The story
On the quiet Nieuwewandeling in Gent, Rizoom invites just 24 guests per night into its dining room. Eight of those seats are at the kitchen counter, where you can watch chef Yves Kerckhoffs and his team work directly. The setting is intimate, deliberate – a space that lets the food speak.
Rizoom’s cuisine is umami-driven, built around sustainable farmed and caught fish, shellfish, and crustaceans, alongside aged meats and poultry. Vegetables lead the menu through the (micro)seasons. The kitchen grounds its approach in the philosophy and technique of Japanese cuisine, while sourcing ingredients from sustainable suppliers across Europe. Condiments and conserving techniques – many rooted in Japan – and the use of open fire underscore each element. The result is a product-focused menu that seeks layers of depth in flavour and texture, always highlighting a specific characteristic of an ingredient or its moment in the season. “Our menu is always moving, always in the middle of development,” the team explains. “It never starts nor finishes, always in search of new connectivity.”
Rizoom offers a multi-course tasting menu that changes throughout the year. On Wednesday and Thursday nights, the omakase ‘fundamentals’ menu is a shorter, lighter version (€98). Friday and Saturday nights feature the omakase ‘experience’ – 13 to 15 servings depending on the season (€145). A Friday lunch service (€85) presents a compressed version of the menu in about 2.5 hours. Each meal can be paired with wines and sakes (€80 for 5 glasses, €55 for half glasses, with a non-alcoholic pairing also available). The restaurant’s focus on fish, shellfish, and aged meats means it cannot accommodate vegetarian, vegan, or fish-allergy diets, but it can adapt for shellfish, crustacean, gluten, soy, and lactose intolerances where cross-contamination is not an issue.
Rizoom’s precise, evolving approach earned it a Michelin Recommended distinction in the 2026 guide – a nod to the quiet confidence of a kitchen that lets its produce and technique do the talking.
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From inside his kitchen overlooking the dining room with hardwood floors, wood, concrete and black furniture, Yves Kerckhoffs sends out sleek, well-made plates with Nordic-Nipponese twists, after the success of his pop-up ramen bar Shibui. The day we went for lunch, it was a festival of flavor! Fried kale chips in spicy oil and preserved lemon; bass crudo hiding under a shiso leaf; semi-dehydrated beets in a scallop coral jus dotted with Sichuan pepper oil; a dazzling Ostra Régal oyster braised over the fire in its shell, seasoned with trout roe, pale-leaf woodland sunflower root purée and oyster jus; an impressive surf ’n’ turf combo of pearly halibut dry-aged for seven days, cut into thin strips and served over grilled eringi and maitake mushroom tapenade, all drizzled in chicken jus; head-spinningly good Duke of Berkshire pork loin dry-aged in koji and cooked over the embers, paired with yuzu jelly and a warm endive salad, intensified by a stunning pork jus and smoked haddock sauce; and a gentle landing to the meal with kombu ice cream, celeriac caramel and white chocolate crumble. We’re practically speechless! // Alba Nebbioli
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