The top of Belgian and Luxembourgish gastronomy descended on Monday to Antwerp, where the Michelin Guide for 2024 was presented in the conference center next to the Zoo. Last year, Peter Goossens was still in the spotlight as one of the three three-star chefs, but he has now entrusted the Hof van Cleve to his right hand Floris Van Der Veken. With that transfer, the stars immediately disappeared. Eight weeks after the reopening with the new chef, there was immediately good news for Van Der Veken: his business is making a new start with two stars. It was Goossens himself who was allowed to announce the new two-star restaurants and therefore call his successor on stage.
Sir Kwinten by chef Glenn Verhasselt in Sint-Kwintens-Lennik is the only other new two-star restaurant.
After the disappearance of Hof van Cleve, our country is left with two three-star restaurants: Zilte by chef Vicky Geunes in Antwerp and Tim Boury by Boury in Roeselare.
The restaurant Le Château du Mylord in Elzele, which last year received two stars, changed chefs last year but did not regain a single star. Former three-star restaurant The Jane (Antwerp) retains two stars, but the future of the restaurant is currently uncertain because there is a judicial investigation into chef Nick Bril. He was involved in an accident in front of The Jane, in which a British assistant chef was seriously injured.
Nine restaurants received their first star, including the Apdikt restaurant in Steinfort in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The eight Belgian award-winning establishments are: l’Impératif d’Éole (Quévy), Hoeve de Bies (Sint-Martens-Voeren), Menssa (Sint-Pieters-Woluwe in Brussels) by former two-star chef Christophe Hardiquest, La Roseraie (Modave) by the female chef Marie Trignon, Julien (Lovendegem), Pont Neuf (Antwerp), Neon (Lier) and Pré de chez vous (Bouge).
Chef Nils Proost of Neon also received a so-called green star earlier in the day for a ‘strikingly future-oriented vision of sustainability’. He strives for “real pure local cuisine” in his restaurant.
Julie Malaisse from Pré de chez vous was voted ‘Young Chef of the Year’.
Mathieu Vanneste from Boury (Roeselare) was elected ‘Sommelier of the year’.
15 restaurants were also added to the Bib Gourmand. That is a list of things (without stars) where you can count on good value for money. In Belgium and Luxembourg there are now 131 restaurants with this recognition.
Four cases disappeared from the one-star list. Benoit Neusy’s l’Impératif (one star) in Roucourt closed its doors, but the chef opened a new business, l’Impératif d’Éole in Quévy, and immediately got his star back. ‘t Overhamme (Aalst), La Villa Emily (Brussels) and Le Pré des Oréades (Spa) lost their stars.
