ristorazione — Wuustwezel · Fiandre
In the village of Gooreind, among the fields of Antwerp Province, a pastoria (former rectory farmhouse) from 1866 guards an Italian secret. Chef Johan De Jaegher and his wife Sylvie have transformed the restored building into a restaurant that carries the authenticity of Italian cooking into the heart of Belgium.
The Pastoria of Gooreind was built in 1866: a building that time had left dormant, until Johan De Jaegher and Sylvie Aernouts revealed its character, restoring every stone with the care of those who know that a beautiful house is already half the story. Crossing this threshold means entering a place that has chosen to endure.
The dining room speaks to the successful balance between elegance and warmth that the accolades later confirmed: thirteen and a half Gault Millau points and the Eccellenze Italiane award for the third consecutive year certify not only the cooking, but the entire experience — the knowledgeable service, the wine list, the attention to detail felt from the moment one sits down.
The Morello Forni oven is the visible heart of the kitchen: built by one of the most respected names in wood-fired oven making, it bakes Neapolitan pizzas of the highest order — from the Profumo with Parma ham, rocket and truffle to the classic margheritas — with the temperature and rhythm that only wood can give.
Oils from Piedmont and Chianti, buffalo mozzarella, aged balsamic vinegar: every dish bears the precise signature of a cuisine that makes no compromises.
