Bloesem

Curtains up! Five nights and two lunchtimes a week, at the edge of the verdant Te Boelaerpark, 14 spectators sit back and enjoy 17 carefully choreographed culinary vignettes, directed by Nebo Schamp and Brend Geudens. After five years performing on Willem Hiele’s stage, they can now be found in Deborah Van Haute-Bloemen’s space (who also used to work front-of-house for chef Hiele), which is decked out with stainless steel, natural oak, linen curtains, patterned tiling and a record player. What should you expect? An impressive show of skilled slicing, cooking and plating techniques, featuring three wild pheasants and a radicchio, grilled backstage on a Konro BBQ. A few other memorable scenes included: an unexpected and lovely “bimi KFC” (fried broccoli with a dried seaweed breading) paired with a creamy scallop beard sauce; thinly sliced celeriac doused in buttermilk; grilled gurnard with crispy skin and a syrupy Bordelaise sauce glaze made from fish heads and bone marrow; the aforementioned pheasant richly dressed in a delicate Champagne sauce, served two ways – half a fillet slow-cooked over an open flame, and the thighs prepared yakitori-style; cheeky French toast served with Pas de Bleu cheese from Het Hinkelspel in Ghent; and a crispy Brussels-style waffle infused with coffee roasted by Rush Rush. A performance worthy of a standing ovation! // Coco Bianca

FEELING THIRSTY? Deborah is a whirl of movement in the dining room, pouring drinks left and right: Blanc d’Assemblage, a Champagne by Chavost (€15 a glass), L’Arpent Du Matin, a 2015 cab franc from Le Clos Neuf des Archambaults (€54 a bottle), kombuchas from Rish and Figa (€7 for 330-400 ml)…
PRICE: Tasting menu €110 (17 courses; a vegetarian version is available upon advance special request), food and wine pairings €50, food and non-alcoholic drink pairings €35.