Yesterday, the election of the 50 best restaurants in the world, or the 50Best, took place in Antwerp. This year, Noma from the Danish capital Copenhagen took first place in the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. With his 5th victory in this top restaurant list, Chef René Redzepi crowns himself the undisputed gastronomic king of his generation! And the Belgians? What results did they achieve at this World Cup of gastronomy?
Well, you couldn’t have won much money yesterday by betting that Peter Goossens would be in the top 50 again with his Hof Van Cleve (3*). But, you would have been a little richer if you had predicted at the bookies that Goossens would end up in place 36. The best score ever for a restaurant in our country.
And the Belgians?
But how come we don’t deliver more Belgians in this list? Well, to start with, we can already be proud with 3 Belgians in the top 100: Willem Hiele (place 77) and The Jane (66). A lot has to do with the way the votes are cast. We are talking about a global jury of foodies and they obviously have to visit the country and the restaurants in question. We also hear that people are really looking for a clear signature of the chef, say the style of the house. There is no denying, then, that in the list you will see mainly trends in the kitchen.
Clear trends. Local is the new normal
A few years ago, it was mainly the molecular kitchen, for example, which was a clear trend. Now we see a trend towards pure, purified cuisine. Nordic is not only a trend in design, but not coincidentally also in the kitchen. A product kitchen that focuses on what the soil offers. In the case of Noma, you can take that quite literally. They pride themselves on using only local products in their kitchen. Local is the new normal, especially in a world where we have recently been confronted with the consequences of a globalising world.
Antwerp pulled out all the stops these past few days as the guest city of this gastronomic high mass. It was an ideal opportunity to show the world how many good products and top chefs we have in our small country. After the show, all chefs and guests were invited to an after-dinner event at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. In this beautiful location, which will remain closed to the public for a while due to renovations, the guests were welcomed to the “Flanders Finissage Dinner“. With this unique location as backdrop, the guests could enjoy delicious dishes created by Flemish chefs and all inspired by famous paintings by Flemish Masters.
100% local
The card of 100% Local was immediately drawn upon entering. Belgian top floral artist Tom De Houwer of Sensui had provided a beautiful installation upon entering. Mouths dropped open and looks stayed glued to so much floral splendour.
Somewhat mysteriously followed, one was led from one room to another, where the chefs awaited their audience with their dishes. Little paintings, in complete analogy with the Flemish Masters’ works. The fine fleur of gastronomy could taste from restaurants such as L’Epicerie du Cirque (Dennis Broekckx and Ellen Destuyver), Franq (Chef Tim Meuleneire), Instroom Academy (Seppe Nobels), Sail & Anchor (Michael Yates). The chefs also put their local best foot forward by making maximum use of local products and ingredients such as the Royal Belgian Caviar. And to pair it with Belgian wine (Oud Conynsbergh, Boechout) and beers.
Thus, this 50Best became a more than successful Belgian/Flemish party of gastronomy in the broad sense of the word! And it also became once more clear that the previously mentioned trend of Local, with which Redzepi won over the gastronomic world, is the absolute big trend and winner of the moment!
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