Hertog Jan at Botanic Antwerp

Saturday, October 10, 2020 — Almost three years after the closure of their three-star restaurant Hertog Jan in Zedelgem, top chef Gert De Mangeleer and host Joachim Boudens announce their return to top gastronomy. In addition to a second branch of Bar Bulot, the duo will be opening a gastronomic restaurant in Antwerp with the sounding name 'Hertog Jan at Botanic Antwerp'.

Both businesses will be housed in the site of 'Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp', a 5 star superior hotel with wellness and meeting facilities that will open its doors in the historic centre of the city in June 2021.

More than three years ago Gert and Joachim announced the closure of their three-star restaurant Hertog Jan in Zedelgem. The duo wanted to create space for new ideas and business. And they did. In the meantime, the Hertog Jan Restaurant Group opened the new L.E.S.S. Eatery in Bruges, which with chef Ruige Vermeire managed to cash in a first Michelin star after just over six months. Last summer L.E.S.S. Eatery temporarily moved (due to Covid-19) to the former Hertog Jan farmstead in Zedelgem, where under the name L.E.S.S. Summer Eatery, it managed to welcome many guests outdoors. Their new restaurant 'Bar Bulot', with which chef Pieter Lefevere and host Maxime Depreitere focus on classic cuisine, also saw the light in Bruges in 2019.

But the top gastronomy continued to beckon...Gert and Joachim think they can still surpass their level and have found a special place where they can give the best of themselves. At Hertog Jan at Botanic Antwerp, Gert and Joachim will receive their guests two weeks a month in person. It will be an intimate affair with 12 place settings in the historic context of 'Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp', on the former Elzenveld site in Antwerp. With the revival of Hertog Jan in Antwerp, they will recreate the atmosphere of yesteryear in an intimate setting with its own greenhouse, beehives and herb garden.

Of course, everything is of a superior quality, with a high level of finishing and with an eye for detail, as you are used to from the Hertog Jan team

Bar Bulot at Botanic Antwerp

In addition to the gastronomic Hertog Jan, the team of Gert and Joachim will also open a second branch of Bar Bulot, their à la carte brasserie, on the same site. At the helm of Bar Bulot in Bruges are host Maxime Depreitere and Chef Pieter Lefevere who give a contemporary performance to French-Belgian signature dishes such as tomato shrimp and tournedos au poivre.

They mainly serve French and European wines. At Bar Bulot you can enjoy genuine brasserie classics. Of course, everything is of a superior quality, with a high level of finishing and with an eye for detail, as you are used to from the Hertog Jan team. Who will be at the helm at Bar Bulot in Antwerp is still unclear at the moment. Gert and Joachim are still looking for the perfect team.