Kaagman & Kortekaas

Out of the box combinations that work perfectly.

Great hospitality, great atmosphere

A few years ago I went to Kaagman & Kortekaas (“K&K”) with one of my best friends and it was a night to remember. Not only because of the delicious food and wine, but also because of the great people that helped us all evening. We ended up at the bar, having drinks with the crew.

Now, a few years later, nothing has changed: Giel, the chef, still creates delicious flavour bombs in his kitchen and Bram, the host, still finds daring wines that perfectly accompany the dishes. Besides that, the crew of K&K is still caring, funny and passionate. If one thing is certain, it is that they will make sure that you will relax and enjoy the evening.

Open kitchen

The evening started when we sat down at a table adjacent to the kitchen. From here, we could follow every move of the dedicated chefs. The cool thing about the kitchen is that it is located in the middle of the restaurant and that you can look right into it, or at least see the teamwork between the kitchen crew and the waiters. Another thing that I really like is that you can smell the great aromas of the dishes straight out of the kitchen and it makes you long for the dishes even more.

Besides the open kitchen, the restaurant features a lot of details that refer to butchers. The interior is a combination of warm en modern features, which give the space a relaxed vibe. That vibe is also created by great music on the background and the sound of people having fun. A big plus for K&K is that both younger and older foodies visit the restaurant, which keeps the atmosphere vivid and approachable.

Flavour bombs

So let’s start with Giel’s flavour bombs. K&K works with local, specialized suppliers. This results in the best products for the dishes that are served. The dishes often contain a combination of meat and fish, a combination that is not very standard, but Giel and his crew show us that it works and that beautifully flavoured combinations are the result of that combination.

For example, the veal tartare combined with a herring sauce, fresh dill and a bitterbal made from mussels and veal. The combination of the flavours works really well and the structures of the soft, fresh tartare with the crispy bitterbal is just perfect. Both the mussels and the veal are from West-Vlaanderen and produced by local farmers. The dish is inspired by a holiday of Giel and if the dish reflects the holiday, I think it was a very good one!

Perfect wine combinations

However, it gets even better when you combine these dishes with the daring wines, selected by Bram. The wines are sometimes classic, but some combinations are out of the box. It is refreshing to see and to experience new combinations that are not typical. The miso with eggplant, chicken liver, hazelnut and shaved tuna heart, for example, was combined with a delicate saké from the southern part of Japan.

Another cool combination was the dessert with figs and a very nice beer, Duchesse de Bourgogne. The dessert was subtly sweet and was served with thyme ice cream, so the sweetness of the beer with a subtle sour flavor complemented the dish perfectly.

All this combined with the passionate service, made it another evening that I would love to repeat again soon. So if K&K is on your list, what are you waiting for?

Highlight

The out of the box combinations: both food and wines, that result in food that makes me want to keep eating and drinking. The exceptional service and the atmosphere at K&K are an additional, very good reason to go there!