The gourmet garden of Chalet de la Forêt

The garden of the restaurant ‘Au Chalet de la Forêt’ is the brainchild of chef Pascal Devalkeneer, who commissioned renowned landscape designer Erik Dhont to realize his dream of a living, inspiring vegetable garden. The garden’s rare originality combines productive, visual and aesthetic requirements. 

Like a handful of stones arranged on a bed of gravel, the raised tubs overflowing with herbs, leafy greens, root vegetables and condiments create an edible work of art that is a delight to stroll through. 

There is never a dull season in this garden, where plants bear fruit and flower in succession, and where you are greeted by a new fragrance everywhere you turn. The garden is dotted with fruit trees and bushes, raspberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants that provide the restaurant with a fresh supply of fruit. And in the midst of this profusion of scents and tastes, there are two bee colonies whose hives produce a distinctive honey.    

This approach to cooking, combining lesser-known varieties with environmental awareness, gastronomy, landscape aesthetics and contemporary art, is a work of art in itself.