Rating: 97. Hertog Jan is a restaurant co-owned by chef Gert de Mangeleer (b. 1977) and maitre d'hôtel / sommelier Joachim Boudens. The duo met when they were working at Danny Horseele's then two Michelin-starred restaurant 't Molentje in Zeebrugge. Later on they moved on to Hertog Jan and in 2005 they took over the restaurant together. Michelin awarded Hertog Jan its first star in 2007, the...

Rating: 92. Belgium currently counts 3 three-star restaurants: De Karmeliet in Bruges, Hof Van Cleve in Kruishoutem and Hertog Jan in Zedelgem (near Bruges). De Karmeliet has held this honour since 1996, making it the longest running three-star restaurant in Belgium at present. Chef-patron is Geert Van Hecke (b. 1956), who started the restaurant, with his wife Mireille, in 1983 on the corner of the Jeruzalems...

Rating: 93. The beautiful, medieval market town of Bruges was the cultural capital of Europe in 2002, but it can also lay claim to being one of the culinary capitals of Belgium. In the Michelin guide 2013 it sports no fewer than two 3-star restaurants, two 2-star establishments, five places with 1 star and seven Bib Gourmands. Quite impressive for a relatively small city with some 117,000 inhabitants. On...

Rating: 98. It was only last November that Hertog Jan restaurant in Sint-Michiels near Bruges was awarded a third Michelin star, the first restaurant in Belgium to gain a third star since Peter Goossens' Hof van Cleve in 2005. Head-chef of Hertog Jan is 33 year old Gert de Mangeleer, which makes this young Flemish chef one of the youngest three-star chefs in Europe. During his training at restaura...