Culinaria in Brussels is Coming Up

Culinaria² is coming up: an outdoor food festival taking place in Brussels where 16 Belgian chefs unite to introduce not only foodies to their cuisine. Impressive: 23 Michelin stars, 50 exhibition stands, 11 workshops and 4 menus each comprising at least 6 stars…

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In de Wulf – A Kind of Magic

The Flemish Primitives are coming up – this urgently reminds me that I owe you some reports on my Belgium/NL trip end of last summer. Although I have written about the Service à Six Mains at In de Wulf, the restaurant itself very well deserves its own post to provide deeper insights into the philosophy of Kobe Desramaults and his team.

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Looking Ahead (I): The Flemish Primitives

I am excited – lots of culinary delights are forthcoming this year. Planning for the first quarter is nearly finalized – although there are so many backlog posts from last year. Unfortunately, my time is rather limited recently – but I promise to report on my latest delights – France/Paris was the focus of last the second half of last year. Oh, and Belgium/NL. And some fine meals in Germany. And some very disappointing experiences as well. In places absolutely not expected…

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Identity Crisis? – Not in Flanders!

Crisis – what crisis? Sure, there still is something like a financial crisis which hit also the fine dining world quite significantly…

But an identity crisis? Hmm.

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Off to Belgium (again): Service à 6 Mains at In de Wulf

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Jonnie Boer – Bravo!

In the web2.0 fine dining blogs and forums are much more up-to-date and in-depth than the usual gourmet guides and are truly complimentary to these. Some restaurants create more buzz (like noma) and some less (like Arzak) but almost any high-end restaurant is covered somehow. Among food bloggers worldwide it is some kind of sport to write about the usual suspects to give an update and personal account and to discover new places.

Much different for Jonnie and Thérèse Boer’s De Librije in Zwolle (NL). Although any foodie is aware that this restaurant carries three stars and offers both modern and interesting cuisine there is only an old report from Andy Hayler and a more recent very positive account by Lo Mejor (and the latter is not even a blog in the strictest sense). This maybe in part due to a seemingly remote location and the lack of agglomeration of fine dining places which make a good tour. Nevertheless, the booking situation is awesome – it is impossible to get a table without planning 6 or 7 months ahead. This kept me from going so far…

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Hof van Cleve – A True Master (July 2008)

Before I go on and turn to eating adventures in Germany there is one more reference I want to share. During our B/NL trip we this year finally managed to eat at Hof van Cleve (HvC) in Kruishoutem near Gent in Belgium.

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De Jonkman – A Hidden Treasure in Brugge (July 2008)

Planning a dining tour has easy and difficult parts. Well, of course the easy part is that mostly the destination is selected because there are some very good restaurants which are widely known. The difficult part is the search for some informal places to just grap a nice lunch or the treasure hunt for some rising stars. When I released that I will visit Oud Sluis and Hof van Cleve on my home forum I almost immediately had a PM which recommended “In de Wulf” and “De Jonkman”. Both having one stars I wanted to include both but In de Wulf would have been a massive detour (yes, I am not going any mile;-)) and Trine told me that she had done In de Wulf. So, for sake of some division of labour in the blogging community I opted for De Jonkman. We booked on short notice on a Friday night which was surprising as all starred restaurants in the area were fully booked.

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Oud Sluis – The Fascination Continues (July 2008)

Another visit at Oud Sluis – even with the danger to bore you a little with my love for Oud Sluis, our menu this year was mind-blowing again and needs to be shared. The overall level was more consistent along the different courses. There are not many restaurants in the world were you encounter outstanding and perfect dishes that often.

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Oud Sluis – A Must (July 2007)

To start with a double feature is quite some task. But I can’t write about my very recent visit at Oud Sluis without also giving some details about my first visit almost exactly one year ago (yes, you will find me in Knokke every year around July;-))

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