4 - Recognised
i
Four areas of responsible practice are confirmed here: local and direct sourcing, seasonal cooking, responsible animal products and a plant forward kitchen.
Vegetables and fruit are grown on local soil. Lamb comes from Slagerij Vande Walle, a butcher in its seventh generation that rears and slaughters its own animals on a small scale, and the cream, butter, milk and buttermilk come from IJshoeve D'hooge Scheure in neighbouring Harelbeke. Fish is bought with a focus on bycatch and species from the North Sea. Seasonality is handled at the level of the day rather than the quarter: the chef cooks to the morning's deliveries, so the dishes follow the harvest and the catch rather than a fixed card.
The kitchen's work with vegetables is recognised by the We're Smart Green Guide, which lists the restaurant for its hand worked, small scale grown vegetables from local suppliers. The chef received a Belgian award for communication about vegetables in 2015, and his cooking with vegetables is also noted by Gault&Millau and the Michelin Guide.
The impact dimensions
Low waste & circular practices
Sustainable animal products✓
Named local suppliers include Slagerij Vande Walle, a seventh-generation butcher that raises its own lamb, and IJshoeve D'hooge Scheure, a dairy farm in neighbouring Harelbeke providing cream and butter.
Local and direct sourcing is a documented basis of the kitchen. The restaurant's menu page states it works only with local suppliers and builds the daily menu from fresh deliveries from local farmers, fishers and growers. A regional tourism interview names Slagerij Vande Walle, a butcher in its seventh generation that rears and slaughters its own lamb, and IJshoeve D'hooge Scheure in neighbouring Harelbeke, which supplies cream, butter, milk and buttermilk.
Vegetables and fruit are sourced locally, and fish is from the North Sea with a focus on bycatch. The strongest evidence dates from August 2022; the underlying practice is restated on the menu page and in November 2023 reviews, though without naming the individual suppliers again. No vegetable grower is named anywhere, and the game in the observed menu was Scottish grouse.
One menu, Utopia, is composed each day by the chef and sommelier from that morning's deliveries; dishes are not announced in advance.
Seasonality is the organising principle of the kitchen. There is no card and no published dish list: one menu is composed each day by the chef and the sommelier from that morning's deliveries, and the restaurant states it cooks in function of supply and deliberately does not announce dishes in advance.
The We're Smart Green Guide records a menu adapted to season, market offer and inspiration. An independent review of November 2023 documents the menu built entirely on autumn produce: hokkaido squash, aubergine, purple carrot, salsify, fennel and celeriac. No out of season ingredient appears in any observed menu. Gault&Millau describes seasonal preparations in the kitchen.
Scratch cooking and in-house bread baking reduce bought-in processed goods; the chef describes an interest in sustainability.
Waste reduction sits at the level of ingredient purity and scratch cooking. The chef states that 99 per cent of what is served is made in the restaurant's own kitchen, and breads including sourdough and focaccia are baked in a wood fired oven. These practices reduce bought-in processed goods and packaging.
The chef has described foraging over more than twenty years and a dessert made with olives from the restaurant's own garden. No composting partner, packaging policy, food waste measure or energy practice is published on any source.
Lamb is sourced from Slagerij Vande Walle, a seventh-generation butcher that rears its own animals on a small scale; fish is selected for bycatch and North Sea species.
One animal category has a named traceable supplier: Slagerij Vande Walle, a butcher in its seventh generation that rears its own lamb and slaughters on a small scale. Dairy is traced to IJshoeve D'hooge Scheure in neighbouring Harelbeke. Seafood carries a documented sourcing qualification: the kitchen sources bycatch and North Sea species.
The species recorded in an independent review of November 2023 include hand peeled grey shrimp, mussel, cockle, mackerel, haddock and turbot. No farmed salmon or high impact commodity appears in any observed menu. The game served is wild, though not local. No MSC or ASC certification is documented, and the supplier naming dates from August 2022.
The chef is a member of Café Paté vzw, a non-profit collective of Kortrijk chefs, and has expressed interest in mentoring young chefs.
The restaurant is listed as a participating establishment of Café Paté vzw, a registered non profit collective of Kortrijk chefs that runs an annual public culinary event in the city. The chef has been closely involved since the collective's founding shared cooking event in February 2019.
The chef is a Maître Rôtisseur of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs and a member of Mastercooks of Belgium. In a July 2025 interview he described wanting to build a platform to mentor young chefs on food transition and the protein shift.
Vegetables carry structural weight in the menu alongside fish and meat dishes; the kitchen is recognised by the We're Smart Green Guide for work with hand grown local vegetables.
Vegetables carry real structural weight without being the sole focus. The We're Smart Green Guide lists the restaurant for working with hand worked and small scale grown vegetables from local suppliers. The restaurant states that its gastronomic menu Utopia gives much attention to plant products of top quality, alongside fish dishes, meat dishes and vegetarian options.
Michelin describes the chef creatively preparing vegetables, and Gault&Millau describes a growing love for preparations in which vegetables play an ever larger role. The chef received a Belgian award for communication about vegetables in 2015. The two independently reviewed menus of 2023 each ran one vegetable led course against two seafood courses and a game main.
Sourcing signals
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Direct named-farm sourcing
Two producers are named: Slagerij Vande Walle, a seventh-generation butcher that rears its own lamb and slaughters on a small scale, and IJshoeve D'hooge Scheure in Harelbeke, which supplies cream, butter, milk and buttermilk.
99 per cent of everything served is made in the restaurant's own kitchen, including sourdough, focaccia and seed breads baked in a wood fired oven, and house made petit fours including Belgian waffles, citrus tarts, canelés and financiers.
