paulbrussel

In the past couple of years, I have the impression that more competitors are in the field of restaurant guides in Europe. Especially Michelin and GaultMillau are competing. GM has invested much more in their guides and wants to become the leading guide for France and Benelux, instead of Michelin. I think it is also about the quota for stars of Michelin, whilst GaultMillau is much more flexible. Furthermore, Michelin tends to be more conservative (although it is changing) but GM wants much more emphasis on the revelations, as they had in their great years of the 1970s. In the Benelux the two guides really compete in their publication policy. When Michelin announced a second three star restaurant for the Netherlands for 2004, GM stroke back immediately by announcing that in a few weeks they would publish their guide with a 19.5/20 restaurant in Belgium. And I must say that I have doubts about (three) starred restaurants in the Benelux as well. E.g.: GM 2004 wrote that the three starred chef Jean-Pierre Bruneau in Brussels had a very good year 2003 and kept it's 19/20. On the other hand, he lost it's third star in Michelin 2004; I have been there three times in 2003, three times before, once this year, and I didn't see much of a difference.

Although you trust Michelin less then the eGullet-ers, I must say that I have eaten the most in Michelin starred restaurant. For the best value meal I would go to Vermeer ** for lunch: they offer a lunch for 35 €. (website: http://www.restaurantvermeer.nl/); this restaurant is one of my favourites in the Benelux, but belongs to the more inventive cuisines. More modern on classic basis and for me also interesting is La Rive ** of the splendid Amstel Hotel: they offer lunch for 48 €, drinks included. (website: http://www.diningcity.com/ams/larive/en/index.html) Another restaurant I like is the more modern restaurant Breitner, where a meal will cost you about 50 € without drinks. And I normally trust all the 'bib gourmands' of Michelin, but there are not too many of them in Amsterdam.

A 3-course-menu will cost you 29 € (price mars 2003). Wines are interesting and not too expensive. When we ate there, we paid € 159 for à la carte: three and four courses, one bottle of wine and five glasses of wine.

Yesterday Derek Brown announced in Maastricht that another restaurant in the Netherlands got a third Michelin star: De Librije in Zwolle with the young chef Jonnie Boer. This restaurant belongs to the more modern and creative restaurants of the Netherlands, together with Vermeer in Amsterdam (chef: Pascal Jalhaij) and Oud Sluis (Sergio Herman). The latter have two stars in the Michelin guide. Beluga in Maastricht (chef: Hans van Wolde) got it's second star; he is a more modern cooking chef on a classic base. (The other three starred restaurant in the Netherlands is the more classic but personal cooking Cees Helder of Parkheuvel in Rotterdam, who got his third star in 2002.)

The rumours were not correct: Hof van Cleve did not get it's third star! However: the 19.5/20 in GaultMillau is correct. And the (bad) news about Belgium is that the chef Jean-Pierre Bruneau lost it's third star. Nevertheless, I dined there last evening and there was no significant change and it still remains for me one of the best, more modern kitchens in Belgium.

Since Sketch is not even mentioned in the Guide Michelin 2004, wouldn't they have asked not to be mentioned in the guide?

Although the Michelin Guide 2004 for the Benelux will be published only on 30/1/2004, it has already been announced that the restaurant Hof van Cleve in the village Kruishoutem in Belgium will get it's third Michelin star. Furthermore, the Guide GaultMillau 2004 announced yesterday that this restaurant will get 19.5 out of 20 (Belgium edition to be published early February, in which France is integrated as well). For several years now, Hof van Cleve is considered to be one of the best, if not the best restaurant in Belgium. The chef Peter Goossens is one of those young, innovative cuisiniers. 19.5 out of 20 by GM must be considered very high as well of course, given that only Marc Veyrat was given more than 19 out of 20 last year. Only in former years, GM used to give 19.5 out of 20. The other restaurants with three Michelin stars in Belgium are: Comme chez soi (Pierre Wynants), Brussels Bruneau (Jean-Pierre Bruneau père), Brussels De Karmeliet (Geert Van Hecke), Brugge Some people consider the restaurant Clos St Denis in Vliermaal also worth a third star (as I do), but it sill has only two Michelin stars.

Unfortunately I haven't. But if you would like to get an impression of his cooking, you might well have a look in his new book that has been published recently: three tomes in a box and extremely expensive, but very nice.

Perhaps interesting will be "Le Hollandais": a chef who likes to cook the old fashioned, Dutch cuisine. Very good though, not out of date classical but good quality and a nice wine list too. Not too expensive.

When I recently tried to translate some of the dishes I had at San Pau into French, English or Dutch, those culinary website dictionaries didn't help me much, unfortunately. My impression is that it will help for the more common dishes and ingredients, but not for the more sophisticated ones.

Doesn't the way you use it in your dish play an important role as well? Last week I had twice white truffles from the Alba: one in a good dish Uovo al tartufo, prepared by a two starred chef coming from Alba in Milano. Nevertheless, probably since it was combined with the warm (hot) egg, the taste vanished quickly - only the after taste remained. In the same week I had another dish in Brussels (no starred restaurant): Noix de Saint-Jacques rôties, émulsion de châtaignes, à la truffe blanche d'Alba. Here I had the impression that I tasted the truffle much better and more intense, since probably the temperature of the whole dish didn't undermine the taste of the truffle. The black truffles I had the last couple of months were never excellent but rather poor.

For those interested: Robert Kranenborg (formerly chef of La Rive - two stars at the Amstel Hotel, followed by his restaurant Vossius which got one Michelin star) is going to start a restaurant "Le Cirque" in Den Haag - Scheveningen. It will be attached to the theatre "Circustheater" - that explains the name, so there is no connection with the famous restaurant in New York. Kranenborg wants to get again his good (Michelin star) reputation in this new restaurant. He will work together with the former CEO and owner of Joop Van Den Ende Productions who sold his company to Spanish Telefonica, but is still working in the field of theater productions.

These two restaurants I visited a fortnight ago. But I must say that I found them quite different. Sant Pau was to me quite difficult: many ingredients and in a way: too little concentration on the main one. Difficult to taste though. Not in the el Bulli style, but not in the Santi Santamaria style of Can Fabes either. On the other hand, Can Roca I found much more in the Santi Santamaria style. The kitchen was to me as elaborate as that of Sant Pau but for me at the same time more 'simple' and balanced. I asked the chef Joan, one of the three brothers Roca i Fontané, whether there was any el Bulli influence. He hesitated to admit that in one single dish (of the 21 I had) there was one technique derived from Adrià. (By the way, Can Fabes is so far my best meal this year.)

A few weeks later, I had exactly the same menu, and I took by the way the two mains. I did like it very much, although for me it had not the same high and perfect standards as it has at Pierre Gagnaire in Paris. Still, what I liked, and which is the same in Paris: the combination of ingredients is more then only a sum of the different parts. Service is good, and almost every one is a French speaker. Indeed: wine can be expensive. Although I was recommended an excellent Mâcon-Bussières – Verget –2002 for 32 €. A glass of champagne however was outrageous: the Bollinger – 1996 – Rosé champagne was very nice but the normal champagne for 25 € the glass was quite ordinary.

Apparently no one is thinking about Europeans going to the USA :-) I avoided the USA for several years because of the exchange rates; now it will be more avordable to go.

Congratulations! How very nice and exciting to get there! Do enjoy, but I am sure you will. We will read your recipes in volume 4, of course :-)

Thank you very much for your interesting report! That makes me curious to read the coming reports on Pierre Gagnaire and Guy Martin. (In a way, I don't think at the top I can compare - in my view all the chefs have their own personalities, and meals are quite different. The only very rough distinction I make myself is between classic cuisines and innovative / creative cuisines. Nevertheless, as is said quite often here on the board: PG doesn't cook to match with wines. On the other hand: Alain Dutournier, who is not mentioned by you, is well known for his outstanding wine list.)

The restaurant is about 20 - 30 minutes walk from the Central Station. Geert Van Hecke belongs to the kind of chefs that has a good classic base of cuisine, has it modernised and uses a lot of regional products. Compared to other three star restaurants, I would say that it is more in the very modern style of e.g. Can Fabes in Spain or Gordon Ramsay at RHR, and less in the creative style of e.g. El Bulli or Pierre Gagnaire. It is however a much more interesting restaurant as Comme chez soi, the famous three star restaurant in Brussels. Jean-Pierre Bruneau in Brussels is on the other hand different as well - more elaborate modern cuisine. De Karmeliet offers by the way an excellent menu for only 50 € at lunch Wednesday - Friday and the same for dinner from Tuesday to Thursday. (Closed: Monday and Tuesday lucnh.)

La Mort Subite has it's own café which is one of the nicest in town, just opposite the Sint-Hubertus Gallery in the centre of town, near the Grand Place and Central Station. In 't Spinnekopke is not a restaurant I would travel 2 times 1h25 minutes for, although they say it is local and anteresting; my one and only visit was quite average.

If you have never been there, why shouldn't you go? In fact it is only 1h25 from Paris to Brussels by TGV. If you book quite in advance, a return ticket will cost you 50 €. Where you can eat? It depends your taste. Of course you could go to the three star chef Jean-Pierre Bruneau - more modern cooking with excellent wine list (http://www.bruneau.be). Much more classic, but very famous is Comme chez soi with the chef Pierre Wynants and his son-in-law Lionel Rigolet (https://www.commechezsoi.be); this restaurant has three stars since decades. My favourite is the two star restaurant Sea Grill of the SAS-hotel with modern cooking chef Yves Mattagne (http://www.resto.be/seagrill/). Anyway, lunching and dining in Brussels is much cheaper then in Paris.

Well, then I can't say anything about La table d'Anvers. (My good experience dates of November 2002. Menu was 39 €, first and main courses 15 €.) As concerns Les Béatilles: it is indeed a nice and not too expensive restaurant. Modern too, but I missed coherence in the dishes. I was there in July 2003 and wrote about it in another thread (2 days, 4 meals). There the prices were as follows: first courses: 20 - 27 €, mains 32 - 35 €, cheese 14 € and desserts 13 - 15 €. Dinner menu: 45 € (three courses) and 66 € (five courses).

Lunch is always much cheaper in Paris. And if you like L'Astrance, I would suggest Pierre Gagnaire where you can have a great lunch for 85 €. Le Grand Véfour is nice too, but for lunch (75 €) you get only three courses (after amuses-geules) - at PG you get at least about 10 small dishes for lunch, which is much more exciting, and LGV is therefore perhaps less nice for a birthday party. Furthermore, I would think that Guy Martin is (certainly in his lunch, in my experience) more classic cuisine then PG. If you really want to go for dinner, then perhaps I would suggest the not expensive restaurant La Table d'Anvers (three courses menu for 39 €), which is modern too and which works together with professor Hervé This who works regularly with Pierre Gagnaire.

Thanks! I just heard from a colleague from Catalunya that it is indeed a great store, but as it seems not for individuals. And they do not seem to have a shop in Girona

That's what I will do, in the end, I think, although Sketch is very tempting, mostly because Gagnaire is one of my three favourite restaurants, and it seems to match it. But perhaps I will cross the Canal another time?

Andy, Thank you for your post! Did you have the tasting menu? Since the web site gives a totally different menu. Well, difficult to decide whether I will stick to my reservation for next week...