The stars were certainly aligned when Sébastien Wygaerts met his sommelier partner Diederik Herbots at the Ter Duinen hotel management school in Koksijde. Together, these two perfectionists run a dining room with casual chic decor that acts as the perfect sober setting for the sharp and refined cuisine. The evening we went kicked off with an amuse-bouche – pumpkin mousse with eel, roasted hazelnuts, coconut foam and ponzu broth, along with raw radish and oysters topped with a cucumber foam and buckwheat – before launching into the €76 tasting menu: ultra-fresh amberjack sashimi, rhubarb and white asparagus; a delightfully crunchy surf-n-turf duo, featuring head cheese and large local asparagus poached and finished in salted butter, doused in a sea urchin sauce and citron vinaigrette; Challans chicken breast with crispy skin paired with a beetroot cream, pickled vegetables and a foie gras Albufera sauce; before finishing with a truly gourmet dessert of whiskey caramel, gianduja mousse, creamy rice pudding and a baked banana cream, before some blood orange sorbet for a final sugar rush. // Cleo Popina

FEELING THIRSTY? Treasures from the cellar: Laherte Frères Champagne (€16 a glass), Trousseau, an outstanding Arbois from Stéphane Tissot (€68 a bottle), and Dolia, a 2015 Rhone red aged in an amphora by Philippe Viret (€58).
PRICE: Menus €48 (lunch), €76 (except Friday and Saturday), €90 and €108 (dinner), food and wine pairings €32-56.