Tucked away in an industrial building in the Vaartkom district, Mistral is anything but a typical restaurant. It began as a teenage dream that took a little longer than expected to come true. Four high school friends – Aron Michiels, Nick Socquet, Willem Schellekens and Elliott Höll – bonded over a love of natural wine and a simple ambition: to open a place of their own. Years later, that dream has finally come roaring to life as a joyfully ramshackle pop-up that’s part canteen, part test kitchen and part friends’ dining room. The food is short, sharp and to the point: grilled asparagus with soy-cured egg, crunchy enoki mushrooms and watercress pesto; chicory tartlet with apple and miso beurre blanc; slow-cooked pork zhushed with mandarin, pear and chili; sardine and ’nduja with creamy white beans, capers and basil. Instinctive, unfiltered cooking. Turns out, some teenage dreams are worth waiting for. · Arno Bintjens

Feeling thirsty? Unapologetically, natural wines only: Frauenpower, a sparkling wine by Alanna LaGamba (€8 a glass), Weiss, a cloudy white by Marto Weiss (€49 a bottle) and Ponzichter, a red by Weninger (€35)… Plus craft beers, ciders, kombucha and Drink A Flower sodas (€4.50).

Price: Snacks €5-8, plates €14-22, desserts €9.