4 - Recognised
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Four areas of responsible practice stand out at Le Relais d'Orti.
Sourcing stays close to the house: vegetables come from the Marais d'Orti, the family kitchen garden directly below the restaurant, and the rest of the card is built on Ardennes produce and Belgian cheeses. The menu follows the seasons rather than a fixed list, moving with what the garden and the surrounding land give, and the bistro writes a new card each week. Waste is cut at the board, since products arrive whole and are worked through in their entirety, with one course made from grapes, their pips and their vine leaves. Vegetables, plants and flowers sit at the centre of the cooking, and the full menu can be served as a plants only sequence.
Le Relais d'Orti is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, which recognises kitchens that put vegetables first.
The impact dimensions
Low waste & circular practices✓
Sustainable animal products
Vegetables come from the family kitchen garden immediately below the house; the rest of the menu is built on Ardennes produce and Belgian cheeses.
Vegetables come from the Marais d'Orti, the family kitchen garden immediately below the property. This is stated on the restaurant's own bistro page and independently confirmed by regional television, which reports the establishment maintains its own vegetable garden supplying both the gastronomic restaurant and the bistro.
Beyond vegetables, the menu draws on Ardennes produce and Belgian cheeses, with wild picking in the surrounding land. No named external farms, butchers, fishmongers or dairies are mentioned.
The kitchen builds its menu around the seasons, with five seasonal ingredient groupings identified across the year; the bistro writes a new card each week.
The kitchen motto is "Menu de saison, cueillettes sauvages et cuisine inspirée." Five distinct seasonal ingredient groupings are identified across the year: artichoke, oyster, potato and lavender; radish and verbena; red mullet and rapeseed; morels and trout; duck, rhubarb and chicory. The published menu is coherently autumnal throughout, including red kuri squash with tansy, cod with fig and port, wild duck with leek and sorrel, and a final course built from grapes, their pips and their vine leaves.
The bistro card is composed weekly by the chef around seasonal vegetables, fish and meat. Self-declared seasonality is corroborated by independent editorial coverage and regional press describing simple, quality, seasonal products.
Whole products are worked through in their entirety, with nothing arriving pre-cut; one published course uses grapes, their pips and their vine leaves.
The We're Smart Green Guide confirms thoughtful use of whole products, working their different parts while respecting each ingredient. Editorial coverage states the product is treated entirely, nothing pre-cut, everything transformed on site. The menu demonstrates this: one course uses grapes, their pips and their vine leaves.
The own kitchen garden shortens the supply chain for vegetables.
Animal products are listed by species and region (wild duck, wild boar, oyster, red mullet, trout, grey shrimp) but no butcher, fishmonger, farm or welfare certification is named.
Animal products are central to the menu: wild duck, wild boar, cod, oyster, red mullet, trout, grey shrimp, and charcuterie. Sourcing is stated regionally as "produits du terroir" and products from the region, with game being a low-intensity category.
No butcher, fishmonger, farm or dairy is named, and no welfare or fisheries credential (MSC, ASC, organic, free range) is evidenced.
Strongest source Restaurant submission
Regional press reports intentions for social engagement: a bistro open to the village, planned village concerts and workshops, a local grocery to promote regional producers, and staff accommodation.
Regional press reports the owners' deliberate rejection of an exclusive model, a bistro intended to carry village life with small concerts and artistic workshops, a planned local grocery to promote regional producers, and staff accommodation. These were reported as intentions ahead of the October 2025 opening. No source confirms the village programme now runs or names community partners.
The menu is anchored on animal proteins, with a vegetarian formula available on request and the full menu adaptable to plants-only. The We're Smart Green Guide recognises the plant-forward ambition.
The We're Smart Green Guide recognises the plant-focused approach with emphasis on vegetables, plants and flowers, offering a full menu adaptation to plants-only on request, with a clear ambition to develop the cuisine further. Vegetables are from the kitchen garden; non-alcoholic pairings are built from infusions, teas and plants.
The default menu is anchored on animal proteins (cod, wild boar, wild duck, grey shrimp), with the plant-only version served on request rather than on the regular card. This is meaningful plant presence on a mixed menu with vegan options.
Sourcing signals
Vegetables come directly from the Marais d'Orti, the family kitchen garden immediately below the property, supplying both venues. Regional television independently confirms the establishment maintains this garden as a production source.
All products are transformed on site with nothing pre-cut. The bistro prepares fries in house, and the guide cites thoughtful use of whole products including their different parts.
