Hof van Cleve

Sectorfederatie Ho.Re.Ca Vlaanderen heeft in het bijzijn van federaal minister van Ondernemen Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld) chefs Peter Goossens en Geert Van Hecke gehuldigd. De twee verwierven eind 2010 de titel van Ridder in de Leopoldsorde.

Het zijn de eerste twee personen uit de horecasector die deze eer te beurt viel. De hulde vond plaats in de Hotelschool Ter Duinen, waar beide koks hun opleiding volgden.
 
Stielmannen
"Deze twee chefs hebben een grote verdienste", motiveerde Van Quickenborne hun voordracht. "Ze kregen de titel voor de manier waarop ze de keuken belichamen. Ze zijn een voorbeeld voor iedereen in dit land die bezig is met koken. Daarenboven zetten ze onze gastronomie op de wereldkaart. Het verheugt me dat ze destijds tijdens hun opleiding niet de beste waren in theorie, maar wel uitblonken in de praktijk. Het waren doeners en ze zijn dus echte stielmannen."
 
Sterrenchefs
Geert Van Hecke opende in 1983 in Brugge het restaurant De Karmeliet. Twee jaar later verwierf hij zijn eerste Michelinster. Sinds 1996 draagt zijn restaurant drie sterren en scoort het 18 op 20 bij GaultMillau. Peter Goossens opende in 1992 het Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem. Hij kreeg in 1998 als één van de jongste chefs ooit twee Michelinsterren. Sinds 2005 draagt zijn restaurant er drie en scoort het 19,5 op 20 bij GaultMillau. (belga/tma)

De Morgen 1/6/2011

'De tovenaar', zoals Andreas Wadensten van de site wbpstars.com Peter Goossens noemt, is blij met de erkenning. 'Het is een site die nog maar net komt kijken', reageert Goossens. 'Maar het is wel een grote eer. De initiatiefnemers evalueren constant en dat maakt hun rapport geloofwaardig. Bovendien zijn het Scandinaven. Die kennen er wat van.'

De website wbpstars.com bestaat nog maar sinds maart, maar heeft al meer dan 16.000 fans op Facebook en bijna 3.000 volgelingen op Twitter. Voor de Zweed Andreas Wadenstein en de Deen Teddy Birch Petersen, twee zakenmannen met een voorliefde voor de exquise keuken, gaat het beter dan verhoopt. Maar een geduchte concurrent van de 'Beste Restaurantlijst' van het Londense Restaurant Magazine willen ze niet worden. 'We willen een alternatief brengen en vooral de hype van zulke lijstjes doorbreken', vertelt Andreas. 'Klassieke restaurants worden vaak ten onrechte naar achteren geduwd en dat willen we vermijden.'

Met een team van 14 inspecteurs - vooral koks en journalisten - reizen ze de wereld rond. Al vijf jaar lang evalueren ze 1.500 sterrenrestaurants in 70 landen. Pas wanneer een tweede medewerker hetzelfde restaurant bezocht heeft, wordt er een rapport opgemaakt. Dat wordt gepubliceerd op de site. In hun top 60 deelt het Hof van Cleve de eerste plaats met Osteria Francescana in het Italiaanse Modena met 94 punten. 'Hof van Cleve draait rond perfectie', luidt de recensie. 'Van de aperitiefhapjes tot de koekjes op het eind: elk gerecht zal een glimlach op je gezicht toveren.'

Goossens laat daarmee Noma, door het Londense Restaurant Magazine uitgeroepen tot beste restaurant ter wereld, ver achter zich. Het Deens restaurant is pas 25ste met 89 punten. The Fat Duck van Heston Blumenthal is vierde met 92 punten.

'Of de site au sérieux genomen moet worden, hangt af van hoe transparant hun puntensysteem is', menen culinaire journalisten.

'De webstek heeft de namen van Restaurant Magazine wat door elkaar geschud heeft', stelt Bartel Dewulf van Belgocatering. 'Al moet ik toegeven dat het een meer correcte weergave is. Goossens staat in de lijst van Restaurant Magazine vijftiende. Maar hij verdient beter. De laatste twee jaar is hij er kwalitatief en innovatief enorm op vooruitgegaan.'

In culinary terms, speaking of Flanders clearly means much more than just the Belgium region. In the former County of Flanders that encompasses parts of present-day France, Belgium and the Netherlands many interesting “modern” restaurants have mushroomed over the last couple of years that resulted in the formation of the Flemish Primitives named after Northern renaissance painters inspired by various arts. There are many reasons for this development – on the one hand the Flemish tend to be curious and open towards new ideas and dining has always been an important part of their culture. On the other hand, such an evolution needs some spearheads that pave the way for a next generation of chefs.

Akin Sergio Herman on the Dutch/Zeeland side, Peter Goossens is the most important chef if not the “godfather” of Belgium high-end gastronomy – he is involved in many gastronomic projects and also plays an important role as a judge in the Belgium version of Masterchefs (and thus is, as Sergio, widely known in the public). His restaurant Hof van Cleve carries three stars since 2005 and is located in a typical Flemish farm house in Kruishoutem near Kortrijk/West Flanders. And, it is always on my agenda when I am in this region…

Hof van Cleve

What’s so special about Peter Goossens and his restaurant? Whereas Sergio Herman has certainly left his mark on the plates of many modern Flemish chefs (Geert de Mengeler from Hertog Jan, Filip Claeys from De Jonkman or Kobe Desmaraults from In de Wulf, to name just a few), Peter Goossens’ handwriting is less ubiquitous (or copied) across the region. Goossens cuisine is not ultra-modern, he rather successfully manages to combine both classic and modern structuralistic facets. He is not the inventor of new techniques and his cooking in the last couple of years has clearly been inspired by Sergio’s play of texture and flavors. The result of which is very astounding and just right – now, the plates are very elaborate and rest on the very best products the wider region has to offer. It’s not a me-too cuisine but a quite unique style… Nothing is redundant and the overall dining experience is in a sense geared more towards delivering perfection with just the right amount of creativity and modern techniques.

As the a la carte selection is quite pricey almost at Parisian level (starting from 50€ up to 170€ for a caviar dish) I opted for the seven course menu ‘Freshness of Nature’ (now at 215€, 310€ with accompanying wines) which over the years got reduced from a 9 course menu in 2007.

Amuse I: Potato and chicken

A very nice start with a potato ‘ball’ with a chicken ragout and a chicken skin cracker with mimolette cheese and porcini cream. Delicate, yummy, salty – a perfect start

Amuse II: Mackerel with Cucumber and Apple

Then, a perfect mackerel tartar with cucumber sorbet and apple – a refreshing counterpoint. The smokiness of the mackerel worked very well with the intense cucumber and the acidity of the apple.

Amuse III: The Egg

Visually stunning: the egg consisted of bacon, yoghurt and cheese (I guess mimolette again, but didn’t take notes).

Amuse IV: Oosterschelde Eel

Another amuse was a variation of oosterschelde eel: as a whole piece covered by a crispy thin bread, as tartar wrapped with beetroot and as cream. Very programmatic of Goossens as it shows a masterly reliance on the outstanding product quality and then elevates it by a very sensitive variation to increase both textural and flavor dimensions. In essence, an almost classic accord of beetroot and eel augmented by just the right dosage of lemon oil and passion fruit ‘puree’. Outstanding.

The parade of amuse ended with crab, kombu and sesame which I found good but not at the level of the other appetizers. Overall, an impressive start.

SARDINES – mozzarella di bufala / ‘coeur de boeuf’ tomato / olive “noir de Nice”

What a masterpiece! Breathtaking because of the amazing product quality and the ingenious hand of Peter Goossens in ‘designing’ this dish – just the right amount of white tomato jelly as the basis (a bit reminiscent of some Berasategui dishes), fantastic sardines, olive crumble, mozzarella cream, green celery granite, dried tomatoes and a wonderful frozen ponzu jelly which in turn seasoned the tomato jelly. À part Goossens served a traditional piece of coeur de boeuf tomato with olive and mozzarella and as a second a part a sardine with verbena in an olive jus. Whatever you did, every bite was sensational and intense playing with textures and temperatures. Divine.

By the way, a different caprese take using the same ingredients was on the menu in 2009 but this version was far more modern and delicate.

SEA BASS ‘CAUGHT ON THE LINE – fennel / quinoa / eggplant

Goossens presented a succulent and very aromatic piece of sea bass cooked to perfection at low temperature and combined it with fried eggplant blossoms, eggplant puree, a wonderful gamba and fennel coated with quinoa. Especially the latter accord worked surprisingly well contrasting the slightly sweet and herbal fennel with the crunchy and earthy quinoa. Outstanding!

It is programmatic that in 2010 Goossens began to let vegetables shine and elevated them beyond their pure side dish function. Moreover, he created a vegetarian menu on which I will comment later.

YOUNG ANGLER – saffron / chorizo mussels from their bed

Essentially this ‘seafood’ dish was a modern interpretation of a traditional paella that could not be better. The chorizo was used with utmost diligence and added spiciness and intensity whereas it interplayed very nicely with the saffron. All products were of best quality with the mussels being more important than the angler fish that had a mere textural effect. Excellent to oustanding – only the chorizo crumble was a bit wetted by the paella sud…

LANGOUTINE FROM ‘GUILVINEC’ – cauliflower / goose foie gras / belotta

Before the main langoustine plate, Goossens served the langoustine head with its sugo to prepare the dinner for the intrinsic langoustine taste. Indeed, the quality of the langoustine on the main serving was breath-taking. A very typical Goossens sea and land creation whereas the bellota was braised and did not dominate the langoustine at all – cauliflower was the accelerator in providing a textural element and formed a bridge between all elements. Only the foie gras didn’t really add much. Excellent.

PIGEON FROM ANJOU – butternut / gnocchi / mushrooms

A perfect main: pigeon paired with butternut, celery, chanterelles, pigeon confit and jus: again a showcase of product quality, again building on a known flavor accord but with less surprising elements than the dishes. Nevertheless, the overall combination worked very well – excellent to outstanding!

FORREST FRUIT – lime / mint / ginger

Wow, what a dessert: raspberries, blueberries, white chocolate, pistachio sponge, hazelnut cream, litchi sorbet, lime cream and ginger jelly combined with a raspberry, elderberry ‘soup’ – couldn’t taste the mint, however… Amazing intensity grounded by the surprising hazelnut cream. Simply outstanding!

APRICOT – almonds / caraibe 66% / basil

Another fine dessert, maybe a bit less spectacular than the first. A very smooth accord without that many edges. Excellent.

The Verdict

Sometimes a meal like this needs to be digested and contemplated. Immediately afterwards I found this meal more coherent and compelling than my dinner at Oud Sluis, maybe partly to my little disappointment with some of Sergio’s dishes. As weeks have gone by, I would still rate this as an outstanding meal, a benchmark in combining classic craftsmanship and modern elements where necessary. Additionally, you need to factor in Hof van Cleve’s splendid warm-hearted service, a unique sommelier and the cosy farm house atmosphere which make the whole experience so special. But, there were less dishes that I can still taste and remember compared to the night at Oud Sluis. Thinking about the latter evening creates more sparkle and excitement, yet Goossens’ performance was nearer perfection in overall execution, product quality and flavor construction. So, in the end, I cannot wait to go back in 2011 and see how things have developed… It’s a just a nice double feature☺

The Vegetarian Menu

As I have mentioned earlier, Goossens started to offer a pure 8-course vegetarian menu “Pure Nature” (8 courses at 165€, now reduced to 7 courses at 150€) in Summer 2010. Interestingly, it is not offered as a second menu but as a choice listed in the normal à la carte section. Somehow, this speaks for itself as I had the feeling that this offer seems a bit half-hearted to surf the new naturals wave…

Anyway, in the following you can get some impressions without any major tasting notes. Overall, I had the feeling that this menu was not yet at the level of the normal one: some dishes seemed like a ‘ripped’ version of their ‘normal’ counterparts, some seemed a bit too simplistic. Not at the level of Michael Hoffmann’s green avantgarde… But I am very sure this will be a very valid choice at Hof van Cleve in the near future – will be interesting to watch…

TOMATO – olives / green celery / avocado

The caprese without the sardine – outstanding as well, yet the smoky counterpart was missing a bit but the herbal avocado dots worked quite well…

CUCUMBER – gherkin / pickles / purslane

Rather simplistic but very authentic in flavors, especially by the use of purslane. Remined me a bit of Scandinavian dishes in its purity. Excellent!

CAULIFLOWER – watercress / brokkoli / hazelnut butter

Quite traditional with an interesting textural overlay, very yummy, excellent.

EGGPLANT – zucchini / anise hyssop / miso

A little bit like a stripped version of the sea bass dish with clear emphasis on the wonderful fennel/quinoa combination enriched by the slightly sweet anise. Outstanding!

LEEK – butternut / parsley / cumin

Modern interplay like a first main course. Excellent.

POTATO – spinach / cévennes onions / parmesan

A bit dense and overly potato dominated.

Can’t wait to be back!

Located in an old farmhouse about fifteen minutes drive from Waregem, Belgium, the Michelin 3-starred Restaurant “Hof van Cleve” is the pride of Chef Peter Goossens. It literally sits amidst an expanse of fields with hardly any significant landmark of note nearby (a small signpost pointing down a side street is the only indication of the restaurant’s whereabouts from the main road).Named after the farmer who lived here nearly a century ago, it has definitely retained its simple and somewhat rustic country feel. The dining room is sparse, with simple wooden floorboards and minimally adorned walls and windows.Urged by a fellow culinary connoisseur to visit, I agreed to meet him for a mid-day repas. What started out as a lunch date turned into a leisurely four-hour pleasure cruise through a refined five-course meal and a comprehensive discussion of our respective dining anecdotes.The soignée at Hof van Cleve is pleasant, but muted. Perhaps it was because I was in company that I barely noticed the service. It was smart, seamless, and very relaxing. Besides the peppy hostess who heartily greeted us at the door, the rest of the staff’s presence was felt only in service – otherwise blending organically into the wings of the restaurant’s atmosphere.

Amuse Bouche: Crayfish topped
with parsley puree, cauliflower
mousse and a slightly poached quail egg.
Originally uploaded by ulteriorepicure.

We were first greeted with an amuse bouche presented in an oversized shotglass. At the bottom, swimming in a clear broth, were small crayfish, ubiquitous to Flemish/Dutch cuisine. Above this floated a thin layer of emerald-green parsley purée topped with a fluffy dose of cauliflower mousse. The whole party was crowned with a golden-yellow quail egg, poached only ever-so-slightly by the warmth of the elements below. Plunging the spoon through the egg yolk unleashed a creamy downpour… yum!

Amuse Guele: Pumpkin soup with mussels
topped with a foam, black sesame
and scallion strips.
Originally uploaded by ulteriorepicure.

The amuse “proper” presented two items. First, a hollowed egg shell held a warm pumpkin soup with mussels topped with a foam, fresh scallion, and black sesame seeds. Since my foam collapsed (although my companion’s didn’t), I started with this. The thin, yet creamy soup was salty and lacked any evidence of pumpkin, tasting more of briny crustacean stock – perhaps influenced by the mussels. Although my friend thought it too peppery, I found it just right, especially appreciating the slight fragrance of black sesame. We both agreed, however, that the scallion was annoyingly stringy – or, as I described it, “flossing.”

The second amuse featured a cube of raw tuna, barely seared around the edges. This was accompanied by a small cinnamon-dusted quenelle of foie gras crème. The tuna was very fresh. I think this amuse succeeded most in its textural complexity. The meatiness of the fish was well complimented by the airy whipped foie and the soft crispness of the earthy-sweet beet garnish. Flavor-wise, I was most impressed by a small, almost easily overlooked, dot of prune reduction. Although only a dot, its flavor was potent enough to last through three or four bites. I also found the slight cinnamon dusting a unique addition to the foie.

Our first course featured three preparations of Zeeland oysters (5/0).

1). A strip of raw Zeeland oysters sat atop a thin layer of finely minced sweet and sour vinegar-marinated cucumbers and shallots. The oysters were topped with a translucent layer of briny sea-water gelatin. The presentation was as clear and simple as the flavors.

2). A small smørgs-like strip of oyster bread came topped with a slightly creamy crab salad and garnished with black trumpet mushrooms. Having some familiarity with the Scandinavian snack-size darlings, without knowing whether the chef intended it to be this way, I would have to say that Hof van Cleve achieved the “real McCoy” with this upmarket version. The oyster bread was limp and had a “refrigerated” staleness feel to it – cold and rather humidly-dry (the least attractive part of smørgs in my opinion). But the creamy crab on top was a great topping – unctuous, the combination of the sea-sweet crab meat with the earthiness of the mushrooms made a delightful savory duo. My only complaint was the oyster element was definitely missing – in both flavor and sight.

First Course: Zeeland oyster on smoked eel and
carpaccio of beef, avocado creme. Shallot vinaigrette.
Cucumber sorbet.
Originally uploaded by ulteriorepicure.

3. The Zeeland oyster with beef carpaccio, smoked eel, avocado crème fraiche, and salmon roe was the piece de resistance of this course. This was very much a silk-and-satin luxury type of course. From the sensually slippery fat oyster to the velvety and meaty beef and adding in the smoky eel and eye-poppingly briny roe, this was one sexy delight! I can’t sing its praises enough – creative, taste and texturally complex and highly stunning in presentation.

I can’t say that I liked all of the sub-courses the same – but together, they clearly demonstrated the chef’s ability to manipulate and take full advantage of the ingredients on hand.

With things looking (way) up, it was such a downer to have the chef disappointingly “drop the ball” on our second course. Both my lunch mate and I decided to eschew dessert in favor of the sea scallop course off of the larger eight-course menu.

This course featured two preparations of scallop. The feature presentation was a plump caramelized sea scallop topped with a tuft of garlicky sautee spinach. This was sided one side by by shallot-pureed potatoe with sea urchin and on the other by a little bundle of shaved chestnuts.

To our great shock, the scallop was overdone. Not enough to make us return the dish, but enough that my friend and I could sense each other’s deflated disappointment from across the table – without even looking at each other.

The other presentation was not as attractive, but much better, in my opinion, – both in taste and preparation. Like buried treasure, the sea scallop, sliced width-wise, lay beneath a rich and smoky eel crème topped with an eel emulsion. Perfectly tender and melt-in-the-mouth silky, the scallop felt like it had benefited from hours of being braised in oil. This was very good.

The next course presented us with bar de ligne, or fresh line-caught sea bass served on a bed of Mimolette salsify and topped with cured shaved ham. To this dish, the server poured a razorclam stock. The fish was very nice and tender, but otherwise, this dish’s main attractions were in the accompaniments. On one side, a razorclam shell held razorclam with razorclam mousse and a nutty-bitter rocket puree. On the other, a single “sweet and sour tomato” with a butter-Mimolette crust.

Like many of Goossens dishes thus far, texture was key in this course. While sharp earthiness of the Mimolette cheese worked well with the salted cured ham, the interplay between the ooey cheese with the slightly tender salsify and the chewiness of the ham only heightened the pleasure. As well, the shellfish-briny razorclam against the bitter-fresh twist of the rocket puree benefited from the slightly trying, yet tender, razorclam meat against the creamy mousse. Finally, the tart-sweet tomato, which was near-collapse from being oven-dried was rebutted by the wonderfully crispy saltiness of the Mimolette crust. I also appreciated that the entire dish wasn’t drowned in a downpour of broth. The server added enough just to wet the bottom of the dish – preserving the textures and distinct flavors of everything presented.

To end this festival of savories, our server presented us with wild hare accompanied by baby Shiitakes, sweated endives, lingonberries, and miniature dice-sized cubes of red beet and boudin noire. How lucky were we!! The party was completed with a nicely finished risotto, a dash of topinambour (sunchoke) puree and three foie gras croquettes.

Fourth Course: Wild hare, shiitake, lingonberries,
demi-glace. Puree of tompinambour, risotto.
Originally uploaded by ulteriorepicure.

Thankfully, my mom had always told me to chew my food well, as my first bite yielded a dangerously tooth-dislodging little pellet. While I appreciated learning that the hare was very fresh – and definitely wild, it was a rather unpleasant experience. Dropping the little lead weight onto a napkin, I proceeded to enjoy otherwise tasty and moist meat. Not to be outdone, the sides dazzled.

The yieldingly soft Shiitakes, velvety endives, dark-livery blood pudding, earthy-sweet beet and the slightly-popping and tart lingonberries all contributed to a harmonious taste and feel of earth and woods. I especially enjoyed enrobing the sweated endives around the meat – a little present for the tastebuds to “unwrap!” The rich risotto added a nice grainy, if not creamy counterpoint – along with the sunchoke puree, which all but dissolved happily into the mix.
If the hare course had an Achilles heel – it’d be in the foie gras croquettes. While my lunch mate enjoyed them – I found the inside too runny and slightly sweet. Although I could definitely tell there was foie involved, they tasted more like a runny tarot pudding – it even had a slightly purplish tint, if I remember correctly. I have to admit – it was the sweet that ruined it for me.

Satisfied, we sat back to steady ourselves for transitioning down to the world of sinful sweets. Though we had both opted out of dessert in lieu of the disappointing scallop, we were both presented with a palate cleanser. Our mouths were cooled with a shotglass containing a sweet vanilla gel topped with bright-tart Mojito granité. Perked up, I was ready to finish off the meal.

Coffee, chocolates and mignardises were, as always, a sheer delight. As noted in previous reviews of the Benelux region’s restaurants, these can be a dessert course in themselves – if ordered (they are usually not included in your meal).

Mignardise: Raspberry milkshake with “avocaat.”
Originally uploaded by ulteriorepicure.

Hof van Cleve’s selection of coffee sweets were unrivalled: a heady, yet summery bright, raspberry milkshake with “avocaat” (Dutch eggnog); a rather pedestrian “fried snowball” (beignet dusted with powdered sugar); and yummy, buttery and fresh-out-of-the-oven large speculaas (Dutch gingersnap) madeleines.

Accompanying these main-stage performances was a host of side-shows. These included a dark coffee macoron (surpisingly, I found this stale and hard), coconut marshmallow, cannelle, butter brioche with vanilla crème, and dark chocolate with passionfruit.

Also, with the coffee came a tray of chocolates: dark chocolate with orange ganache, milk chocolate with gingerbread (this was my favorite), white chocolate with walnuts, milk chocolate and nut nougat, and dark chocolate with black tea (a close second to the gingerbread). I couldn’t possibly eat anymore, so I requested that the hostess kindly box up an assortment – which she did – generously – leaving me with two-weeks worth of sweets with which to remember the even sweeter Hof van Cleve.

A three-star well merited and definitely worth visiting!