Brussels avant-garde gastronomy

Love good food? Looking to branch out from the classics? Then our capital city will be a culinary highpoint for you. A strong, new wind is blowing through gourmet Brussels. Many avant-garde chefs have come to the fore in recent years. These young talents are not dreaming of accolades but rather choose contemporary, trendy cuisine. Radically local. With a love of the city and planet. Here are a few addresses. 

Top tip: grab a seat at the bar at Flâne. You’ll immediately see why chef Paul Ravet is considered hot property. From the open kitchen of his cosy restaurant he ensures everything runs like clockwork. It’s a real scramble to get a table at this establishment on place Wiener in the beautiful commune of Watermael-Boitsfort. It seems as though the whole of Brussels wants to sample his gastronomic precision and impressive flavour combinations at competitive prices.  

Rue des Trois Tilleuls 1, 1170 Watermael-Boitsfort

The wonderful Nightshop is branching out. One of its chefs has set up shop nearby and launched a new venture called La belle équipe. This restaurant boasts the ultimate dream team, with two top chefs in the kitchen and two masters in the dining room. After all, gastronomy is a team sport. They’ll treat you and your dining companions to exquisitely refined, seasonal creations made with top-quality ingredients. 

Rue Antoine Dansaertstraat  202, 1000 Bruxelles

If you’re looking to be surprised, head to the Flagey district. At Rebel wine bar, they host talented avant-garde chefs for residencies every few weeks. Be sure to keep an eye on the programme. Every now and then, there’s a one-off kitchen takeover by some nomadic chef that you won’t want to miss. It’s not always the most comfortable place to sit. But you’re guaranteed to make some amazing discoveries. This is especially true of the wine, with the friendly team always providing a highly personalised selection. Expect to pay around €15 per dish.

Rue Lesbroussart 48, 1050 Ixelles

The younger generation clearly has a soft spot for the lower side of town. That’s where this new culinary wind is blowing the strongest. The duo of Nico Corbusier and Katrien Vantomme have set up shop close to Nightshop and Aster in the Dansaert neighbourhood. There, they pay tribute to terroir cuisine with global inspiration. The menu features dishes to share, divided between "cold and fresh" and "hot and heavy". Expect plenty of vegetable dishes (average around €15). It's anything but classic and it’s all reallllllly tasty. They call it brutalist, sometimes it’s abstract. Like the work of expressionist Franz Kline after whom the restaurant is named.

Rue de Flandre 162, 1000 Brussels

Visionary and delicious. That’s the best way to describe the widely acclaimed Humus x Hortense. In Belgium’s first gourmet plant-based restaurant, the pioneering duo Nicolas Decloedt and Caroline Baerten coined the term ‘botanical gastronomy’. Their philosophy centres on sustainability, micro-seasons and centuries-old preservation techniques. This has earned the couple one accolade after another, including a green and a classic Michelin star. In the evening, the set menu costs around €150.

Rue de Vergnies 2, 1050 Ixelles

Top chef Kevin Perlot is at the helm in this restaurant housed in a stunning building on rue du Trône (which features a listed fishermen’s fresco that can also be found in the famous Maison Vincent). At Cosmos everything revolves around vegetables and seafood, which he handles with the utmost care and subtlety. Perlot’s strong vision is translated onto the plate with technical perfection. 

Rue du Trône 65 Troonstraat, Ixelles – Elsene

To be considered avant-garde, you have to stand out from the crowd. And that is precisely what Barge means in French. It also refers to a flat-bottomed boat, a nod to the neighbourhood’s maritime past. The restaurant’s name is also a clever acronym of the founders’ initials. Hervé Gillard presides over the kitchen with original, natural, contemporary creations on a set menu (around €110). Without a doubt one of the capital’s finest restaurants. 

Boulevard d’Ypres 33, 1000 Brussels

Don’t expect any meat at Nocturlabe. You can choose between a seasonal fish-based menu and a vegetable-based one. Almost nothing goes to waste and virtually everything is locally sourced. That even applies to the wine list. But there are other reasons to head to this restaurant in the Josaphat Park neighbourhood in Schaarbeek. Like the super stylish interior, for instance, where you can marvel at the highly creative and technically gifted chef Benoît Bodivit in action. Sold?

Rue Josse Impens 3, 1030 Schaerbeek

It had not escaped our attention... Kobe Desramaults, without a doubt one of the most talented chefs our country has ever produced, was being spotted more and more in Brussels in recent years. A permanent spot in the capital was beginning to look on the cards. That place was Eliane, an ode to his grandmother, in the magnificent PIAS building in the Bas-Fonds quarter. Here you know you're in for an evening of gastronomic genius. Savour some twenty tapas, each transporting you to another universe where virtuosity reigns supreme. With Desramaults' arrival, there can be no doubt that Brussels is a top gastronomic destination.

Rue Saint-Laurent 36, 1000 Brussels