The story
“The door seems closed. But not really. Push, and you bathe in light.” So begins the experience at Publiek in Gent. The light falls on your clothes, making them feel like velvet. You find your seat, a wooden table, an amuse arrives just as you settle. The right wine in the right glass. The light softens as conversation rises. You taste the evening, the company, a potato—but different.
Lunch and dinner change with the season. A recent lunch menu offered roasted paprika with BBQ ham and strawberry, mackerel with poached leek and new potatoes, veal tartare with La Trappe Isid’or, thyme, and tomato. Dinner brings an aspic of fennel with basil and spring vegetables, a seared “Mooie Meid” tomato with fig leaf oil, spitskool with grey North Sea shrimp, quail with peas and cauliflower shoots, and rhubarb with kombucha and bay leaf. Menus run three to seven courses, with optional cheese additions.
“We do our utmost not to be perfect,” the team says. That philosophy translates into cooking that is precise yet unpretentious, seasonal and modern. The restaurant’s Michelin star (awarded in 2026) recognises the high quality of this approach—where every detail, from the wine pairing to the velvet light, is designed to make you leave more in love than when you arrived.
Recognition
Details
History
High quality cooking
As you leave Publiek, you’re handed a box of matches on which is written “Have some sympathy and some taste.” Well, that pretty much sums up our time at this cool restaurant with whitewashed brick walls, tables without tablecloths, and vintage chairs. Here you’ll find the three Flemish Foodies, chef Olly Ceulenaere alongside Jason Blankaert and Kobe Desramaults. Known for his rebellious streak, the chef drops by in the middle of lunch, dish cloth on his shoulder, with his interpretation of Flemish-style asparagus: chunks of white asparagus cooked al dente, soft-boiled egg from the polders and North Sea shrimp bisque; before a perfectly glazed hake garnished with grilled baby leeks, topped with chervil cream; finishing with rhubarb, whey ice cream and dill, for the lovely dessert. // Bobbi Rossi
Location
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