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

Spaans Dak

A family run French Belgian kitchen in a historic manor house by the Zoet Water ponds in Oud-Heverlee, where the set menus follow the market and the carte keeps a vegetarian starter and main.

Allergies Not published, ask the kitchen ahead

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

Spaans Dak

A family run French Belgian kitchen in a historic manor house by the Zoet Water ponds in Oud-Heverlee, where the set menus follow the market and the carte keeps a vegetarian starter and main.

The essentials, at a glance

Allergies Not published, ask the kitchen ahead

Documented practices
Independently
reviewed
Seasonal cooking

Documented practices

Seasonal cooking Set menus built from the market offer

Style
Fine dining
Cuisine
French
Seafood
Good to know
Terrace
Children's menu
Recognised by
We're Smart Green Guide
Recognised by
We're Smart Green Guide

The delicious details

Spaans Dak is a family restaurant at the Zoete Waters in Oud-Heverlee, seven kilometres south of Leuven. Chef Jonathan Uytendaele took over the kitchen from his father, and his brother Kristof runs the dining room and the wine list.

The building is historic and the room inside is not: a modern interior with original accents, tables angled towards the ponds and the Meerdaalwoud treeline beyond. A terrace takes over in warm weather.

The cooking is French Belgian and led by the market, so the set menus arrive as a surprise presented at the table. The carte runs to halibut with wild mushroom and quince, lamb with cauliflower and fig, and lobster with artichoke, beside a vegetarian starter and a vegetarian main.

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

A French Belgian kitchen led by seasonal market availability at a family-run restaurant in Oud-Heverlee. The three-course surprise menu and the midweek two-course lunch are presented at the table, while the à la carte runs to Irish oysters, Canadian lobster and Belgian caviar beside one vegetarian main and one vegetarian starter.

The set menus are built from what the market offers, so the three course menu and the midweek two course lunch are presented at the table rather than printed in advance.

The carte follows the seasons: autumn brings quince, fig, cauliflower and wild mushroom alongside halibut, lamb and lobster, where the summer carte leans on watermelon, feta and basil.

Fish and shellfish carry their origin, from Irish oysters to Canadian lobster, and the Belgian caviar is named by label. A vegetarian starter and a vegetarian main sit on the carte all year, and the chosen menu is adjusted free of charge at the table for anyone in the party who needs it.

Cuisine

French
Seafood

Dietary options

Vegetarian options
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
1 - Starting

Spaans Dak has two areas of responsible practice documented in our research.

The first is seasonal cooking: the set menus are composed around the market offer rather than a fixed card, and the carte turns with the year, from watermelon, feta and basil in summer to quince, fig, cauliflower and wild mushroom in autumn.

The second is the place of vegetables on the menu, recognised by a listing in the We're Smart Green Guide, the international guide to vegetable led cooking. A vegetarian starter and a vegetarian main sit on the carte through the year.

The impact dimensions

Local & direct sourcing✓

Seasonal cooking

Sustainable animal products

Plant-forward menu✓

No named local producer; Belgian caviar by label and cheese from Van Elsen are the only sourcing specifics named.

Gault&Millau describes the kitchen as based on fresh, local products, positioning local sourcing as a stated value. However, the restaurant's own carte carries only two pieces of origin specificity: Belgian caviar identified by its Platinum and Gold labels, and a cheese selection credited to the Van Elsen cheese house, which is an affineur rather than a grower.

Several headline ingredients are long distance: Irish oysters, Canadian lobster, Wagyu beef and halibut. With no named, traceable local supplier and several key imported ingredients, the share of local or regional origin stays well below the 30 to 50 per cent that level 3 requires.

Strongest sourceGault&Millau ↗

The fixed menus are composed from the market offer rather than a static card, and the carte rotates visibly from summer (watermelon, feta, basil) to autumn (quince, fig, cauliflower, wild mushroom).

The restaurant's own site states that the three-course menu and the midweek two-course business lunch are a 'verrassingsmenu volgens marktaanbod', a surprise menu following the market offer. This means the fixed menus are structurally driven by availability rather than by a static card.

The current carte reads clearly autumnal, quince, fig, cauliflower, wild mushroom, while the same site's summer gourmet menu carries a composition of coalfish with watermelon, feta and basil, which evidences visible rotation within the year. Seasonality is not communicated as a founding principle in any channel, which holds the score below 4.

Strongest sourceRestaurant submission

Animal products named by origin, Belgian caviar by label, Irish oysters, Canadian lobster, Wagyu beef, but no supplier or welfare credential.

The restaurant's carte names Belgian caviar by label (Platinum and Gold), and independent coverage records Irish oysters and Canadian lobster alongside Wagyu beef, lamb, halibut, turbot, coalfish and sea wolf. That is vague sourcing language supported by one partial signal: a named region of origin with no named producer or supplier.

No butcher, fishmonger or farm is named. No MSC, ASC, organic or animal welfare label is evidenced, and no catch method is stated. With no named, traceable supplier and no welfare standard, the partial traceability that level 3 requires is not reached.

Strongest sourceRestaurant submission

One vegetarian starter at €30 and one vegetarian main at €42 on the carte; no vegan dishes named.

The restaurant holds a listing in the We're Smart Green Guide, which is a partner validation of plant-forward intent and covers this dimension independently of the score. The guide notes that vegetables play a supporting role except in the dedicated vegetarian preparations.

The carte carries one vegetarian starter and one vegetarian main among roughly six mains, so vegetarian mains sit below 20 per cent of the carte. No vegan dish is named on any menu or in any coverage, which caps the score at 2 rather than allowing progression to level 3 or 4.

Strongest sourceWe're Smart Green Guide ↗
Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Maurits Noëstraat 2, 3050 Oud-Heverlee, Oud-Heverlee, Belgium
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€€
Format
Surprise three-course set menu or à la carte; reservations recommended.
Hours
MondayClosed
TuesdayClosed
Wednesday12:00–13:30, 18:30–20:30
Thursday12:00–13:30, 18:30–20:30
Friday12:00–13:30, 18:30–20:30
Saturday12:00–13:30, 18:30–20:30
Sunday12:00–13:30, 18:30–20:00
Style
Fine dining
Good to know
Terrace
Children's menu
Web
spaansdak.be
Reviewed by My Treats
Last reviewed 15 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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