One Belgian restaurant among world's top 50

Belgium's top-ranked chef, Peter Goossens of Hof Van Cleve in Kruishoutem, East Flanders, this week saw his restaurant slip 20 places in the top 50 international restaurants, as voted annually by Restaurant magazine. Goossens (pictured) falls from 25 last year to 45 this year; his remains the country’s only restaurant in the top 50.

In de Wulf in Dranouter, West Flanders, the restaurant of Kobe Desramaults, climbs from 72 to 61; Hertog Jan in Bruges, under Gert De Mangeleer, rises from 78 to 65. Like Hof Van Cleve, it has three Michelin stars

Copenhagen’s Noma, the restaurant of chef René Redzepi, returns to the top of the chart after being ousted last year by El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain. Noma had previously been top in 2010, 2011 and 2012. El Celler drops to number two, followed by Osteria Francescana in Modena in Italy in third.

Restaurant’s rankings are known for their eccentricity – Geert Vanhecke’s three-starred De Karmeliet in Bruges doesn’t figure at all, while Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Bray in the UK barely holds on to its place in the top 50, despite also having three stars.

While guides like Michelin and Gault-Millau use professional inspectors, Restaurant has a pool of 900 voters including chefs, people from the restaurant trade, critics and bloggers, divided into regions. They’re headed in the Benelux by Dirk De Prins, former editor of Ambiance magazine.

Photo: Jean Pierre Gabriel