Sauvage

What’s the 411? A large villa with a garden in Angleur, on the heights of Liège, featuring a dining room where the tables are (very) spaced out, and it’s not so sauvage after all… If you’re interested in a bit of wildness, you’ll have to look for it in the dishes whipped up by Korean chef Hyun Frère, who worked for François Piscitello (La Villa des Bégards in Chaudfontaine), and which play an Asian-Latin-Maghreb-Flemish (and beyond!) tune. As a prelude to that evening’s €68 tasting menu, various explosive amuse-bouche: a beet and tarragon tartare with a crispy mini wafer; carpaccio-style squid tartlet with wild garlic vinegar; plump pork cheek, kimchi, dill and a pork and mushroom skewer. Followed by some haute cuisine: Flemish-style white asparagus revisited, standing upright in a fermented vegetable peel cream, mole verde and egg yolk; turbot fillet with Béarnaise sauce and grilled leeks; tender lamb fillet and crunchy vegetables drizzled in chermoula and dried lime; and a mousse-o-morphic frozen delight with honey and fromage frais dusted in nettle powder. // Mary Martin

FEELING THIRSTY? Clean wines without borders: Rhini, a German Pinot Noir from the Domaine Ziereisen (€85 a bottle), or a Côtes-du-Jura from the Domaines des Marnes Blanches (€59). Glasses at €8.50.
PRICE: Set menus €35 and €49 (lunch), menus €68 and €88 (dinner), food and wine pairings €27-46.