4 - Recognised
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Five areas of responsible practice are confirmed here. Sourcing is the backbone. Produce comes from the restaurant's own two gardens and from named Walloon farms for lamb, pork, goat, beef, poultry, mushrooms and butter, with fish from one named Breton supplier, an ultra short chain the kitchen describes as its operating principle. The menu follows that supply rather than the other way round, rotating every five to six weeks, and Jacobs declines out of season imports, building winter desserts from celery and mushrooms when fruit runs out.
Waste is worked back into the cooking through an extensive lacto fermentation programme, whole animal butchery and the use of trimmings such as asparagus peel and fish scales, and plastic film has been replaced with other materials. On the social side, the farm conceived and hosts Manger (Mieux) Demain, an annual food transition festival now in its second edition, which brought around 30 producers and artisans together with some 15 chefs over three days, backed by the Walloon agri food agency APAQW.
Hors-Champs holds a Michelin Green Star, awarded in 2020 for responsible gastronomy, and is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, which assesses vegetable led kitchens.
The impact dimensions
Low waste & circular practices✓
Sustainable animal products✓
Sourcing from around fifteen named Walloon producers plus the restaurant's own two gardens runs across almost every category.
The restaurant publishes around fifteen suppliers by product category: Terres Gourmandes, Bi'ok and the Centre Horticole de Gembloux for produce, Ferme Censier for lamb and eggs, Ferme Cuvry for pork, Ferme de la Petite Campagne for goat and Limousin beef, Benoit Frison for poultry, Ferme de la Sauvenière for duck, Walter Dubois for Breton fish, Maison Protin for game, L'Ourchet for snails, Benoit Roche for mushrooms and Lionel Plaquette for butter. Two of its own growing areas, a herb garden and orchard on site plus a vegetable plot at Bossière, are run by a named grower, Antoine Vanderkelen of Terres Gourmandes.
The kitchen describes an exclusive 'circuit ultra court' (ultra-short chain) as its operating model and states that the menu is composed from what the gardens and regional suppliers can offer, rather than the reverse. The chef has stated publicly that he chooses products locally as far as possible, and stops short of year-round availability, declining imported February asparagus and other out-of-season imports. The only category outside the region is fish, from a single named Breton supplier, which is the nearest substantial fishery for a Walloon kitchen and does not displace the near-complete regional pattern elsewhere.
The surprise menu changes every five to six weeks and is built from what the gardens and regional suppliers have available; the kitchen declines out-of-season imports.
Seasonality is the founding structure of the kitchen. The restaurant states that it works the opposite way round from convention: the chef looks first at what the gardens and regional suppliers have available, and composes the menu from that. The surprise menu changes with the market and the seasons on a five to six week cycle, and the chef has stopped cooking sole and turbot in favour of more abundant species such as mackerel and herring, a seasonal and stock-aware sourcing decision rather than a menu-writing one.
Published dishes show no out-of-season imports: vegetables structure whole courses in their seasons, and the kitchen builds winter desserts from celery and mushrooms when fruit is out of season. The chef is publicly associated with this seasonality ethos through the Michelin Green Star awarded for responsible gastronomy, the We're Smart Green Guide listing and Gault&Millau, all of which confirm the seasonal principle in practice.
Fish scales are crisped into snacks, vegetable trimmings and asparagus peel become finished dishes, and plastic film has been replaced with other materials.
Named practices span food waste and packaging. An extensive lacto fermentation programme carries produce beyond its season; fish scales are transformed into crisp snacks, and vegetable trim is worked back into dishes. The kitchen uses whole animals rather than prime cuts alone, and asparagus peel becomes the foam of a finished dish. Independent press confirms the trim-to-plate practice on the menu itself, naming a lacto fermented parsnip and celery preparation and an asparagus peel foam.
On packaging, the restaurant's Michelin Green Star commitment includes the replacement of plastic film with other materials. The on-site bakery and two gardens shorten the packaging and transport chain further. Energy measures such as a renewable contract or solar installation are not documented, which holds the dimension at level 4 rather than higher.
Every animal category carries a named, traceable producer; the kitchen uses whole animals rather than prime cuts alone.
Every animal category carries a named, traceable producer: Ferme Censier for lamb and eggs, Ferme Cuvry for pork, Ferme de la Petite Campagne for goat and Limousin beef, Benoit Frison for farmyard poultry, Ferme de la Sauvenière for duck, Walter Dubois for Breton fish, Maison Protin for game, L'Ourchet for snails, and Lionel Plaquette for butter. The kitchen deliberately uses whole animals rather than prime cuts only, a principle the chef has followed for years, including the decision to stop cooking sole and turbot in order to spare depleted stocks in favour of more abundant species such as mackerel and herring.
The restaurant holds a house foie gras preparation offered as a paid supplement, which brings the score to level 2 under the My Treats eligibility rule. No welfare or fishery certification (Beter Leven, MSC, ASC, or organic for the meat) is documented for any supplier.
The farm hosts Manger (Mieux) Demain, a food transition festival bringing around thirty producers and artisans together with fifteen chefs, backed by the Walloon agri-food agency APAQW.
Hors-Champs conceived and hosts Manger (Mieux) Demain, a food transition festival held on its own site over three days. The second edition ran from 3 to 5 October 2026, bringing around thirty producers and artisans together with approximately fifteen chefs serving tastings, a free producers' market and paid workshops on how food is produced, cooked and consumed. The festival is explicitly framed around strengthening the local producer economy and is backed by named organisations including the Walloon agri-food promotion agency APAQW and Bru.
Recurrence is proven by the second edition. The restaurant also runs Sunday picnic baskets and other food-based events. Independent corroboration is extensive: RTBF, L'Avenir, Le Vif Weekend, Gault&Millau and Eating.be all cover the festival. No wage, training or apprenticeship commitment was found, which is the gap holding this at level 4 rather than higher.
Vegetables structure whole courses and the We're Smart Green Guide describes a strong focus on local sourcing with pulses, grains, mushrooms and speciality vegetables, though the kitchen is explicitly omnivorous.
The We're Smart Green Guide, the authority on vegetable-led cooking, lists the restaurant and describes a strong focus on local sourcing with pulses, grains, mushrooms and speciality vegetables supplied by trusted local growers, calling it a coherent destination with a clear commitment to local produce and plant-focused cuisine. The garden-first model reinforces this: two growing areas feed the menu and the sequence is composed from what they yield.
Published dishes show vegetables carrying whole courses rather than sitting alongside animal proteins: asparagus prepared two ways including a foam from its own peel, lacto fermented parsnip and celery, courgette, radish and turnip in season, and winter desserts built on celery and mushrooms. Against a higher score, the kitchen is explicitly omnivorous and animal proteins are substantial, named suppliers cover lamb, pork, goat, beef, poultry, duck, game, fish and snails, and the restaurant states that vegan menu adaptations are not possible, so the level 4 requirement for extensive vegan and vegetarian options as the kitchen's clear priority is not met.
Sourcing signals
✓
Direct named-farm sourcing
Two complementary growing areas, a herb garden and orchard on site and a vegetable plot at Bossière, are managed by a named grower (Antoine Vanderkelen of Terres Gourmandes), and the restaurant states a goal of future self-sufficiency and builds the menu from what the gardens yield.
Around fifteen named producers sourced by category: Terres Gourmandes, Bi'ok and the Centre Horticole de Gembloux for produce; Ferme Censier, Ferme Cuvry, Ferme de la Petite Campagne, Benoit Frison, Ferme de la Sauvenière, Maison Protin, L'Ourchet, Benoit Roche, Lionel Plaquette for the full animal and dairy range; and Walter Dubois for Breton fish.
Bread from the restaurant's own bakery, an extensive lacto fermentation programme, preserves and winter desserts built from vegetable trim, whole animal butchery, and a house foie gras preparation are all confirmed.
