Brussels has “more Michelin stars than Rome”

Brussels now has more Michelin stars than Rome, Milan or Berlin, according to the celebrated restaurant guide's international director Michael Ellis. On Monday the guide announced its ratings for Belgium for the coming year, including two new one-star restaurants in Brussels, and one new two-star.

New to the one-star ratings are Villa Lorraine in Uccle, an institution since 1953, and WY in the Mercedes House on the Sablon - a new project by Bart De Pooter, whose flagship restaurant Pastorale in Rumst already has two stars.

A second star goes this year to Bon-Bon (pictured), on the Avenue de Tervuren in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, which the guide described as "one of the best businesses in the country". Chef Christophe Hardiquest was praised for "bringing quality products to a new level of flavour, thanks to his
characteristic creativity and technical skill".

"The new selection is a perfect reflection of the developments on the Belgian culinary scene and in particular in Brussels," commented Michelin's international director Michael Ellis. With 19 stars, he said, the capital now has more stars than Berlin, Rome or Milan. "Brussels can take its place at the top of European gastronomy."

Arabelle Meirlaen, chef of restaurant Arabelle in Marchin, Liege province, meanwhile, earned her first Michelin star just days after being named Chef of the Year in the rival guide Gault&Millau.