L'Air du Temps - Liernu, Belgium

Sunday lunch @ L'Air du Temps by chef Sang-Hoon Degeimbre

We had lunch this Sunday 28 April at two Michelin starred L'Air du Temps. The restaurant has moved to a farm in Liernu this past January, surrounded by fields and with gardens for growing veggies and rare herbs. There are 2 points worth noting about the chef. First, he never received a formal culinary school training; he actually began his career as a sommelier. Second, he is Korean-born, grew up in Belgium and this perhaps explains the Asian influence his cuisine.

The main restaurant building:

Inside the restaurant:

The window view from our table

Table layout

Bienvenue

There was already a super thin flatbread sitting on a piece of rock on our table. Soon after we were seated, some "water" was served, a signature welcome drink of L'Air du Temps.


Le Pain - Bread without yeast, with sesame and onion

L'Eau - Eau parfumée à la tanaisie (Tansy perfumed water) - this was an interesting discovery, although not impressive enough for us to order the water menu called "Nos créations sans alcool".

We selected the surprise April 2013 Genèses menu with 5 courses with matching wines (Nos vins d'envie). As always, She requested a pescetarian menu and the staff was totally fine with this request.

Let's begin our meal, which consisted of 4 snacks, 2 bouchées, 4 savory courses, 1 dessert and mignardises. 

Snacking

Cerfeuil tubéreux, Ponzu, Ail Noir

Céléri - Pamplemousse - Salers fumé

Choux rave - Radicchio - Anchois

Chicon - Jambon - Gruyère

Bouchées

Choux fleur - Buratta - Cacahuètes

Oeuf coque - Petit gris (de Namur) - Curcuma

While we were enjoying the second bouchée, oil, butter and salt were brought to our table, followed by bread.

Sicilian olive oil
Fleur de sel d'Angleterre
Beurre fermier - plain and with Yuzu

Bread - some might find the bottom crust too hard and slightly burnt, but we enjoyed it.

Dégustation

Now's the beginning of our 5 courses lunch.

Course 1

Tartare aux couteaux - Veau - Couteau - Bergamote
Accompanied by: Domaine de la Grand Cour Fleurie - Beaujolais - 2010

Course 1 - non-meat


A waiter brought a tree stump board  covered with a glass lid to our table. As he lifted the lid and the steam dissipated, we saw some potatoes resting on some Sphagnum moss.

A few minutes later the potatoes were served:

Pommes de terre cuites à la vapeur
Croustillant faits à base des pelures de pommes de terre
Jus vert à base de Lierre terrestre (ground ivy) et égopode (ground elder)
Fleurs: Tussilage
Feuilles: Lierre terrestre

Course 2

Crème cuite de crevettes grises - Couteaux - Concombre
Accompanied by: O.V.N.I. Objet Viticole Non Identifié J. Mourat - Loire valley - 2012

This dish was barely lukewarm. Perhaps that was the intention, but we would have preferred a warmer broth.

Course 3

Cabillaud - Miso - Crème aigre - Gomasio
Accompanied by: Santorini Argyros - Assyrtiko 2012

Course 4

Agneau de Bellac (Limousin) - Tomates - Bleu - Gingembre
Accompanied by: Chateau Musar Jeune - Bekaa valley  - 2010

What a memorable lamb dish! Plus the beautiful Lebanese red matched the lamb perfectly!

Course 4 - seafood version

Turbot - Coques - Jus vert de shiso et ricotta

Condiment: poivrons rouge, pomme, kimchi et zeste d'orange

Poudre de coraille d'homard

Achillée millefeuille

Desserts

Course 5

MMMMh! Crème catalane - Tonka - Topinambour
Accompanied by: The Madeira Collection 2 - Reserve- dry

Notice the Korean flag! This dessert was good yet, compared to what we had been eating so far,  seemed to be somewhat ordinary. I was hoping to see some more creativity here.

Course 5 - alternative dessert

Carrot-themed dessert

Carottes confites - Mousse au chocolat blanc - Orange - Chips de pommes de terre - Sucre à la coriandre.

Again, no wow factor in this dessert either. For a dessert, it was not sweet enough, the potato chips were to blame. As to the sugar, cardamom would have been a better match than coriander.

What are we to make of these 2 desserts ? While they were slightly underwhelming, we thought that perhaps that was intentional, like in Japanese and Korean restaurants, where the dessert is supposed to be a light sweet ending to the meal as opposed to the heavy desserts in French cuisine.

Mignardises

Sorbet à l'huile d'olive avec un papier de sucre autour (the lollipop)
Caramel pistache-orange (in the foil)
Un Paris-Brest revisité
Guimauve au chocolat (Chocolate marshmallow)
Biscuit (cigare) au chocolat

Verbena infusion served in an East Asian cast iron teapot.

Unlike other Michelin starred restaurants that offer 1-2 extra mignardises along with tea/coffee,  here all we got was some sugars and sweetener served in what resembled a dim sum tray. Perhaps the rock sugar counted as a sweet ? :)

As we were about to leave, a waiter accompanied us to have a look at the kitchen. It was 16:30 by then and the crew was busy plating a couple of desserts and cleaning had begun. Chef Sang-Hoon saw us and walked over to shake our hands and we chatted for a little while.

While one could hope for some improvements on the dessert side, overall this was such a lovely meal by an incredibly talented chef, which was totally worth the hour long car ride from Brussels. This meal was a beautiful exploration of new ingredients, textures and flavors.

L'Air du Temps

Liernu, Belgium
www.airdutemps.be

Restaurant Couvert Couvert - Heverlee

Restaurant Couvert Couvert has 1 Michelin star and it is run by the Folmer brothers, who were both trained as pastry chefs. The restaurant is located in Heverlee, just outside Leuven. Here's the restaurant as seen from the street.

The entrance is through the back, with a bucolic sight of cows grazing in the pastures. During summer time, the outdoor terrace must be fun.

As we approached, the lady manager came to open the door and welcomed us with a smile and quickly took care of our jackets. Here's the entrace: on the way to the dining room, one can have a look at the kitchen.

Sober Scandinavian minimalist design with all-white walls and soft lights. The restaurant was quite empty; in total only 4 tables were occupied.

The view from our table:

Food

Interestingly for a Saturday lunch, the whole menu was available, from à la carte to the 6 course Menu dégustation. We opted for the 3-course Menu Couvert Couvert. For the main course, we both selected the fish dish. Since I forgot to snap a photo of the menu, the descriptions will be quite basic this time.

Nibbles: some super thin savory sticks

Amuses bouches

Daikon & mackerel, Cheese pastry, Beef & green cabbage

River shrimps and beets in a lemongrass-beet bouillon - which was disappointing, too sweet and the lemongrass flavor was barely discernible.

Bread, Greek olive oil, butter from Brittany

Appetizers

Bonito, avocado and smoked bouillon

Sot-l'y-laisse (chicken "oyster"), beets and lemon

Entrée

Wild fish, sweet chestnut, parsley roots, mushroom sauce

Dessert

Baked apples, meringue, apple-mint sorbet

Chocolate ice cream, banana, lemon curd

Mignardises

Earl Grey marshmallows, souffle, warm chocolate with ice cream, fruit compote.

Overall, a pleasant meal in a relaxed atmosphere. The food was good, except for the shrimps & beets appetizer, and the desserts were superb. A selection of breads would have been nice, perhaps this is available at dinner time ? We did not wait for more than 5 minutes between each course and service was attentive, partially thanks to the presence of the manager and 2 waiters for only 9-10 diners.

Restaurant Couvert Couvert
171,Sint-Jansbergsesteenweg, 3001 Heverlee
http://www.couvertcouvert.be

Spaans Dak Restaurant in Oud-Heverlee

We had dinner at Spaans Dak on Sunday 10 June. It was a rather random pick for the Restaurant Week organised by DiningCity.

The restaurant is located in Oud-Heverlee, close to Leuven, and it is set in a traditional building overlooking some beautiful ponds.

As we walked in, we were welcomed with a smile by Michel, the owner/manager of the place, who accompanied us to our table. Throughout the meal, the waiters were all professional and spoke fluent French and English.

Mise en bouche: Harengs nouveaux, crème, moule, pomme et radis. Méringue de légumes au sésame et tapenade d'olives noires

Bloody Mary, base de consommé de tomate et vodka

Whole-wheat bread

Interesting start to our meal, although I was not so impressed by the meringue.

Starter: Trio de saumon, asperges confites, beurre d'orange, graines de tournesol grillées

Pleasant starter, although a little too sweet.

Main course: Morue, nobashi, coque, moules bouchot, homard, coquille St. Jacques, aioli, bouillabaisse, fenouil grillé, mousse au Pastis

Despite its nice presentation, the theatrics of the bouillabaisse being poured at the table and the mousse slowly melting, this was the biggest disappointment of the night. The cod was too undercooked to be enjoyed, plus it had barely been seasoned. Cod aside, the overall dish was quite dry and it seemed that something was missing.

Selection of cheeses: Fromages anglais sélectionnés et leur préparation

This was the highlight of the dinner. Great presentation; some good English cheeses well paired with some nuts, fruits and pickles. The big fried dough is actually some grilled cheese. The nem was filled with cheese, thyme and fig.

Dessert: Textures de cerises

A refreshing dessert with some in-season cherries, although the crème anglaise made it somewhat ordinary. Here, the chef missed an occasion to impress.

Coffee: Mocha, mignardises

We were offered a refill, always a nice touch.

Petits fours: Praline avec ganache liquide

In the glass, a mix of ice cream/amaretto/nuts (can't recall exactly)

Marshmallows dipped in chocolate and sesame

Overall, a pleasant meal at a reasonable price. This restaurant has plenty of potential and could earn a Michelin star if some improvements are made. The chef needs to focus more on the quality of his cooking and ensure consistency rather than overly elaborate presentations. The chipped glasses need to be replaced, and the waiters could be instructed to keep an eye on glasses on the table and refill them more promptly once empty.

Restaurant Spaans Dak
Oud-Heverlee, Belgium
www.spaansdak.be