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De Levensboom Food Identity independently reviewed
Food Identity How restaurants source, cook and care. Independently reviewed

De Levensboom

A fully plant based restaurant in an old Hasselt townhouse, cooking a daily changing set menu around organic vegetables grown for the kitchen by a community farm nearby.

Food Identity How restaurants source, cook and care. Independently reviewed

De Levensboom

A fully plant based restaurant in an old Hasselt townhouse, cooking a daily changing set menu around organic vegetables grown for the kitchen by a community farm nearby.

The essentials, at a glance


Documented practices
Independently
reviewed
Local sourcing
Seasonal cooking
Plant-forward menu
Health-intentional kitchen

Documented practices

Local sourcing Direct from CSA Hoeve het Blokhuis, Herk-de-Stad
Seasonal cooking Menu rewritten daily around farm harvest
Plant-forward menu Vegetables lead every course of daily set menu
Health-intentional kitchen Health is a founding principle

Style
Fine dining
Casual
Cosy
Good to know
Terrace
Garden
Recognised by
We're Smart Green Guide
Recognised by
We're Smart Green Guide

The delicious details

De Levensboom occupies an old townhouse on Leopoldplein in central Hasselt, where Hans Van Der Fraenen and Tine Sterckx cook entirely plant based and Davy looks after the room. The kitchen moved to an organic vegetarian menu in 2015 and has since dropped animal products altogether.

Vegetables arrive straight from the land at CSA Hoeve het Blokhuis in Herk-de-Stad, so the daily three, four or five course menu follows the harvest rather than a fixed card. Everything on the plate is made in house, from fermented preparations and nut based cheeses to egg free desserts.

The room is calm and homely rather than formal, and a garden terrace opens behind the house in summer. On Mondays and Tuesdays Tine Sterckx runs plant based cooking and fermentation workshops in the same kitchen.

Menu
What's on the table, and what's left off

A fully plant-based kitchen in an old townhouse, serving a set menu of three to five courses that changes daily around vegetables from a nearby community farm. Everything is made in house: ferments, nut-based cheeses, plant proteins, and egg-free desserts. No meat, fish, dairy or eggs appear anywhere in the kitchen.

The format is a set menu of three, four or five courses, written each day around what the farm has cut. Vegetables lead every course, with plant proteins such as seitan, tofu and mushrooms built around them. Nothing in the kitchen contains meat, fish or dairy, so vegan and vegetarian guests eat the full menu without substitution.

The kitchen makes its own ferments, nut based cheeses, tapenades and spreads, flavour bases such as miso, and house syrups and lemonades, and bakes its desserts without eggs. Whole ingredients are worked from raw rather than bought in prepared.

Dietary options

Vegetarian options
Fully plant-based
Dairy-free options

Health-intentional kitchen

Health is a founding principle, independently validated
Self-declared

Health intent is explicit and systemic. The restaurant cooks entirely plant based out of love for health and nature, and everything on the plate is handmade. Fermentation is framed as one of the pillars of a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, cheeses are made from whole nuts, desserts are baked without eggs, and drinks are built from whole fruit into syrups and lemonades. Co-owner Tine Sterckx publishes a holistic nutrition practice alongside the restaurant and teaches the workshops.

Allergies & intolerances
How this kitchen handles the EU-14 allergens
Handled on request
Public sources point to a working level of allergen accommodation, but no dedicated preparation area. Treat this as a starting point and confirm directly.
Allergens named on public sources
ShellfishFishMolluscsMilkEggs
Ask about any allergen not shown. Kitchen separation isn't published. Ask directly if you need a trace-free dish.
Always confirm your allergy directly with the restaurant when booking.
Researched from public sources · happycow.net · not yet confirmed by the restaurant
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
4 - Recognised

De Levensboom has a strong record across four areas of responsible cooking.

Its vegetables come directly from the land at CSA Hoeve het Blokhuis, a community supported farm in nearby Herk-de-Stad, which keeps the supply chain to a single short step. Because the kitchen cooks what that farm has harvested, the menu is rewritten daily and follows the growing season rather than a fixed list of dishes.

The menu is entirely plant based, with vegetables at the centre of every course, and no meat, fish or dairy is used in the kitchen at all.

The restaurant is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, the international guide to vegetable led cooking, and won Best Restaurant at the Belgian Vegan Awards 2024.

The impact dimensions

Local & direct sourcing

Seasonal cooking✓

Sustainable animal products

n/a

Social impact

Plant-forward menu✓

Vegetables come directly from CSA Hoeve het Blokhuis in Herk-de-Stad, a named community farm supplying produce through a single short step with no wholesaler.

The restaurant names one specific grower and describes a direct relationship: CSA Hoeve het Blokhuis in Herk-de-Stad. Herk-de-Stad is in Limburg province, the same region as Hasselt. The farm is independently verifiable in the Limburg Smaakt Naar Meer producer registry and the Flemish Lekker Van Bij Ons platform as a community supported agriculture holding run by Robby Kelchtermans, growing around 80 vegetable types on a short-chain model.

Corroboration for local sourcing comes from We're Smart Green Guide and VisitLimburg, both describing organic and local ingredients. The supply is genuinely regional through a single short step with no wholesaler in between.

Strongest sourceRestaurant submission

The menu is rewritten every day to follow what the farm has just harvested, making seasonality structural rather than stated.

Seasonality is built into the structure rather than announced: because the kitchen takes vegetables directly off one community supported farm, the menu can only carry what has just been picked. The We're Smart Green Guide records that the menu is extensive and changes daily. The restaurant's own site states the menu is seasonal and driven by what the land has given and the kitchen's inspiration.

A daily rewrite driven by a single CSA harvest is a stronger seasonal mechanism than a quarterly menu change. External sources corroborate the seasonal rhythm, with VisitLimburg describing cooking guided by the rhythm of the seasons.

Strongest sourceWe're Smart Green Guide ↗

Not applicable, the kitchen is fully plant based with no meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy or eggs.

The restaurant is fully plant based. Its own site states 'we cook entirely plant based' and '100% plantaardig'. HappyCow classifies the restaurant as Fully Vegan. VisitLimburg records 100% plant based cooking. Trade coverage documented the move to a fully vegetarian and organic menu in 2015, followed by the removal of all animal products. The restaurant won Best Restaurant at the Belgian Vegan Awards 2024.

Strongest sourceWe're Smart Green Guide ↗

The restaurant runs plant-based cooking and fermentation workshops on its closed days, taught by co-owner Tine Sterckx as a public education activity.

A recurring public education activity is documented: on Mondays and Tuesdays, when the restaurant is closed, co-owner Tine Sterckx runs plant-based cooking and fermentation workshops in the restaurant kitchen. These are described as open to beginners. This is a commercial offering taught by an owner rather than a programme with a named external partner organisation, so it sits at level 2 rather than higher.

The restaurant's stated founding aim includes bringing people together in a calm, homely and unforced setting, which touches a community theme without describing a specific named commitment.

Strongest sourceRestaurant submission

Vegetables lead every course of the daily set menu; plant proteins such as seitan, tofu and mushrooms are built around them, and no animal products are available or offered.

Vegetables are not a component of this menu; they are its entire structure. The kitchen is 100% plant based, with vegetables leading every course, and plant proteins such as seitan, tofu and mushrooms built around them rather than as substitutes. The format reinforces this: a set menu of three to five courses rewritten daily around the farm's harvest, with no animal protein option available.

The We're Smart Green Guide lists the restaurant as one of the oldest organic plant-based natural food restaurants in the country. The restaurant won Best Restaurant at the Belgian Vegan Awards 2024, an award that presupposes a fully plant-based kitchen.

Strongest sourceWe're Smart Green Guide ↗

Sourcing signals

✓
Direct named-farm sourcing
✓
In-house preparation

The restaurant names CSA Hoeve het Blokhuis, Herk-de-Stad as its direct grower, described on the farm's own registry page as a community supported agriculture holding.

The kitchen makes fermented preparations, nut-based cheeses, tapenades and spreads, plant-based flavour bases including miso and soy seasoning, egg-free desserts, and fruit syrups and lemonades.

Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Leopoldplein 44, Hasselt, Belgium
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€€
Format
Set menu of three to five courses; reservations by phone
Hours
MondayClosed
TuesdayClosed
Wednesday18:00–22:00
Thursday12:00–15:00, 18:00–22:00
Friday12:00–15:00, 18:00–22:00
Saturday17:00–22:30
SundayClosed
Style
Fine dining
Casual
Cosy
Good to know
Terrace
Garden
Web
restaurantdelevensboom.be
Reviewed by My Treats
Last reviewed 07 Oct 2026
Reserve To website
Link copied
How we score
The My Treats impact scale

Every restaurant is assessed against SEERO, our six-dimension sustainability framework — covering sourcing, seasonality, waste, animal products, social impact, and plant-forward cooking. Each finding is weighted by how strongly it is corroborated. The combined result is translated into an impact score from 1 to 5.

The five levels

SEERO is an acronym for Starting, Engaged, Endorsed, Recognised, Outstanding:

Starting First verified signals of sustainable practice.
Engaged Credible practice across two dimensions.
Endorsed Meaningful practice across three or more dimensions.
Recognised Strong practice across four or more dimensions, with independent corroboration.
This place
Outstanding Top-tier practice, confirmed by recognised third-party audit.

How a level is reached. Each level needs two things together: a minimum number of dimensions covered, and a minimum overall strength of evidence across them. A dimension only counts once its evidence is specific and substantiated — a passing mention doesn't qualify. Meeting only one of the two keeps a restaurant a level lower.

Scores of four or five require human validation and, at the top tier, an external audit. Scores are based on publicly available evidence and restaurant submissions at the time of assessment.

Full methodology→
Impact dimension
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How this dimension works
—
How evidence is weighted
Self-declared Stated by the restaurant on its website, menu or in a submission. Plausible, but not yet independently corroborated.
Researched Found through independent research; one credible third-party source backs the claim.
Vouched Corroborated across more than one independent source. Some gaps may remain.
Audited Fully corroborated across independent sources or by a recognised third-party certification.
What the sourcing checkmarks mean
✓ Full check — independently verified: corroborated across more than one source, or audited / third-party certified (vouched or audited).
✓ Light check — self-declared or from a single source. Not yet independently verified.
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