Virginie Gelaude

Coming Up

At Bacon, the craft sits on two fronts at once: service and ownership. As co-owner and chef, Virginie Gelaude works inside the room and behind the structure that supports it, a split role that demands the discipline of the kitchen and the judgment of management. The arrangement is practical, but it also says something about control of the product: the person shaping the food is also helping shape the conditions under which it leaves the pass.

Where They Are Now

The current title, co-owner and chef, places Virginie Gelaude inside the daily mechanics of Bacon in Ieper. That means the work is not abstracted into oversight alone; it remains tied to the pace of service, the decisions made in real time, and the operational demands that come with ownership. In that sense, the role is less about distance and more about proximity — to the menu, to the staff, and to the restaurant’s direction. Bacon in Ieper is where that dual responsibility becomes legible. The restaurant is the working surface for Gelaude’s role, and the job reads as one continuous practice rather than two separate functions. Chef and co-owner together imply authorship with accountability: the menu is not only prepared there, it is supported, maintained, and steered from within the same house.

In Their Words “At Bacon, we believe that good food begins before the plate.” The line frames the kitchen as one part of a longer chain of craft decisions. It places attention on the stages before service — sourcing, preparation, coordination, and the standards that hold a restaurant together. Read plainly, it is a statement about process: the finished dish only works when the work around it is disciplined.

Honors

The recognition attached to the role is built into the title itself. Co-owner and chef at Bacon signals both authorship and responsibility, with Virginie Gelaude carrying the work of the kitchen while also helping direct the restaurant as a business. In trade terms, it is a form of recognition that comes from sustained access to both ends of the operation.