5/13/2013

De Vitrine - Gent

After having visited 'Coeur d'Artichaut' in Gent recently I still had a hunger for some more culinary violence from this city and decided to visit 'De vitrine'.

 This resto, another disciple of the bistronomy trend is in fact owned by Kobe Desramaults from 'In de Wulf'. Where in his 1 Michelin star rated restaurant in Dranouter he can unleash his gastronomical devils with his local and experimental cuisine 'De vitrine' offers a more approachable insight in his cuisine.


We enter the resto, an old butchershop - reminds me of 'La buvette' in Brussels- and have a seat at the bar. We start of with some bubbles, Crémant de Loire L'Albatros and a portion of fresh whelks with a honey mayonaise. Ideal to start with a clean palate.


First dish is a serving of white 'dune' asparagus, cooked al dente, combined with fresh purslane, purslane sauce ,a creamy egg yolk and raw asparagus in a light vinegar. A light yet tasty starter, nice acidity and the asparagus prepared like they should.
The wine we have with this dish is a natural, bio Sylvaner with a quite prominent sour mineral taste and a hint of oak. It pairs well with this dish.
The second dish was optional and I'm glad we opted to have it as it was my favourite of the evening.
An escabeche of mackrel rolled in a thin sheet of horse radish, fermented/preserved garlic,a green herbs cream/mayo and toasted quinoa. A super fresh velvetty mackrel filet, partially raw with a nice vivid taste from the escabeche marinade. The preserved garlic was quite prominent but didn't overpower and that green herbs sauce(a mixture of garlic, chervil, taragon and chives and prepared like a mayo) was simply delicious!

Following dish was a small, roasted zucchini/courgette with charred onion leaves, toasted wheats, thinly sliced poached zucchini/courgette and a cream of zucchini/courgette flavoured with bacon(that's what  I think I tasted, the flavour was quite prominent). Nice dish combining the roasted/charred flavours with the sweetness of the zucchini and the smoked flavour in the cream. And as you can allready see green was the colour of the evening!

This was followed by a flavour packed, slow-cooked piece of lamb shoulder. A very fatty but deep taste with soft, succulent flesh and paired with some young turnips, fresh goat cheese and charred spring onions. 


Dessert was a daring combination of chervil cremeux, sorrel granité and fresh crispy cold chervil served on a small tarte sablée. A combination that seemed odd on paper but wonderfully worked as a light, refreshing end to my dinner.  A risky combo though...
My wife opted fot the assorted chees platter and received a nice piece of Damse mokke, a St-Romain and a Belgian goat cheese. All perfectly ripe.

Coffee came with some brownies and lemon curd.

There's no A la carte menu here, you can only choose for the 4-service menu for 45€ with an option for a 5th dish at 10€, drinks not included.
De vitrine offers a modern cuisine with some daring dishes but all prepared with great savoir-faire. The escabeche of mackrel is allready one of the best dishes I had this year and more than worth our little trip to Gent.
Vaut le détour!
Brabantdam 134
9000 Gent
09/336.28.08


Enjoy,

Kev

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