But that’s the thinking of a city dweller, and no such place proves this quite as much as Heuvelland. Literally translated, it’s “hill country”, and it doesn’t lie. In the south-western corner of West Flanders, it’s rife with breathtaking panoramic views, fragrant wooded slopes and lingering sunsets.

Still, you may have never heard of Heuvelland, and that’s thanks to the West Flemish, who are notoriously modest. No flashy TV commercials entice you to visit, no slick print adverts in the country’s glossy lifestyle and travel magazines. But if there is only one thing you must know about the West Flemish, it is this: they always under promise and over deliver. Always.

And so it is with one of the region’s most famous locals, Kobe Desramaults. He is the chef and owner of the restaurant In De Wulf, which, in 2005 – when Desramaults was just 25 years old – was awarded a Michelin star, making him the youngest chef in the country with the accolade.

Born and raised in Dranouter, one of the eight villages that make up Heuvelland, the young chef’s passion for the region dominates every aspect of his life: his desire to return after working in such culinary utopias such as Sergio Herman’s Oud Sluis in the Netherlands or Barcelona’s renowned Comerç 24; the philosophy behind his cooking; the seemingly endless knowledge he continues to amass about the region, its people, its culinary heritage; the wild herbs he still picks from fields and forests himself.

Nothing escapes Desramaults’ inquisitiveness about what the area has to offer or his drive to incorporate local influences and ingredients into his famous dishes. “I want to introduce people to the region through my cooking,” explains Desramaults. “Why should I serve sushi in West Flanders when we have some of the most delicious locally bred beef called Rood Rund [Red Beef], which is extremely rare? And why should I fly in vegetables from half a world away when there is superb local vegetables that people have all but forgotten about?”

It seems wise beyond his years – turning his back on the hipster fusion methods of contemporary cooking in favour of local blessings. But a childhood spent gallivanting across the hills of Heuvelland has clearly left an indelible impression. “I remember racing across the dirt roads between farmers’ fields on my BMX with my friends, the smell of elderberries bombarding my nostrils with the promise of summer.…We were never home; we were always off cavorting somewhere,” he grins. “What child wouldn’t wish for a childhood like mine?”

His passion for the region still sees him spending a lot of time outdoors, from his daily run with his two German Shepherds, to the vegetable patches he maintains to grow hard-to-find vegetables or the walks that take him to little-known areas where he goes to find elderberries or obscure herbs like wild zuring (docks and sorrels).

When talking to Desramaults’ peers or reading reviews, the same words always return: pure, earthy, understated complexity. There is a deceptively effortless purity about Desramaults’ cooking that forms a perfect mirror to the wholesome, earthy character of the region.

“There’s a little area called Eeuwenhout where I go to pick wild herbs,” says Desramaults. “To get there, you have to walk through a tunnel of trees, which makes it feel as if you are entering a fairy forest. Going there just before dusk on a warm summer night to get the herbs is pure magic.”

Most of the products at In De Wulf come from suppliers in the region. “Farmer Rick”, as Desramaults calls him, (Rick Delhaye) from West-Outer specialises in organic farming and provides all their beef and dairy. A farmer just across the border in northern France supplies the pork. “I know where to find all the wild herbs I need, and the boys and I pick elderberries in June,” he says, referring to his kitchen staff. “And another farmer up the road provides us with home-made buttermilk.” Being able to start with fresh, home-grown produce “is an enormous privilege,” he continues. “There is an authenticity to the region and to the people that inspires me to keep on innovating.”

There’s also a “think globally, act locally” scent about the young chef’s methods. “I’m under no illusion that I can change the world,” he says, “but I can contribute in my own small way by supporting people who care about the way they grow vegetables or produce meat and in turn showing my customers what can be done with simple – often unknown – local ingredients. I hope to make a difference in the way we think about good food and in how we consume.”

This approach has an appeal that stretches far beyond Belgium’s borders: he currently has trainee chefs from California learning the trade under his watchful eye.

Even when he isn’t in his kitchen, Desramaults’ love for the region keep him close. On his days off, you can find him chatting with locals over a beer at De Barbier in Dranouter, relishing home-made bread and potjesvlees – a local multiple meat delicacy that goes back to the 14th century – or checking out the concerts at De Blauwe Plek in Reningelst.

So dust off your bicycles and smell the promise of spring in the air, like Kobe Desramaults has always done, and keep these thoughts in mind: local, fresh, pure. It’s not that difficult, really: just up the road, beyond those hills waits a place called Heuvelland. You may not have heard of it, but trust me, you should have.

www.heuvelland.be

Inside In De Wulf

Kobe Desramaults’ restaurant is in Dranouter, a village of 700 people that hugs the border between Flanders and France. In De Wulf, which mimics Desramaults’ food with its earthy, understated elegance, is located in his parents’ original farmhouse. In fact, his mother runs the eight hotel rooms above the restaurant.

For lunch or dinner, choose between the spacious dining room, with its relaxed, rustic atmosphere of light wood, or the stone terrace, ideal for lingering sundowners.

The menu at In De Wulf changes monthly, in accordance with the availability of local ingredients, and this month, you’ll find signatory dishes such as “Pigeon from Steenvoorde” (ripened and cooked in hay), pork belly with chickweed and shoots of sorrel or quail’s egg with hop and jus of chervil, together with the crustaceans and shellfish that Desramaults so often gives a prominent position on his menu.

Not just content with offering unprocessed food directly from the land, he serves it the same way, using large stones or pieces of wood as bowls and plates.

www.indewulf.be