4 - Recognised
i
The impact dimensions
Low waste & circular practices
Sustainable animal products
Vegetables and herbs collected weekly in person from De Kollebloem, a biodynamic grower in Herzele 17 km away; meat and poultry from small producers; herbs also grown on site and foraged wild in the Flemish Ardennes.
De Kollebloem in Herzele is named on the grower's own customer page, which states the restaurant collects vegetables and herbs there weekly in person. The Demeter Belgium register confirms the farm is biodynamic and Demeter-certified. The Michelin Guide independently describes veg fresh from the field and foraged herbs in the Flemish Ardennes.
Laurence Haegeman told Horeca Magazine that the menu starts from the vegetable offer of local farmers and producers. The siblings told Gault&Millau Culinary Innovators that they work locally because products are at their best in the region where they grow. Meat and poultry come from small producers; game comes from the wild.
Strongest source Restaurant website
Menu rotates through the year: porcini, quince, pumpkin and wild duck in autumn; asparagus, salmon and strawberries in spring; beetroot, endive, kale and white cabbage in winter.
Independent sources document rotation across three seasons. The autumn menu carries porcini terrine, quince, tomato compote, pumpkin, parsnip and celeriac with wild duck. The Gault&Millau review covers a spring service with Flemish asparagus, salmon and strawberries. The Vegatopia review covers a winter service with beetroot, endive, kale, cauliflower and white cabbage.
The restaurant's principal menu is named Seizoenen (Seasons). Laurence Haegeman described the menu as being built from what is seasonally available from local farmers before meat and fish are added. Preservation extends the season: a spring asparagus sauce is fermented and carried into the autumn menu.
Fermented asparagus peel into jus, pea pods recovered for frying, misshapen produce worked into the menu rather than refused.
Named practices are reported independently and attributed to the restaurant's own kitchen. Gault&Millau Culinary Innovators documents the siblings recovering pea pods for frying and fermenting asparagus peel into jus, and asking how to get the maximum from misshapen or marked vegetables and fruit that are still of the same quality. Jonas Haegeman is quoted saying the zero food waste approach still plays in their minds.
A standing library of fermentation jars is visible in the dining room and supplies radish kimchi and fermented white cabbage, so preservation is a structural part of the menu. The siblings won the 2024 Green Chefs Hat, a competition run by the Gastronomisch Gilde with We're Smart in which teams cook a pre-assembled box of vegetables to emphasise waste reduction.
North Sea fish from sustainable fishing, meat and poultry from small producers, and game from the wild; no named animal supplier or welfare certification documented.
The restaurant states a clear sourcing principle across all three animal categories on its own menu page: North Sea fish from sustainable fishing, meat and poultry from small producers, and game from nature. The Michelin Guide corroborates independently but only in general terms, describing sustainable seafood without naming a species or supplier.
Species appearing on the menus are monkfish, red mullet, gilt-head bream, sole and salmon, with no catch method or fishing ground detail stated. Meat is identified by breed rather than by farm, for example Limousin beef fillet. No animal-specific certification or welfare label is held, and no MSC or ASC claim is found.
Strongest source Restaurant website
Laurence Haegeman advocates for women in culinary leadership and was named in the official selection for Lady Chef of the Year 2024 final.
One genuine social signal was evidenced. Horeca Magazine reports that Laurence Haegeman advocates for women in culinary leadership roles, and she was named in the official selection of female chefs for the Lady Chef of the Year 2024 final. The restaurant is a second-generation family business taken over from the parents in 2013, with the father also working in the kitchen.
The siblings hold the Young Master and Mastercook titles of the Mastercooks of Belgium, a professional guild rather than a social credential. No employment practice, wage commitment, apprenticeship or training programme, community initiative, charitable work or inclusion policy is published on any surface.
Five-radish We're Smart Green Guide recognition; dedicated vegetable menu at every service; fully plant-based version on advance request; number 19 in the 2025 Top 100 and fourth in Belgium.
Vegetables are the organising principle of the kitchen, not an accommodation. The We're Smart Green Guide awards five radishes and places the restaurant at number 19 in its 2025 world Top 100 and fourth in Belgium, lists it in the five-radish Chefs Club, and named it the Belgian discovery for best vegetable restaurant in 2021.
A dedicated vegetable menu runs in parallel with the seasonal menu at every service, currently at 90 euro against 100 euro, in four- and five-course versions, and a fully plant-based version is prepared on advance request. The siblings won the 2024 Green Chefs Hat, a competition in which all cooking is 100 percent plant based. The Michelin Guide singles out the care lavished on the vegetables.
Sourcing signals
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Certified organic ingredients
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Direct named-farm sourcing
De Kollebloem holds Demeter, BioGarantie and EU Organic certifications; the certified share of total produce used is not published.
De Kollebloem in Herzele is visited weekly in person; the grower names the restaurant on its own customer page.
Ferments, radish kimchi, fermented white cabbage, asparagus peel jus, sourdough bread, cured salmon, venison and beef pastrami, sorbets and house mocktails are documented; no overall share is stated.
