Chef de Cuisine Paul de Groote takes Ghent restaurant to the next level
At the Gault&Millau Belgium awards ceremony, Restaurant LOF Restaurant, part of Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof in Ghent, was richly rewarded. The Ghent restaurant, which gained a new face with Paul de Groote last year, achieved a score of 14/20 and 2 chef’s hats. This increases the fine-dining restaurant by a full point compared to last year.
Gault&Millau: ‘Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof is putting its restaurant on the map with chef Paul de Groote, former sous chef of Inter Scaldes. His refined dishes, such as ray with courgette ointment and sauces with Anjou pigeon, show craftsmanship. A higher rating and extra chef’s hat speak for themselves.’
Grand in simplicity with Paul de Groote
The chef from Zeeland was in the kitchen with Jannis Brevet for 20 years. Under the guidance of the well-known Michelin chef, he learned the art of simplicity. De Groote finds, as he says himself, the most beautiful products thanks to the now 20-year-long warm relationship with the best suppliers. In the dishes of the new Chef de Cuisine, guests taste and see the pure product: ‘it starts with giving love and attention to the flavours of the pure product. Going back to the basics of cooking and finding the depth there’. The naturally calm chef is close to the product and his surroundings.
About Chef de Cuisine Paul de Groote
Paul de Groote was born in 1980 in Oostbrug. He once wanted to be a carpenter, but fell in love with the craft of cooking. After attending the Belgian chef training course at the Groente Poort in Bruges, the chef began his career at Inter Scaldes at the age of 21. First under the guidance of Maartje Boudeling and later under Jannis Brevet, where he experienced Jannis’ first and last day in the kitchen. Paul de Groote draws his inspiration from everyday life, including the cooking skills of his Moluccan wife and his first cooking lessons as a child from his grandmother.
About LOF Restaurant, Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof in Ghent
The fine-dining restaurant is located in the former mansion of baron and poet Olivier de Reylof. LOF Restaurant stands for fine dining in its purest form. Chef Paul de Groote – former sous chef of 3-star restaurant Inter Scaldes – is grand in his simplicity. With just a few ingredients, he creates powerful flavours in classic fashion. The complexity of his dishes lies in this simplicity. In attention to true flavours. A stage for the pure product. Together with a young and ambitious team, De Groote serves a culinary experience with love for their craft.
About Pillows Hotels
The label’s hotels and restaurants are located in the most beautiful locations in the Netherlands and Belgium. Since its launch in 2017, the following hotels and restaurants have opened: Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Ter Borch and Coperto Restobar in Zwolle (2017), Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof, restaurant LOF and Olivier Le Petit Bistro in Ghent (2018), Pillows City Hotel Brussels Centre in Brussels (2020), Luxury Boutique Hotel aan de IJssel and restaurant IJssel in Deventer (2021), Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Maurits at the Park and Restaurant van Oost and Spring Brasserie (2022) and Inter Scaldes and associated boutique hotel in Kruiningen (2023). Pillows falls under International Hotel Management Group, subsidiary of Amerborgh, founded by Alex Mulder.
