Hof van Cleve

Farmland, Flemish Tradition, and a Kitchen in Transition

The drive to Kruisem through the Flemish Ardennes sets expectations that the address then confirms: a working farmhouse setting, low-slung and grounded in the agricultural land that surrounds it, with none of the urban theatre that defines haute cuisine in Ghent or Antwerp. Belgium's most celebrated fine-dining addresses have historically clustered in cities, but Hof van Cleve has operated against that pattern for decades, drawing international visitors to a village in East Flanders where the dominant currency is farmland, not footfall. It is the kind of place that requires a decision to visit, and that decision has been rewarded with consistent placement among the country's most referenced fine-dining destinations.

The restaurant's trajectory over the past two decades is a useful map of Belgian fine dining. Hof van Cleve appeared in the World's 50 Best Restaurants as early as 2006, reaching number 14 in 2007 and remaining a fixture through to 2023, when it held the 52nd position. That longevity across a ranking that rewards novelty is a more meaningful signal than any single-year placement: it points to a kitchen that has maintained technical and conceptual relevance through several shifts in global dining priorities. For context, comparable Belgian addresses operating in the same €€€€ price tier, Boury in Roeselare and Zilte in Antwerp, have built strong regional reputations, but neither carries the same depth of international ranking history.

The Chef's Direction and What It Signals

Chef Floris Van Der Veken inherited the kitchen from Peter Goossens, who spent decades building Hof van Cleve into one of northern Europe's most recognised fine-dining institutions. The handover represents a particular kind of challenge in fine dining: maintaining the trust of a loyal, discerning audience while establishing a distinct culinary identity. Van Der Veken's response has been a decisive shift toward plant-forward cooking, a move that runs counter to the assumptions many guests bring to a farmhouse restaurant in rural Flanders.

The We're Smart Green Guide, which evaluates restaurants on their commitment to vegetable-centred cooking, awarded Hof van Cleve five Radishes with high distinction. The guide's assessors noted that the Pure Plant menu was conceived and presented with conviction, and that individual dishes were executed without the hedging that often characterises fine-dining vegetable courses. Vegetables are frequently deployed as accompaniment in this price tier; at Hof van Cleve under Van Der Veken, they are the architecture of the menu. That is a different proposition, and one that places the kitchen in a comparable set that includes plant-forward addresses internationally rather than only traditional Franco-Belgian houses.

The Opinionated About Dining guide, which draws on a large international pool of experienced diners, ranked the restaurant 15th in Europe in its Classical category for 2025. That upward movement in a ranking that is notoriously resistant to rapid climbs suggests the kitchen's current direction is being received well by the audience most likely to compare it against the broadest possible European field. For reference, Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen and Enrico Bartolini in Milan operate in the same creative fine-dining register across different national traditions, which contextualises where Hof van Cleve sits within European fine dining more broadly.

Awards as Accumulated Evidence

Two Michelin stars in both 2024 and 2025 anchor the restaurant's formal recognition, but the fuller picture requires reading the award record over time. A La Liste score of 96.5 points in 2025 sits within the upper band of that ranking's European classical tier. Membership in Les Grandes Tables du Monde, awarded in 2025, aligns Hof van Cleve with a comparable set that includes some of the most formally recognised houses in France and Italy, a network that rewards consistency and front-of-house standard as much as kitchen output.

The Google review average of 4.7 across 725 responses is a different kind of signal: broader, less filtered, and reflective of a dining public that includes first-time visitors alongside those who have been following the kitchen for years. That alignment between specialist critical consensus and general diner satisfaction at this price point is not automatic; it suggests the restaurant communicates its direction clearly enough that guests arrive with calibrated expectations.

Belgium's fine-dining scene beyond Hof van Cleve includes addresses operating across a range of regional traditions: Willem Hiele in Oudenburg works within a coastal and fermentation-led idiom, Bartholomeus in Heist draws on North Sea produce, and addresses like d'Eugénie à Emilie in Baudour and L'Eau Vive in Arbre anchor the Wallonian fine-dining tradition. Hof van Cleve's positioning within this field is distinctive precisely because it operates in Flemish agricultural countryside while reaching toward a plant-forward agenda that is more commonly associated with urban fine dining.

The Rural Fine-Dining Model

Restaurants at this price tier in rural settings face a structural question that urban addresses avoid: the destination visit places heavier weight on every element of the experience, because the journey itself becomes part of the decision. Guests travelling from Ghent (roughly 25 kilometres) or from Brussels or Antwerp are committing time and logistics, which raises the bar for what the meal needs to deliver. The model that works in this context, and the one Hof van Cleve has operated within for two decades, is comprehensive investment in both kitchen and environment, so that the setting becomes an asset rather than a concession.

The Flemish Ardennes' agricultural character directly informs the produce-led, plant-forward direction that Van Der Veken has taken the kitchen. The region's rolling farmland and market garden tradition provide a logical foundation for a menu that gives vegetables structural prominence, which in turn gives the restaurant's rural location a culinary logic rather than merely a scenic one. Comparable rural fine-dining models elsewhere in Belgium, such as Ralf Berendsen in Neerharen or Slagmolen in Opglabbeek, face the same destination-visit logic, each anchoring their menu identity to the specifics of their regional setting.

Planning a Visit

Hof van Cleve is located at Riemegemstraat 1 in Kruisem, East Flanders, accessible by car from Ghent and within reach of Brussels for those willing to make the drive a deliberate part of the day. At the €€€€ price tier, the expectation is a full tasting menu format running several hours. The restaurant's award standing and the transition to a new kitchen direction under Van Der Veken make advance reservations essential.