Le Chalet de la Forêt

"Pascal Devalkeneer’s chalet is magnificently set on the edge of the Sonian Forest and the chalet’s terrace makes the most of this fantastic natural environment. The restaurant overlooking the chef’s cottage garden oozes luxurious elegance to which you should add well-oiled, slick service and, above all, chef Devalkeneer’s personal stamp on each dish. His blend of classicism and creativity reveals surgical precision, as well as a quest for subtlety and generosity. He scours the countryside of Belgium and France for the best ingredients from Aveyron lamb to abalone from the Brittany coast and honey from his own beehives, with which he crafts an amazing floral dessert starter… He works with exceptional ingredients, flanking them with intriguing side dishes to create a felicitous festival of flavours. For example, he may delicately perfume seabass with bay leaf, adding green asparagus and black truffle, before adding the final definitive flourish, a vivacious dressing of confit shallots, a gutsy gravy and a last-minute hollandaise sauce. This high-flying craftsmanship unveils chef Devalkeneer’s talent, demonstrated by his deep-seated understanding of the role and impact of each ingredient which enables him to create combinations that intelligently enrich and exalt the original flavour. The sommelier is a fountain of insightful wine tips, with a preference for Burgundies. This chalet is a temple of superlative culinary art that never fails to surprise." - Michelin Inspector