Perhaps he has gotten used to the attention that comes with earning a Michelin star. Already at 30, Jason Blanckaert is a chef who makes no apologies.

Blanckaert has been at the helm of C-Jean for a few years now, earning the 25-year-old restaurant a place on the culinary map of Ghent. This fine-dining establishment located near the city’s belfry seats 30 at small, white linen tables, a wall of bottled wine separating the kitchen from the front. The lunch menu is just as small: three starters and three mains, listed on chalkboards.

The set lunch menu includes a starter, main and coffee at a very reasonable €35. Set dinner is €75 to €85. This is the beauty of the one-star Michelin restaurant – even if it’s a splash out, it is an affordable one.

“There are two types of people: Those who want a big table, silver cutlery, crystal glasses, hordes of waiters,” says Blanckaert, “and those who come here to get the same quality, but a different experience that is about the food.” He avoids an a la carte menu in order to use seasonal ingredients. He has three guiding principles: local, wild, fresh.

As he talks about the food, he becomes animated, engaged. Here is the young, passionate chef I imagined. From a young age, Blanckaert was interested in cooking and at 15 attended hotel school near his hometown of Poperinge in West Flanders. After graduation, he worked at the prestigious three-star Hof Van Cleve in Kruishoutem, East Flanders, for two years before coming to C-Jean.

Initially his dishes were imitations of his teachers’, but now he’s come into his own. His constant experimenting and quest for knowledge earned him the Michelin star in 2008, a feat that both surprised and inspired him. “I had no idea we had gotten a star until the phone started ringing after the book came out,” he says. “I wasn’t aiming for it; I was simply making good dishes.”

Star power

Many chefs find as much stress as euphoria in being granted a Michelin star. The pressure to keep it – or increase it – is intense. But Blanckaert is confident. And he has no desire for two stars. “I don’t want to change the restaurant style. I just want to be a good one star,” he says. “I think I’ll be able to keep it; my cooking has evolved and improved since I first got it.”

His dishes are a testament to the well-earned star. Take the amuse bouche, complimentary with the aperitif: a large spoon held a bite-size scoop of creamy foie gras with an ice-cold curl of beet. Next to this was a raw mussel on top of a square of toast, which had a smoked, meaty flavour to it. Divine.

The starter featured an ingredient list that took longer to read than to eat. Rectangular cubes of pork belly, mussels, red onions, parsley root, foie gras, silver onions and broth (poured tableside) created an aromatic and visual dish. At three bites, it was tiny, but tasty.

The main was a combination of egg and fish that also included mushrooms, cauliflower foam, thickened beurre blanc and capers. The egg managed to meld the otherwise uncomplimentary ingredients.

“I takes classics and re-envision them. This,” he says, referring to my eggy plate, “was like a hollandaise sauce, which is very common for fish. So of course it would work.” It more than worked; it was a Hail Mary of flavour. Tried individually, the ingredients were well cooked but unremarkable. Together, it was utterly satisfying, blending various flavours, textures and colours.

“These dishes are not for the average palate, but that is what makes us different from an average restaurant in Ghent.” Blanckaert is not, as I came to realise, trying to sound arrogant. He is merely single-minded.

Flemish Foodies

Blanckaert has joined fellow Michelin-starred chefs Kobe Desramaults of In de Wulf in Dranouter and Olly Ceulenaere, formerly of Withof in Brasschaat and now in search of a restaurant in the Ghent area, to launch www.flemishfoodies.be.

The creators of the web venture (a writer/photographer duo) submit write-ups and stunning photos, while the chefs provide recipes. While it might seem odd for a wellknown chef to give away his secrets, Blanckaert has an entirely different approach “That’s the old school, Old French way of thinking,” he says. “If everyone acts like that, there is no evolution. Share. Don’t copy but build upon what is out there. The Spanish chefs had a revolution 15 years ago by sharing, and now they’re top in the world.”

He has had restaurants reproduce his dishes, but isn’t mildly perturbed: “It’s a rubbish restaurant. If you eat that dish here and then there, it’s not the same.”

This sort of confidence and honesty is no surprise to his friends. “Jason is impulsive, egotistical, but in the best possible way. If he has an idea, he works to make it perfect for himself, not for anyone else. He doesn’t make any concessions.”

www.c-jean.be
www.flemishfoodies.be

The Lust Supper

When at C-Jean, you won’t be able to miss the photograph. The only decoration on the entire wall, the enormous picture re-imagines the last supper. It is by Marc Lagrange of Antwerp and features his typical style of a bevy of beautiful women (and one man), all in various states of undress, gorging on food. Purchased three years ago, it was off-putting enough for a regular customer to stop coming (okay, he was a priest) and interesting enough if you want another excuse to make a reservation.