Michelin-starred restaurant Eliane lands at Bree-Eik this summer

This summer, chef Kobe Desramaults is temporarily moving his Michelin-starred restaurant Eliane from Brussels to the Pajottenland. At Hof ter Bree-Eik, the largest square farmstead in the Pajottenland and part of the Bree-Eik site in Lennik, barely 20 kilometres from Brussels, he will offer a unique gastronomic experience amid nature in July and August, with 40 covers per service.

The pop-up offers a product-driven tasting menu in line with what Eliane serves in Brussels today, but even more strongly shaped by the surrounding landscape. The menu will be based entirely on products from the Pajottenland — vegetables, fruit, meat and dairy — and follows the rhythm of the region and the season.

Bree-Eik is a unique piece of nature in the Pajottenland. The site carries more than 900 years of history, in a landscape that has been farmed for almost 2000 years. Today, Bree-Eik comprises 200 hectares of farmland under its own management and a network of farmers. All land is managed organically, with respect for biodiversity.

This gently rolling, fertile farming region in the heart of the Pajottenland, barely 20 kilometres from Brussels, is also known as the Tuscany of the Low Countries, and the Land of Bruegel. Bruegel found his inspiration here and became the symbol of the region.

The restoration, started in 2021 in close consultation with, and supported by, the municipality of Lennik and the Flanders Heritage Agency, is carried out with an eye to the future: historical structures are preserved while a contemporary rural programme is integrated with minimal environmental impact.

At the centre is the two-hectare vegetable garden, which forms the heart of the pop-up. July and August are the peak months when everything is in bloom. The garden — together with the animals on the estate — sets the rhythm and the menu. What's harvested, what's ripe, what the land offers at that moment: the place and the soil determine everything. The concept is both farm-to-table and garden-to-table.

The vegetable garden is cultivated by Jonathan Van Houtte, who works at Bree-Eik on a living, biodiverse garden where old and new varieties reinforce one another. The animals on the farm are cared for by Ward Borremans and his team. Craftsmanship and dedication are central.

This temporary move is also explicitly a collaboration between the Eliane team and the Bree-Eik team, bringing knowledge, products and craftsmanship together in one place.

Desramaults built an international reputation with his restaurant In de Wulf in Dranouter, West Flanders, which was on the list of just about every European foodie until it closed at the end of 2016. It was followed by the Ghent restaurants Chambre Séparée and De Superette, before he opened Eliane in Brussels in 2024. That restaurant was awarded a Michelin star and a score of 17/20 in the Gault&Millau guide within barely six months.

“For me, Bree-Eik is about much more than cooking. We want to create a total experience in which landscape, farming and gastronomy tell one story. We work with what we grow ourselves here, in the garden and in the field, but we equally rely on the craft and expertise of farmers from the region. It's a collaboration. We're restoring a unique piece of nature and actively working with it. What ends up on the plate is the result of that care. It has to be a gastronomic experience that goes beyond a good dish — a place where you feel where you are.”