Bite - de Vitrine
It’s located in one of central Ghent’s seedier neighbourhoods, the little-known red-light district, but de Vitrine is one of the finest restaurants in the city. Its name, meaning “the window”, is a double entendre that refers as much to the building’s history as a butchery as to its friendly neighbours behind glass.
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Lest you be deterred, upon opening just over two years ago, star chef Kobe Desramaults transformed the interior into a classy place. The former butcher’s shop at the front is an ideal spot to enjoy an aperitif at the bar while waiting for your table. We’ve reserved for the first dinner shift, which starts promptly at 18.30. (The second at 21.00).
My partner and I wait at the bar for our dining companions and enjoy two tall glasses of Kriek Boon. The sour cherry lambic beer makes for a tart and refreshing choice on this warm summer evening.
When the rest of our party arrives, we transfer to the dining area at the back, which is a long, snug room lined with no more than 12 tables and blessed with a lot of sky lighting and a distinct 19th-century feel. The atmosphere is good from the very start, with a handful of relaxed yet extremely professional servers taking turns jotting down our orders and delivering a knowledgeable response to each of our questions.
While Flemish Foodie Desramaults is not often present in this kitchen – he also owns Michelin-starred In De Wulf in West Flanders – he does plan the menus, which change every three weeks. Vitrine chef Matthias Speybrouck executes them with obvious skill. While extoling the virtues of the fresh crusty bread on our table, we all agree to order the four-course menu for €45.
This month’s seasonal menu includes a starter of lobster from the Eastern Scheldt estuary in Zeeland. The meat, whitish pink and tender, is accentuated with diced cucumber and celery, dots of tangy lemon gelée and a few pretty leaves of Indian cress and edible flowers.
This is followed by an additional starter: bouchot mussels with pointed cabbage and milk whey. Not only is it perfectly in line with the season, but the dish surprises as the best on the menu. This culture of French mussels is farmed for its robustness and soft, sweet flavour. The chunk of pointed cabbage has been broiled until tender, and its earthy flavour is brought out by a drizzling of pale yellow milk whey.
Our main dish features a slab of Holstein entrecote, cooked saignant – otherwise known as rather bloody – with a side of braised green onion and succulent bone marrow. The beef from this breed of dairy cattle is known for its tenderness, and this cut is no exception.
Afterwards, my companions order a cheese platter, while I opt for the strawberry dessert. Plump specimens of the juicy fruit come with slices of baba, or rum sponge cake, and an elderberry sorbet. We enjoy our cappuccinos and espressos on the bench out front, seeing as we’ve overstayed our welcome and overlapped into the second dinner shift.
Including all the pre- and post-dinner drinks plus two bottles of wine, the bill comes to about €300. When divided four ways, it’s a fair price for our four hour dining excursion.
www.de-vitrine.be
Brabantdam 134, Ghent; 09.336.28.08
12.00-14.00 & 18.30 or 21.00 Tue-Fri; 18.30 or 21.00 Sat
€24-€55 for the three, four or five-course menu
Gastronomic cuisine served in an easy-going bistro with vintage appeal
About the author
Beer & Food Writer
