former right-hand man, re-enters the top 10 with a score of 18.
The highest newcomers are Haut in Ostend in Flanders (with 15.5 points), Le Beau Rivage by Curtis in Dave in Wallonia (14) and Quartz in Brussels in the Brussels region (14).
There were a few more significant changes at the top of Belgian gastronomy: Bozar Restaurant (Brussels), La Table de Maxime (Paliseul) and Sir Kwinten (Lennik) score 17.5 and also get 4 chef's hats.
17/20 and 4 chef's hats go to Colette (Averbode), Cuines, 33 (Knokke-Heist) and Menssa (Brussels). Oak in Ghent can count on a score of 16/20 and 3 chef's hats.
Chef of the Year
Gault&Millau says Glenn Verhasselt of Sir Kwinten in Lennik may call himself Chef of the Year. ‘Year after year, we have seen Glenn Verhasselt grow, in perfect fellowship with partner Yannick Dehandschutter, who manages the restaurant and the choice of wine like the best,’ the inspectors say. ‘Glenn consistently delivers dishes that betray great maturity and a balance of flavour.’
The Young Chefs of the Year are Alex Verhoeven (Hert restaurant in Turnhout, Seir in Kasterlee and Bink in Turnhout) for Flanders, François-Xavier Simon (Bistrot Blaise in Marche-en-Famenne) for Wallonia and Elliott Van de Velde (Entropy in Brussels) for the Brussels region.
Best ‘price-pleasure ratio’
There are also numerous side categories in this year’s guide including most beautiful terrace (La Rigue in Knokke-Heist), vegetable menu of the year (Cécila By Mélanie Englebin in Ottignies) and gastro-bistro of the year (Elders in Ghent). The best ‘price-pleasure ratio’ in Flanders, according to Gault&Millau, can be found in Ronse at Maison D.