© Belga/Fred Debrock
King Philippe and Queen Mathilde had dinner at the Hof van Cleve on Saturday evening. HLN reports this based on several sources.
It was a bit of a shock for the guests at the Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem on Saturday evening. The most famous couple in our country suddenly sat in the corner of the star shop. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde sat down for the same menu as all the other guests. They sat discreetly in a corner and could see the entire restaurant, but they did not hide themselves. That’s what HLN writes.
The palace does not provide much explanation about the outing. They report that it is a private activity of King Philip and Queen Mathilde and they will not comment further.
The timing of the visit to the Hof van Cleve is interesting, because on December 22, top chef Peter Goossens will say goodbye to the star restaurant. He leaves the restaurant in the hands of his successor Floris Van der Veken, who has been in charge of it for years.
Goossens and his Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem received the maximum score of 19.5 out of 20 in the Gault&Millau for twenty years. But the three-star restaurant does not receive any points in the 2024 guide. It is up to Van der Veken to prove himself.
Goossens himself will now be in the kitchen of La Rigue, the centrally located restaurant in the iconic hotel La Réserve by entrepreneurs Bart Versluys and Marc Coucke in Knokke.