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

De Smaak

French and Belgian cooking in a light filled Izegem townhouse, where vegetables lead the plate and a vegetarian section sits alongside the Flemish classics.

Allergies Not published, ask the kitchen ahead

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

De Smaak

French and Belgian cooking in a light filled Izegem townhouse, where vegetables lead the plate and a vegetarian section sits alongside the Flemish classics.

The essentials, at a glance

Allergies Not published, ask the kitchen ahead

Documented practices
Independently
reviewed
Seasonal cooking
Plant-forward menu

Documented practices

Seasonal cooking Menu rebuilt entirely with seasonal produce
Plant-forward menu Two vegetarian mains, vegetables named throughout

Style
Brasserie
Cosy
Cuisine
French
Good to know
Terrace
Private dining room
Dog-friendly
Recognised by
We're Smart Green Guide
Recognised by
We're Smart Green Guide

The delicious details

De Smaak sits in a large townhouse on the Gentsestraat in Izegem, where light and space do most of the decorating. The cooking is French and Belgian, and it is written down plainly: every dish on the card is a short list of its own ingredients.

Vegetables are named as often as the protein: beef cheek with artichoke, old tomato varieties and sweet potato; buttermilk potatoes with hand peeled grey shrimp and a poached egg. A separate vegetarian section carries two mains of its own, and the card moves with the season.

Wouter Creytens trained under Frank Fol at Sire Pynnock and the Cook Museum before cooking at Hof van Cleve, and that vegetable schooling has stayed with him. The dining room is quiet and stylish, with a separate salon and a terrace at the back.

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

French and Belgian cooking served à la carte in a light filled townhouse. The short card rotates with the seasons and gives vegetables equal weight to proteins: artichoke and old tomato varieties with beef cheek, asparagus with egg and parsley, peas with burrata. Two vegetarian mains sit alongside the Flemish classics, sole with hand cut chips, steak with béarnaise, and the fish main changes daily.

The card is short and follows the season: two meat mains, two fish, two vegetarian, and a row of Flemish classics such as sole with hand cut chips or steak with béarnaise.

Vegetables carry their own weight throughout, from artichoke and old tomato varieties beside braised beef cheek to a spring plate of asparagus with egg, butter and parsley. The vegetarian mains are a standing section rather than a substitution.

Chips are cut by hand in the kitchen, and dishes are built from named components rather than pre made bases.

Cuisine

French

Dietary options

Vegetarian options
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
2 - Engaged

De Smaak cooks with the seasons and gives vegetables a structural place on the card alongside the Flemish classics. The card is rebuilt as produce comes into season: asparagus, peas and young vegetables in spring give way to an entirely different set of dishes in the colder months, and the fish is chosen by the day.

Vegetables are the centre of much of the cooking rather than a garnish: dishes are named for the artichoke, the old tomato varieties or the asparagus, and two of the mains are vegetarian as a standing part of the card, among them burrata with peas, mustard seed and preserved lemon.

De Smaak is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, the international guide to vegetable led restaurants, and carries Het Lekkere Westen, the West Flanders label for kitchens that put regional products at the centre.

The impact dimensions

Local & direct sourcing✓

Seasonal cooking✓

Sustainable animal products

Plant-forward menu✓

Het Lekkere Westen label corroborates regional sourcing; no named suppliers are published.

Regional sourcing is positioned as a value and corroborated outside the restaurant. The Westtoer regional listing records the Het Lekkere Westen label, awarded to West Flanders kitchens that put regional products at the centre, and describes the card as carrying local dishes.

The Bistronomie listing independently states the kitchen works with local and seasonal products with an emphasis on purity and provenance. However, no specific producer is named anywhere: the card gives varieties and methods (old tomato varieties, Piemontese beef, bouchot mussels) but no farm, grower, butcher or fishmonger.

Strongest sourceWesttoer tourism listing ↗

The card rotates with the season; spring and cold season menus share almost no dishes, with daily fish selection.

The Bistronomie listing states the kitchen works with local and seasonal products with an emphasis on purity and provenance. Two independent snapshots of the card evidence real rotation rather than decorative seasonality: the We're Smart Green Guide listing records cold season dishes (bok choy with skrei, paksoi with couscous and shiitake, carrot with aged cheese) while the current card is built on spring produce (asparagus with egg and parsley, young vegetables with lamb navarin, peas with burrata, strawberry for dessert).

Almost none of the dishes are shared between the two snapshots, evidencing rotation well beyond the quarterly minimum. A catch of the day runs as a standing fish main, so the fish changes daily.

Strongest sourceBistronomie guide ↗

Partial sourcing signals named: bouchot mussels, hand peeled grey shrimp, Piemontese beef; no certifications or named suppliers.

The card narrows the sourcing picture without making it fully verifiable. Partial signals are present: bouchot mussels name a specific rope cultivation method, grey shrimp are specified as hand peeled, the steak is given as a Piemontese breed, and a catch of the day indicates daily fish selection.

None of these attach to a named supplier, and no welfare or fishery certification (MSC, ASC, organic, free range) appears anywhere. European eel is a standing fish main served as paling with fourteen herbs, carried without a sustainability qualification or named fishery. No animal product supplier is named on the card, website or in any guide listing.

Strongest sourceRestaurant website ↗

Two of eight mains are vegetarian; vegetables named first or equal billing throughout the card.

The We're Smart Green Guide lists the restaurant and describes Wouter Creytens as a veteran of vegetables cook Frank Fol who remains faithful to the creative vegetable kitchen, giving vegetable led examples (paksoi with couscous and shiitake, bok choy with skrei, carrot with sucrine and aged cheese). The restaurant's own chef page independently confirms that lineage, listing Frank Fol as his chef at both Sire Pynnock and the Cook Museum.

On the current card, a dedicated vegetarian section carries two of the eight mains, and vegetables are named first or given equal billing across the animal dishes as well: artichoke and old tomato varieties with beef cheek, young vegetables with lamb navarin, lamsoor with mussels. The menu remains structurally built on meat and fish, with no vegan main labelled, but vegetables hold a real structural place rather than serving as garnish.

Strongest sourceWe're Smart Green Guide ↗
Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Gentsestraat 27, 8870 Izegem, Izegem, Belgium
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€€
Format
À la carte and tasting menu
Hours
Monday12:00–14:00, 19:00–21:00
TuesdayClosed
WednesdayClosed
Thursday12:00–14:00, 19:00–21:00
Friday12:00–14:00, 19:00–21:00
Saturday19:00–21:00
Sunday12:00–14:00
Style
Brasserie
Cosy
Good to know
Terrace
Private dining room
Dog-friendly
Web
desmaak.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.
This place
Endorsed Meaningful practice across three or more dimensions.
Recognised Strong practice across four or more dimensions, with independent corroboration.
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
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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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