VerTige

Excess is te veel. In 2018, Sang Hoon Degeimbre curbed his enthusiasm for expanding, focusing instead on L’Air du Temps and his Michelin stars – of which he still has two, at the time of writing. And so, he’s passed on the keys to his annexes to his protégés, including Kévin Perlot, who did a stint in his kitchens as a lad and at Pépite in Namur. One revamp later (the decor’s just as sober as before), and San became VerTige. The visible French pun nevertheless says it all: here, all eyes are on the veg! That evening, the vegetable garden pulled out all the stops for the obligatory six-course menu: elegant roasted squash with a caper condiment; an enjoyable langoustine-leek-bergamot combo; sunchokes that (literally) went pop with spinach and a tarragon foam; delicious Ondenval trout glazed with smoked curry; irresistible beef tagliata snatched from Lothar Vilz farm, served with nutmeg-spiced turnips; and to finish, a freestyling celeriac and apple dessert. It’s spot on, gourmet and daring. Too bad we can’t say the same about the disco-throwback playlist and the backlighting… // Toni Negroni

FEELING THIRSTY? A small selection of very safe wines, that are part-natural, part-traditional: Vibrations, a Riesling from the Vignoble du Rêveur (€44), or Maranges Vigne Blanche from the Domaine des Rouges Queues (€82). Food and wine pairings €35-54.

PRICE: Menus €39 (lunch), €49 (except Friday and Saturday evening) and €79 (plant-based), and €49 (lunch), €59 (except Friday and Saturday evening) and €89 (discovery menu).