BREAKFAST

Five-star Hotel Dukes’ Palace serves a gourmand breakfast with mainly local produce, chocolate and home-baked bread in a cosy, luxurious setting with very good value and a keen eye for details and customer service.

Prinsenhof 8; +32 50 44 78 88
www.hoteldukespalace.com

COFFEE STOP

Vero Caffè is a very small, family-owned coffee house located in the heart of the old city where the mother and daughter serve perfect coffee with home-baked pastries.

Sint-Jansplein 9; +32 50 70 96 09
www.facebook.com/VeroCaffeBrugge

LUNCH

Tête prêssée is a restaurant and shop built around an open kitchen where at all times you can see the chef cook with only local produce, meat from his family-owned farm and fresh vegetables according to season. It’s a true hidden gem with a cosy but trendy atmosphere. Also, Bistro Refter by renowned three-Michelin-starred restaurant De Karmeliet is where you can eat local comfort food – traditional Flemish/French cuisine with a little three-star twist served with good detail and royal portions and with a beautiful wine list.

Tête prêssée; Kon. Astridlaan 100; +32 470 21 26 27
www.tetepressee.be

Bistro Refter; Molenmeers 2; +32 50 44 49 00
www.bistrorefter.com

DINNER

I always dreamed of having my own restaurant [De Jonkman] where I could express myself and execute everything I’ve learned through all those years of apprenticeships in different three-star restaurants. I work only with local produce and I am the founder and biggest ambassador of the NorthSeaChefs. It’s my ambition and goal in life to promote our sea and its incredibly tasty and versatile inhabitants. Alternatively, I recommend Sans Cravate. Henk van Oudenhove is a truly talented chef who also specialises in working with local products, serving them with his own unique eye for detail. The restaurant is in a recently renovated building with a gastrobar serving more entry-level versions of his upscale dishes.

De Jonkman: Maalsesteenweg 438; +32 50 36 07 67
www.dejonkman.be

Sans Cravate: Langestraat 159; +32 50 67 83 10
www.sanscravate.be

LOCAL FLAVOUR

I love the authentic feeling of the building, the location – in one of the most beautiful parts of Belgium – the dresscode and the warm reception of the staff at De Siphon. They serve grandmother’s cuisine on her plates; typical old-fashioned, traditional Belgian cuisine with an astounding wine list with old vintages of some of the greatest first growths.

Damse Vaart-Noord 1; +32 50 62 02 02
www.siphon.be

NIGHT MOVES

The loungy atmopshere at Groot Vlaenderen sits within a classical interior in a medieval porter’s house. It serves traditional and classical cocktails with a very inspiring spirits and liquor collection. The Pharmacy, the Flemish version of a speakeasy run by a family of top bartenders, is trendy, hip and sometimes outrageous with modern, gastronomical cocktails with hard to find ingredients.

Groot Vlaenderen: Vlamingstraat 94; +32 50 68 43 56
www.grootvlaenderen.be

The Pharmacy: Elizabetlaan 178; +32 468 20 54 59
www.the-pharmacy.be