Tim & Inge_Sla en Bloemkool_Wide

Ambassador of GOESTING

Tim & Inge Boury
Tim Boury & Inge Waeles
Restaurant Boury

Tim Boury & Inge Waeles

Chef Tim Boury describes his third Michelin star last year as a complete surprise and a gratifying acknowledgement of his entire team’s hard work. This ambitious chef refuses to sit back and relax, however. “First and foremost, we’re cooking for our guests. It’s for them that we need to keep growing and developing. While receiving this award is fantastic, it is definitely not the end of the line.”

Fresh from the North Sea

The cooking style at Boury in Roeselare is refined and product-based, with respect for excellent ingredients. Salty North Sea shrimp is accompanied by zesty sorrel and green apple, and winter leeks are brightened up by an addition of seaweed and trout roe. Tim appreciates the North Sea’s bounty and loves to feed his guests fresh shellfish, often served raw. Raw langoustine tartare gets combined with sweet pumpkin and aromatic seaberries, topped with rich crème fraîche from a local dairy.

Only the very best products

Tim honours his suppliers, who supply him with their best products. In summer he looks forward to the organic strawberries’ brief growing season. “I work with a farmer who only grows strawberries in soil. Using a heated greenhouse to force them is out of the question. Strawberries grown outdoors are so much more flavourful. The season is past before you know it, so we savour them while we can.” Another local gem is ’t Groendal. These artisanal cheesemakers’ aged cheeses are famed throughout Belgium. “A favourite is their crumbly aged cheese. Despite the long maturation, it’s subtly salty and pleasantly unctuous.” Hop shoots, white asparagus and locally caught turbot all make this chef’s heart beat faster as well.

Tim & Inge

Chefs from all over the world

Boury’s kitchen is full of chefs who have come here to learn from all over. To address the terrible labour shortages in the hospitality industry, Tim Boury and his brother Ben set up Boury Academy. Thanks to collaborations with international cooking schools from New York to Switzerland and as far away as India, their kitchen welcomes a new crop of interns every six months. “We make sure they experience all aspects of kitchen work, so that they learn as much as possible.” The mix of food cultures provides culinary influences from across the globe. “Our staff meals are journeys of discovery; we eat dishes from different continents each day.” These influences nourish the chef and inspire new creations. “Our current menu includes fried dumplings I dreamed up together with a Chinese intern. In China they are eaten with a spicy chilli sauce, but we serve them with local Wostyn mustard.”

Three stars and a casual atmosphere

Inge, Tim’s wife, ensures that guests receive a warm welcome. They aim for an all-encompassing experience, where for the course of a meal, people can stop thinking and lose themselves in their enjoyment. “We don’t want an overly formal atmosphere. Just because we have three stars now, we haven’t suddenly become stiff and formal. Our guests remain assured of a warm welcome and an excellent culinary experience.”

Their wine list is composed in such a way that everyone can find something to their taste, from classic wine lovers to natural wine aficionados. “We also make interesting non-alcoholic pairings with homemade juices and infusions. For example, we serve a wild celery kombucha and use fermented parsley root to create a subtly sweet juice.” If you ask for a gin tonic, they’ll open up a bottle of Boury Bottled. Tim has his own line of spirits, from gins to herbal liqueurs, which are produced by the iconic Filliers jenever distillery. “We are currently impatiently awaiting our vermouth. This fortified wine is flavoured with locally harvested herbs. Right now, it is still ageing in the barrel; it should be ready to serve in cocktails by summer.”

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"Just because we have three stars now, we haven’t suddenly become stiff and formal. Our guests remain assured of a warm welcome and an excellent culinary experience.”

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