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Scout // Kitchen Pass Service: 28 Apr 2026 · Issue #33 Expediter: scout-researcher Covers: 35 sources · 6 min
Today on the pass — Ghent & out

Book the chef,
not the room.

Inside the Ring: four chefs carry the city’s "go for the cook" reputation. Out on the road within ninety minutes: three destination tables it’s worth burning fuel for. Below that: the lineage that links nearly every name on this docket.

Filed 28 Apr 2026 Depth survey Cost $3.39 Duration 639s Reading 6 min
Top score17.5/20
Editor’s call — if you’re only booking one

Vrijmoed inside the Ring; Boury on the road.

  • For the chef — Ghent: Vrijmoed (2★, vegetable-forward, #1 G&M Ten to Taste 17.5/20).[35]
  • For the chef — on the road: Boury, Roeselare (3★★★ — one of two in Belgium).[12]
  • For the chef-counter: Eliane, Brussels (Desramaults, 22 seats, ~half at the bar).[20]
  • If price matters: Lubbi, Gentbrugge — the Souvenir kitchen at bistro prices.[26]
01

The lead — the city’s 17.5/20 chef.

Ghent · Vlaanderenstraat 22
STATION 01 · Vrijmoed
17.5
G&M · 2026
"Vegetable-forward, Ghent’s only two-star, eight years sous-chef under Goossens."
On the pass · lead chef

Michaël Vrijmoed

Vlaanderenstraat 22, Ghent · opened 2013
Stars
★★ Michelin
G&M 2026
17.5/20 · #1 Gent
Lineage
Hof van Cleve ×8y

Eight years as sous-chef to Peter Goossens before opening on Vlaanderenstraat in 2013. First star in eight months, second in 2017. Vegetable-forward — the city’s only 2★ — and tops Gault&Millau’s 2026 Ten to Taste Gent list at 17.5/20.[1][2][35]

— expedite
Sources vrijmoed.be njam.tv gaultmillau.be
02

On the pass — the rest of the Ghent line.

Six chefs · six dossiers
No. 02

OAK

Marcelo Ballardin
Burgstraat · 24 seats · 17C townhouse
★ Michelin · G&M 16.5/20
BR/IT→US / IT / UK→OAK Ghent
Brazilian-Italian, raised across Brazil, the US, Italy, England before Ghent. The fusion is the chef’s biography on a plate — North Sea clams meeting manioc, Asian spices on Mediterranean herbs.[3][4]
Fusion17C townhouse24 seats
michelin visitflanders
No. 03

Publiek

Olly Ceulenaere
Ham 39 · loft-bistro · "rock 'n' roll service"
★ Michelin · G&M 15/20
Flemish Foodies→Publiek·continuity pick
Consciously avoids truffles and caviar; champions little-known vegetables. Original of the Flemish Foodies trio (with Desramaults & Blanckaert) — the chef who proved Ghent fine dining could ditch luxury-ingredient orthodoxy and still hold a star.[5][6][31]
No trufflesNo caviarVegetables
publiekgent.be michelin
No. 04

Commotie

Thomas Gellynck
Sint-Amandsberg · Victor Braeckmanlaan
G&M 15/20 · Japanese-minimal
Open fire→Foraging→Fermentation→Own garden
The chef-show of the city. Open-fire kitchen, foraging, fermentation, nose-to-tail, own garden, zero-waste ambition. Inventiveness captivates; the nose-to-tail vision inspires.[7][8]
Open fireForagingZero-waste
commotiegent.be michelin
No. 05

Debra

Jason Blanckaert
Lange Steenstraat 10 · Patershol edge
Opened 2025 · à la carte
Hof van Cleve→J.E.F.→Aroy Aroy→Debra
Third Flemish Foodie. Hof van Cleve under Goossens, then J.E.F. for years, then a Thai-food detour at Aroy Aroy. Returned 2025 — à la carte freedom, no fixed tasting menu, classical French refined with personal twist. Named after the Beck song.[24][25]
à la carteClassical FR2025 opening
debragent.be culinaireambiance
No. 06

LOF

Paul de Groote
Pillows Hotel Reylof · Ghent
G&M 14/20 · 2 chef hats
Inter Scaldes (NL) ×20y→2★ to 3★→LOF Ghent (Apr 2024)
Twenty years at 3★ Inter Scaldes under Jannis Brevet — was Brevet’s right hand while the Dutch restaurant climbed two-to-three. Joined LOF April 2024. The 3★ alumnus’s cooking without driving.[33][34]
3★ alumnus2024 hireHotel-table
lofrestaurant.com pillowshotels.com
No. 07

Lubbi

Vilhjalmur Sigurdarson & Joke Michiel
Kliniekstraat · Gentbrugge · ex-hospital
Bistro · lasagne €21
Souvenir 11y · 1★+Green★→2025 close→Lubbi
Same chefs — eleven years at Souvenir’s 1★ Brabantdam house — at bistro prices: lasagne €21, fish or pork cheeks €20. The Souvenir cooking is gone; the Souvenir kitchen isn’t.[26]
Bistro €Green ★ alums2025 opening
made-in.be
03

The lineage tree.

Where every chef on this docket trained

If they aren’t a Flemish Foodie, they’re a Hof van Cleve cook.

Two roots produce nearly the entire Ghent & East-Flanders chef map. Knowing which root tells you what the food will taste like.
Root 01 · Hof van Cleve / Goossens

The technical root.

Peter Goossens’s Kruisem kitchen produced a generation. Then Goossens stepped back 1 Jan 2024 and the room reset to 2★ under Floris Van Der Veken.[9]

VrijmoedSous × 8y
2★ Vlaanderenstraat. Vegetable-forward.[2]
BlanckaertTrainee
J.E.F. → Aroy Aroy → Debra (2025).[24]
BouryAlumnus
Now 3★ in Roeselare — one of two in Belgium.[12]
Van Der VekenSuccessor
Holds the Hof van Cleve room itself at 2★ from the 2024 guide.[9]
Root 02 · The Flemish Foodies

The philosophy root.

Three friend-chefs photographed together in the late 2000s. Same credo — simple, seasonal, local-produce — credited with putting Ghent on the global food map.[31]

Ceulenaerestill in
Publiek, 1★ — the trio’s continuity pick.[5]
Blanckaertback
Debra (2025) after Aroy Aroy and J.E.F. — also Hof van Cleve.[25]
Desramaultsleft
In de Wulf closed; Chambre Séparée closed end-2020; Eliane in Brussels (2024).[22][27]
Outliersnot on either tree
De Groote (Inter Scaldes, NL) · Sigurdarson&Michiel (Iceland/Souvenir) · Ballardin (BR/IT).
04

The drive-out call sheet.

Within ~90 minutes · mileage from Ghent centre

Worth burning fuel for.

Eight tables on the road. The chef story is the reason to put them on the itinerary — not the rating.
~30km SW

Hof van Cleve

Floris Van Der Veken
Kruisem
★★
The regional benchmark every Ghent chef trained at or competes with. Held 3★ from 2005 to 2023 under Goossens; reset to 2★ under Van Der Veken in the 2024 guide. Still the closest top-tier table.[9][10]
hofvancleve.com michelin
~50km W

Boury

Tim Boury
Roeselare
★★★
One of only two 3★ tables in Belgium (with Zilte, Antwerp). Jumped from 2★ to 3★ in the 2022 guide and held since. A brick villa in West Flanders; classical technique with sauces as the headline.[11][12]
michelin
~55km SE

Eliane

Kobe Desramaults
Brussels
★
First solo restaurant after closing Chambre Séparée end-2020. 22 seats, ~half at the bar counter, ~18-course tasting menu changes daily; 3-month booking window. G&M Remarkable Newcomer of the Year 2026 for Brussels.[19][20][21]
elianerestaurant.be gaultmillau.be
~50km S

Eliane @ Hof ter Bree-Eik

Desramaults · pop-up
Lennik · Pajottenland
Jul–Aug 2026 · pop-up
Summer 2026 only: Eliane temporarily relocates to a vierkantshoeve in the Pajottenland. 40 covers, product-driven tasting menu with local Pajottenland produce. Eliane Brussels closes during the relocation. Book early.[23]
vrt.be
~60km E

Hertog Jan at Botanic

De Mangeleer + Boudens
Antwerp · Botanic Sanctuary
★★
Held 3★ at original Hertog Jan in Zedelgem from 2012 until December 2018; reopened inside Botanic Sanctuary fall 2021. Omakase — "I leave it to the chef" — Asian accents, daring combinations, intimate room.[13][14]
wikipedia botanicantwerp.be
~60km E

Le Pristine

Sergio Herman (Vetrugno, line)
Antwerp
★
Sergio Herman’s "New Italian" project — tribute to Italian flavours through his Zeeland terroir. Open-plan kitchen, Baroque covered patio, all-day café. The casual-luxe end of the Antwerp star map.[16][17]
lepristine.com
~60km E

Privéprivée

Sergio Herman
Antwerp · private room
Booking is the bottleneck
Herman’s private dining room beneath his Antwerp apartment — opened 2024, max 24 guests, exclusive monthly dates. The way to eat Herman’s own cooking again after a decade off the line.[32]
worldofmouth.app
~70km E

Pastorale

Bart De Pooter
Reet
★★ + Green ★
De Pooter has run Pastorale out of his native town’s former presbytery since 1992 — first star 2003, second 2006. G&M Chef of the Year 2012; G&M Entrepreneur of the Year 2023. Marked by balance, simplicity, pureness.[18]
bartdepooterstories.com
05

Movements log.

Openings, closures, moves · 2024–2026

What just changed.

Six recent kitchen movements that re-drew the Ghent & East-Flanders chef map.
2024 · 10
[ open ]
Eliane — Brussels · Desramaults. 22-seat counter, ~18-course daily tasting; 1★ in 2025 guide; G&M Remarkable Newcomer 2026. Spiritual sequel to Chambre Séparée.[22]
2024 · 04
[ open ]
LOF — Ghent · Pillows Hotel Reylof. De Groote arrives from 3★ Inter Scaldes (NL). 14/20 + 2 G&M chef’s hats.[33][34]
2024 · 10
[ open ]
Privéprivée — Antwerp · Herman. Private dining room beneath his apartment. Max 24, several monthly dates. Herman behind the line again after ~10 years.[32]
2025
[ open ]
Debra — Ghent · Blanckaert. Lange Steenstraat 10. Return to the J.E.F. concept after a Thai-food detour at Aroy Aroy.[24]
2025
[ move ]
Souvenir → Lubbi — Brabantdam closed; team opened bistro Lubbi in a former Gentbrugge hospital. 1★ experience no longer bookable; same cooks, bistro prices.[26]
2025
[ close ]
The Jane — Antwerp · 11 years · 2★. ~€23,000/month rent cited. Herman exited; Bril took full ownership before the closure announcement, plans a new more intimate Antwerp room.[29][30]
2026 · 07
[ pop-up ]
Eliane @ Lennik — July–August relocation to Hof ter Bree-Eik (Pajottenland). 40 covers, product-driven menu. Eliane Brussels closes during the summer.[23]

From the same expedition.

Six other angles on standout dining in and around Ghent — 2026.
survey
Michelin & Gault&Millau-rated tables
4 Michelin stars in city limits, a 2-star benchmark 30 km away.
recon
Romantic & special-occasion settings
Six rooms worth a big night out — from a 1671 building to canal-side warehouses.
recon
Cocktail-led dining & bar-restaurants
Five Ghent venues where the drinks programme is at least as serious as the food.
survey
Distinctive cuisines beyond Franco-Belgian
Omakase, ramen, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Pakistani, Syrian-Lebanese, Moroccan, Spanish, Turkish.
recon
Remarkable locations & rooms
A 15th-century butchers’ hall, a Franciscan church, an 1880s warehouse.
recon
Review & rating sources to mine
Which review platforms to scrape, ranked by signal density.
Scout · Issue #33 · 28 Apr 2026 Filed by scout-researcher · 35 sources · 6 min read ~$3.39 · 639s · depth: survey