In 2010 Tim Boury and Inge Waeles opened the restaurant Boury in a mansion of the same name on the Diksmuidsesteenweg in Roeselare. Barely a year later, the refinement of the young chef was crowned with a first Michelin star. Today the restaurant is located in a beautifully renovated villa on the Rumbeeksesteenweg, near the Sterrebos. Meanwhile, a second Michelin star was added and a handsome Gault Millau score of 17 out of 20.
As the icing on the cake, Boury was named Chef of the Year in 2017. On a sunny summer day we visited Tim and Inge at home - they live on the top floor of the restaurant. We sat down at the garden table for a nice barbecue with 'the Boury'tjes' and their two lovely daughters Félice (9) and Anaëlle (5).
What a beautiful location this is, a bit impressive even. Why did you move here with Boury in 2016?
Tim: "After six years in our first building we were looking for a new location to give the restaurant a second life. A kind of 'Boury 2.0', so to speak. We felt that we needed more space, both for the customers and for the staff. We found it in this outdated mansion, which was completely renovated and transformed into a modern setting while retaining its authenticity. We have room here for fifty place settings, which in itself is not much more than before. The difference is mainly in the comfort we can offer our guests. We have a separate lounge bar, an impressive outdoor kitchen with a pleasant terrace and a spacious car park. We also have three guest rooms and a private dining room for groups, companies and families. The kitchen is also much more spacious, which makes extra creativity and refinement possible. We need this to achieve the top level we strive for and are known for. You live here too, together with your two daughters.
Are Félice and Anaëlle easy eaters because they almost grow up in the restaurant?
Inge: "Not necessarily, but let's say they're doing their best. Anaëlle sometimes dares to refuse something, like most toddlers. The girls' favourite dishes are popular children's meals like macaroni, fries, sausage with apple sauce and their dad's doughnuts and puffs. But gastronomy is a part of our lives and of course we find it important to pass this on to them. We often take them to restaurants, because it is the best way to teach them to eat new things. For example, they like to eat mussels and oysters, which are not typical 'children's classics'. Sometimes they also help in the kitchen of the restaurant, for example to push peas out.
And a delicious barbecue like today is clearly also appreciated . Is the BBQ often lit at home Boury?
Tim: "Certainly and surely. On Sunday and Monday the restaurant is closed and on Sunday it is always family day here. We do something fun with the girls, sometimes with other family members too. Barbecue is ideal on a day like that: we prepare everything in advance and we have a good time together. Very simple and delicious.
What do you prefer to eat yourself? Are there any ingredients or dishes you absolutely don't like?
Tim: "I abhor stewed cabbage. You'll never find that on the menu here, sorry for the fans (laughs). Shortly baked I do like them again. The best way to please me is with a simple dish. At a restaurant I often order a steak, not complicated preparations. For me, good food starts with pure top products. I always respect the product itself and the basis - that may be the West-Flemish mentality. My dishes are trendy and light with a balance between classic and progressive. Not too special because that wouldn't work here... I pay a lot of attention to the origin and quality of my ingredients. For example, I have my own herb garden, the vegetables come from a local farmer and only the best meat and fish enters the kitchen here.
We've been told that it didn't matter much if you had become a butcher...
Tim: "That's right. I come from a butcher family: my grandfather and uncle had a butcher's shop in my native village Nieuwkerke, in the Heuvelland. That's where my passion for 'good meat' arose and as a child I wanted to become a butcher myself. Then it changed into a baker, but I chose the kitchen. Fortunately, otherwise Inge and you wouldn't have met!"
Inge: "I worked in the kitchen of Comme Chez Soi in Brussels when Tim did an internship as a cook. That's where it all started. The spark spread between Pierre Wynants' cooking pots".
Tim: "What many people don't know is that Inge himself is also a chef. She has had a cooking education and earned her stripes in top restaurants like Comme Chez Soi, Hof Van Cleve and Auberge du Pêcheur. Here she is the hostess because standing together in the kitchen wouldn't work. That would give sparks of a completely different kind (laughs)."
Inge: "Only one person can be the chef, hey. And the roles are perfectly divided between us. My experience as a chef is an advantage in the room. I immediately see when a dish is not good enough when it comes from the kitchen, and I can serve customers with a certain allergy well and they really appreciate that. And because I don't work in the kitchen, I have a little more time for the girls, which is also a plus. There is a lot of activity here (the interview takes place one hour before lunch starts, nvdr) and it is striking that the team consists of young people."
Is it a close team?
Tim: "Yes, it is. I know that I'm not an easy chef. But the level has to be there and I want to set the bar higher and higher. I learned that from Sergio Herman, with whom I worked for four years as sous-chef in Oud-Sluis. I learned a lot in all the places where I worked, but Sergio is a great example to me, especially in the field of creativity and innovation. I am strict and I sometimes dare to raise my voice. On the other hand, we also laugh at a lot with the team.
Traditionally, we end the Saturday evening with pizza, chips and frikandel. A kind of 'greasy evening' to end the week in beauty and balance. It's small things that keep people motivated to give their best every day."
Boury now has two Michelin stars next to its name. You make no secret of the fact that you want more.
Tim: "There are many established chefs today who complain about the state of the top gastronomy and the pressure that goes with it. They seek refuge in bistros, gastrobars and alternative concepts. I don't disapprove of them, but I still believe in the classic gastronomic restaurant, where we have many returning customers and attract more and more young people, which is a positive evolution."
Inge: "Prizes and awards bring high expectations, that's right. We have already had to take a lot of criticism, people can be hard. But we have learned to deal with it positively and to learn from it. This way we can grow and innovate further."
Photography by: Birger Stichelbaut
