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Het Vliegend Tapijt Food Identity independently reviewed
Food Identity How restaurants source, cook and care. Independently reviewed

Het Vliegend Tapijt

A small bistronomy address in Marke, on the edge of Kortrijk, where Felix François cooks a tightly seasonal menu and Nel Desmet pours biodynamic and natural wines.

Allergies Not published, ask the kitchen ahead

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

Het Vliegend Tapijt

A small bistronomy address in Marke, on the edge of Kortrijk, where Felix François cooks a tightly seasonal menu and Nel Desmet pours biodynamic and natural wines.

The essentials, at a glance

Allergies Not published, ask the kitchen ahead

Documented practices
Independently
reviewed
Seasonal cooking

Documented practices

Seasonal cooking Menu follows seasonal produce availability

Style
Brasserie
Casual
Cosy
Cuisine
French
Good to know
Terrace
Bar
Dog-friendly

The delicious details

Het Vliegend Tapijt is the second generation of a Marke restaurant that Felix François's parents opened in 1985. He and sommelier Nel Desmet took it over in July 2011, reworking the bistro cooking they inherited without losing the room's informality.

The kitchen runs on strongly seasonal regional produce and the menu turns with it: hop shoots and wild garlic in spring, green zebra tomato and courgette in summer, kale and Jerusalem artichoke as the year closes. Felix cooks on instinct, and the plates arrive without decoration.

Nel's list runs to more than 200 labels, all European, with biodynamic and natural bottles at its centre and Belgian growers among them.

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

Short tasting menus of four or five courses, alongside a compact à la carte, turn with the season. Fish and shellfish lead the starters, grey shrimp, ray wing, langoustine, and mains run to rabbit, Iberian pluma and a daily fish, each paired with a vegetable of the moment.

Menus are short and turn with the season, offered as four or five courses alongside a compact carte. Fish and shellfish lead the starters, with grey shrimp, ray wing and langoustine among them, and the mains run to rabbit, Iberian pluma and a daily fish.

Each is set against a vegetable of the moment: cauliflower with the shrimp, celeriac with the pluma, kale and Jerusalem artichoke with the rabbit.

Fermentation is the house's own work, with Nel brewing the kombucha on site and giving each batch a seasonal turn. Alcohol free pairings are poured by the glass for every course.

Cuisine

French
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
1 - Starting

Seasonality is the foundation of this kitchen. The carte turns through the year with the produce around it: hop shoots and wild garlic in spring, green zebra tomato and courgette in summer, kale and Jerusalem artichoke in the colder months. Felix François builds dishes from what the region is harvesting rather than from a fixed repertoire.

The We're Smart Green Guide, which assesses vegetable led cooking, lists the restaurant and notes that the seasons already take centre stage.

The impact dimensions

Local & direct sourcing✓

Seasonal cooking✓

Low waste & circular practices

Sustainable animal products✓

Social impact

Plant-forward menu✓

Local and regional sourcing is a stated kitchen value, with Belgian wine producer Servaas Blockeel named on the list and bio-boerderij 't Goed ter Heule appearing as an event supplier.

Local and regional sourcing is a defining characteristic of the kitchen. The restaurant states that Felix François builds dishes from what the region is harvesting.

Belgian wine producer Servaas Blockeel of Domaine Het Lijsternest appears on the wine list. Bio-boerderij 't Goed ter Heule in Lauwe supplied a single anniversary dinner.

Strongest sourcegaultmillau.be ↗

The menu changes substantially through the year, tracking hop shoots and wild garlic in spring, green zebra tomato and courgette in summer, and kale and Jerusalem artichoke in autumn and winter.

Seasonality is the organising principle of this kitchen. Felix François builds dishes on instinct from regional seasonal produce, and the menu rotates entirely between seasons.

The spring menu features hop shoots and wild garlic oil, summer brings green zebra tomato and courgette, and autumn and winter shift to kale, Jerusalem artichoke, celeriac and endive. Nel Desmet also varies the house kombucha by season.

Strongest sourcelefooding.com ↗

In-house fermentation and whole-use practice with offcuts such as ray wing and veal sweetbreads are documented, though not framed as waste reduction.

The kitchen documents in-house fermentation work, brewing its own kombucha with a SCOBY culture and varying each batch with seasonal vegetables, fruit and herbs.

Offcuts such as veal sweetbreads, ray wing and smoked trout appear on the menu, signalling whole-use practice.

Strongest sourceRestaurant submission

Animal products are named by species and cut, with less commercial offcuts such as ray wing and veal sweetbreads featured, but no supplier or certification is identified.

Animal products appear on the menu named by species and cut: grey shrimp, ray wing, langoustine, plaice, smoked trout and seabass on the seafood side, and rabbit, Iberian pluma and veal sweetbreaks among the meats.

Aged Holstein cattle appears in a carpaccio, indicating breed-level awareness. The menu's less commercial species such as ray wing and sweetbreads signal whole-use practice.

Strongest sourcegaultmillau.be ↗

Family succession is central to the restaurant's identity, with Felix François and Nel Desmet having taken over his parents' restaurant in 2011 and hosting an anniversary celebration honouring previous ownership.

The restaurant is a family-run establishment, with Felix François and Nel Desmet having taken over his parents' restaurant on 1 July 2011. The kitchen was established in 1985.

An anniversary programme in 2026 honoured previous owner Stefaan and chef-mentor Angelo Rosseel, and included a dinner at an organic farm framing a connection between producer, product and guest.

Strongest sourceRestaurant submission

Every main on the menu is built on meat or fish, though vegetables are integral to each plate and the kitchen is working toward a plant-based menu.

Every published main is built on meat or fish: rabbit, Iberian pluma and a daily fish lead the carte, with no vegetarian or vegan main advertised.

Vegetables are nonetheless integral to the cooking. Each main is set against a vegetable of the moment: cauliflower with shrimp, celeriac with pluma, kale and Jerusalem artichoke with rabbit. The We're Smart Green Guide notes that the kitchen is working toward bringing a plant-based menu to the table.

Strongest sourceWe're Smart Green Guide ↗

Sourcing signals

✓
In-house preparation
✓
Low-impact beverage program

The kitchen brews its own kombucha using a SCOBY culture with seasonal batches. Independent coverage records cured egg yolk, smoked fish and house pastry.

The wine list focuses on organic, biodynamic and natural wines from more than 200 European labels, with Belgian producer Servaas Blockeel of Domaine Het Lijsternest documented. The house brews kombucha on site.

Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Pottelberg 189, 8510 Marke, Kortrijk, Belgium
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€€
Format
25 seats, tasting menus and carte, reservations essential
Hours
MondayClosed
Tuesday12:00–14:00, 19:00–21:30
Wednesday12:00–14:00, 19:00–21:30
Thursday12:00–14:00, 19:00–21:30
Friday12:00–14:00, 19:00–21:30
Saturday19:00–21:30
SundayClosed
Style
Brasserie
Casual
Cosy
Good to know
Terrace
Bar
Dog-friendly
Web
hetvliegendtapijt.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.
This place
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.
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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