4 - Recognised
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Sourcing is the kitchen's foundation: around 95 percent of the vegetables come from the estate's own market garden, 200 metres from the stoves, with cereals, eggs and honey from the same land. Named local producers supply meat and goat cheese; eggs come from the estate's own hens. Because the menu is written from the harvest rather than held as a fixed card, dishes turn over with the growing year. Organic waste from the kitchen is composted and returned to the vegetable beds and the vineyard. Vegetables are structurally dominant, led by a dedicated vegetable menu priced below the others.
Pollen is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, the European reference for vegetable led kitchens, and the estate farm that supplies it has held organic certification since 2010.
The impact dimensions
Low waste & circular practices✓
Sustainable animal products✓
Garden supply of 200-250 varieties provides about 95% of vegetables, with named local producers supplying meat and cheese except for seafood, imported items and part of the wine list.
Near complete local and direct sourcing. Press coverage states about 95 percent vegetable self-sufficiency, grain from estate fields, eggs from on-site poultry. The market garden of 200 to 250 varieties sits 200 metres from the kitchen and is tended by a dedicated gardener, Youri Lebrun.
Named producers, Ferme du Val-Notre-Dame, Schiepers farm, Damien Boca for meat, Capriflore for goat cheese, and Champain bakery, recur across independent sources. Exceptions are seafood (no named fishmonger), imported items such as rum, and part of the wine list.
Menu composition turns over with the harvest of 200 to 250 plant varieties grown 200 metres from the kitchen, following the chef's method of creating dishes from what is seasonally available.
Seasonality is the organising principle of the kitchen rather than a decorative theme. The chef describes the method directly: when a dish is created, the team looks at what is in season and available in the market garden or from producers nearby. Dish records across sources track the calendar from garden tomato tatin and courgette flowers through pumpkin, chestnuts, salsify and citrus.
Organic waste from the kitchen is composted and returned to enrich the vineyard and vegetable beds that supply the room.
One concrete practice is documented and independently reported: organic waste from the restaurants is composted and returned to enrich the vineyard and the vegetable growing areas, closing a loop with the garden that supplies the room. Short supply chains and on-estate baking reduce transport and packaging around the main ingredient categories.
Strongest source Restaurant submission
Meat comes from named local producer Damien Boca and goat cheese from Capriflore; fish is stated to come mainly from regional rivers or the North Sea with no named source or welfare certification documented.
Partial traceability on the animal side. Independent coverage names Damien Boca as the meat supplier and Capriflore for goat cheese, both local, and records eggs from the estate's own laying hens. The estate farm runs organic mixed farming and introduced livestock partly so that manure would not have to be bought in.
Seafood is the weak point: lobster, sole, turbot and caviar appear across reviewed menus. Coverage of the estate states only that fish is mainly caught in regional rivers or the North Sea, and no fishmonger, vessel, method or welfare certification was found.
Strongest source Restaurant submission
The family has farmed the land for seven generations since 1813, with a stated objective to develop the agricultural, environmental and social heritage of the area including job creation.
Social themes appear in the estate's positioning. Independent coverage describes the family as holding the farm for seven generations since 1813 and states the integrated system was built to develop the agricultural, environmental and social heritage of the area, with job creation named as an objective.
Strongest source Restaurant submission
The four-course vegetable menu is priced lowest (68 euros) of the three menu options and vegetable-led dishes appear across all menus with worked examples such as whole roasted pumpkins.
Plants are structurally dominant and the kitchen's stated priority. The restaurant is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide for its vegetable menu and for a philosophy built on garden, nature and vegetables in the leading role. Guide coverage independently describes a cuisine determined by the garden harvest that celebrates vegetables, with worked examples such as a pumpkin roasted whole, its seeds crisped and oil pressed from the leaves.
The four-course vegetable menu is the first listed and the lowest priced of the three menus, at 68 euros against 75 and 98 euros. Vegetable-led interpretations of Belgian classics appear on the omnivorous menus too. Animal proteins are present on all menus and no vegan offer is documented.
Sourcing signals
✓
Certified organic ingredients
✓
Direct named-farm sourcing
✓
Low-impact beverage program
Terres du Val farm has held organic certification since 2010, with cereals, legumes, potatoes, berries, hemp and aromatic herbs listed as certified organic on the estate's own page.
A 3,000 m² market garden with 200 to 250 plant varieties supplies about 95% of vegetable needs, tended 200 metres from the kitchen by gardener Youri Lebrun.
Ferme du Val-Notre-Dame, Schiepers farm, Damien Boca for meat, Capriflore for goat cheese and Champain bakery recur across independent coverage.
Bread is baked on the estate from its own cereals; stocks and smoked consommé are made from scratch; amuse-bouches and petits fours are prepared in house.
Wine list is predominantly organic or biodynamic, with named Belgian growers including Chant d'Éole and Domaine du Ry d'Argent alongside the estate's own vineyard planted 2021-2025.
