Zet'Joe by Geert Van Hecke

Zet'Joe is Geert Van Hecke's post-Karmeliet restaurant. Van Hecke earned and held three Michelin stars for twenty years at De Karmeliet, the legendary Bruges dining room that closed in 2016. When he reopened a smaller, less formal room on Langestraat under the name Zet'Joe (Bruges dialect for 'whatever you like'), the expectation was that he would cook at a consciously lower pressure. What he delivered instead was the same precision in a more intimate setting — a one-Michelin-star rating arrived quickly, and the room books two-to-three weeks out for any Friday or Saturday dinner.

The cooking is classical French with creative adjustments — the kind of cuisine-bourgeoise-meets-grand-cuisine that defined Van Hecke's Karmeliet years, applied now at a pace and scale that the chef clearly finds more enjoyable. The menu runs three formats: a three-course Flat Land at €107, a five-course Brugge die Scone tasting menu at €193, and a broader à la carte option. Signatures include a salmon-Label-Rouge starter with smoked-eel tapioca, a supreme of Pyrenean milk-lamb, and a Dame Blanche 'Générale' that Van Hecke has served in various forms for three decades.

The wine list is French-classical as you would expect — serious Burgundy depth, Bordeaux verticals that go back to the 1980s, and an off-menu collection accessible through the sommelier for significant occasions. The pairing option is highly recommended; Van Hecke's food is built to sit against Burgundian whites and Rhône reds, and the sommelier understands exactly how to pace that.

The room seats thirty-six across a single dining hall — small enough to feel personal, large enough to avoid the claustrophobia of some one-star fine-dining spaces. Geert is usually on the floor for at least part of every evening service. The adjacent Bistro Refter (Molenmeers 2, around the corner) is his more casual sister room — worth knowing as a back-up option when Zet'Joe is fully booked.

Geert Van Hecke was one of Belgium's great three-star chefs at De Karmeliet for twenty years; Zet'Joe is the same hands in a smaller room at a more human price — Michelin-starred, €193 for the Brugge die Scone tasting. For a proposal, reserve table 4 (the corner table on the canal side), order the Brugge die Scone with pairing, and bring the ring.