Wouter Keersmaekers

Coming Up

Hotelschool Coloma gave Wouter Keersmaekers the first formal structure of the trade: discipline, repetition, and the standards that hold a kitchen together. The years that followed moved through a clear apprenticeship in service and pace, with each room adding to a working vocabulary of timing, judgment, and finish. He worked as chef at Restaurant Epicurus in Antwerpen (1981–1983), then as chef at Restaurant van Marcel Geerts in Brussel (1983–1984), followed by a year at De Groeninghe in Aartselaar (1984–1985). The progression continued with a stretch as sous-chef at Villasdal in Maria-ter-Heide (1985–1988), and then at ’t Fornuis in Antwerpen (1988–1993), where precision and humility were part of the daily requirement. Those years built more than a CV; they built a way of working. In the pressure of service, through mise en place, and through repeated execution, Keersmaekers learned the difference between technique and instinct. Since 1993, he has been founder and chef of De Schone van Boskoop, where the accumulated lessons of those kitchens have been held in one place and worked through over time.

Where They Are Now

De Schone van Boskoop has remained the fixed point in Wouter Keersmaekers’ career. The restaurant is not presented here as a side note to earlier posts, but as the place that gathers them into one practice. Over time, it has taken on the character of continuity: a house defined by memory, steadiness, and the accumulated authority of remaining in the work.

Signature

Regional cooking is the center of Wouter Keersmaekers’ practice. In a career shaped by Belgium’s dining rooms, that focus gives the work its footing: ingredients handled with care, seasonality kept in view, and decisions made so the dish reads clearly. The emphasis is not on restraint as an aesthetic, but on attention as a craft tool.

In Their Words “It was there that I learned the true finesse of the craft.”

Honors

Wouter's honors include Ere-Ambassadeur Vlaams Culinair Erfgoed (2021), Groenten Ambassadeur, and Peter van de Week van de Smaak (2010). These recognitions sit within a career that has been built through consistency rather than display, with respect earned across kitchens, services, and seasons.