At 34, Gert De Mangeleer (41) was one of the youngest three-star chefs in the world. But he closed Duke Jan. The successor L.E.S.S. has just opened at a new location. In the meantime he is working with his loyal business partner Joachim Boudens on a small empire. Besides being a frequent traveler, he calls himself a family man. We went to see how that goes together.
Upstairs, Remi (11) is noisy. And Myrthe (14) has to study for the Easter exams. "What's your name?" I ask their little brother. "Titus" is the answer. "The Mangeleer." He's six. A bit later Pien (3) comes to demonstrate her beautiful smile. "Fideuà!", it sounds unanimous, when we ask what daddy can do to prepare the very best. "A pasta, prepared like paella", explains Gert De Mangeleer. "With chorizo, garlic, shallot, tomato and olives. The bottom of the pan needs to caramelize. Simple and incredibly tasty. If you eat that once, you're addicted."
"But now he doesn't do that anymore", complains Titus. "Hela! At Duke Jan's farewell party there was fideuà", riposteert father. "But now there's a fiduciary summit. It came out through my ears." Today there's dandan noodles as an appetizer. "Inspiration from Hong Kong", it turns out. "I bought the instant noodles, I made the sauce myself, based on szechuan pepper. There are also peanuts, coriander, pipe onion and crispy minced meat on the side. Remi has tasted the sauce before. "He's the hardest eater. He also prefers to eat pizza, hamburgers and French fries at the restaurant. Titus and Myrthe eat a lot."
Titus sums up: "Shells! Crab! Lobster!" Father doesn't send those things. "Until I was eighteen, I hardly ate anything myself, now everything - except red cabbage. On December 22, De Mangeleer and his sommelier-member Joachim Boudens
closed their three-star temple. The announcement, early last year, hit the spot like a bomb. But the duo didn't sit still. Their 'eatery' L.E.S.S by Hertog Jan*** moved to the Zand in Bruges. The case opened at the beginning of March as an 'all-day concept with an international twist'. "The idea was that we would start at eight with breakfast and finish dinner at midnight - sixteen hours of action and people. I worked on that breakfast for a year and a half. It was phenomenal. But the pressure on the team was too great. Breakfast accounted for only five percent of gross turnover, while it already absorbed a third of the staff. I myself worked from seven o'clock in the morning until three o'clock in the morning." Breakfast was drained after only a week. "Too bad," he says. "But you should also listen to your staff. Well, we've tried. Joachim's more sober about these things. I'm more impetuous." Now L.E.S.S. is a classic restaurant with lunch and dinner. "We run 150 place settings a day. The kitchen has become more mature. He was mainly Spanish oriented, now there are also Italian and many Asian influences, with for example sashimi preparations and a Japanese Robata grill. On the map my travels come together. You know, when you scroll through your Instagram posts, you see a kind of flashback on your life. For me, these are mainly the dishes that have been on the menu in recent years." The first reviews are excellent. It's also a wonderful business, as if you were in New York or Tokyo. "A fat puke", De Mangeleer calls it. "I feel good there and I'm really proud. And the machine's going to be up and running. Little by little, we can let it go. Rough Vermeire runs the business. I will supervise, and attend once or twice a week."
Branding
Titus wants to uncork the bottle. "Yes, he can. Hecan also blow on my cigar once in a while - but notDraw", laughs De Mangeleer.
For him and Boudens, it doesn't stop at L.E.S.S."This summer, a new restaurant will be opened at thebuilding on the Torhoutsesteenweg, where the old DukeJan and later L.E.S.S. were established. Classicsby Duke Jan*** is the working title. We'll have one.slightly more traditional French-Flemish inspired cuisinein the atmosphere of a Parisian brasserie.Pieter Lefevere will be the chef. Maxime Depreiterewill run the room."
In his marketing De Mangeleer remains his three starsplay out. "We're building a corporate brandaround the recurring signature by Duke Jan***,with also M.O.R.E by Duke Jan***. The lattercovers all the activities on our farm. Thatare individual applications for ten to one hundredguests. What you get there is top-notch. There willA magical, club-like atmosphere: private andwithout prying eyes. We've already organised dinners there.for reputable families, companiesand influencers. Furthermore, there is an idea with which I canreturned from Bangkok two years ago. Wedevelop a fast casual food concept à la Ellisand Otomat, where you eat for 10 to 25 euros. That's whatwe're scaling up to a chain. And there are conversationsfor an L.E.S.S., in a second city."
"Over the next two years, we're going to have to get all that on track," he says. Why not be content with one well run restaurant that attracts gastronomes from all over the world? "Gert is never at ease," says Annelies, his wife. "He's very restless and full of ambition."
Road magic "
When we took over Duke Jan in 2005, we decided that we wanted three stars," says De Mangeleer, "and in 2011 I became the youngest three-star chef in the world: the best moment in my career - never to be equalled. But then the sky falls on your head. The whole world is at your door. Everywhere you're invited to cook. At the same time, the question came up: what now? Are we going to stay in this old room? We moved to the farm in Zedelgem. And choked on us. We were going way over our budget. Just before the opening of the new Duke Jan, I panicked: 'I'm going to lose everything and my private life is being dragged along', I thought. I crashed badly then. But it was all right: a year later we were able to go to the bank and repay a large part of it early. The plan was to stop at a peak. That decision was made in mid-2017. Less than five years after the move and earlier than we expected. The financial pressure was already a bit gone by then."
"With Hertog Jan we could hardly grow any more," he explains. "And you don't keep reinventing yourself. I couldn't create dishes at the pace of the first fifteen years. There are colleagues who make a good living with one case until they reach the age of 65. That seemed very boring to me. The kick was gone. The road to the top of Mont Blanc is beautiful, but after a few days you want to leave. I don't want to be a museum, an institution, a Bocuse. I've also travelled a lot and seen many cultures, concepts and types of kitchens," he continues. "And the culinary landscape is changing rapidly. I doubt that the type of restaurant where you sit at the table for four, five hours and pay 400 euros will survive. People can say, "We've seen that now - the magic is gone. In L.E.S.S. guests spend one hundred euros on great dishes, a good service and good vibes. That will be the future of gastronomy, I think. And they don't complain anymore that there's too much tension on the lock of the
toilet."
Oxygen
Titus wants another "shells" from the ibericoham on the counter. "That's what's eaten here every day," De Mangeleer laughs. Myrthe is also hungry. During the exams there is already a little extra. "On Sunday there were cockles in Thai broth with kafir, lime and soy, ginger and garlic, and beef massala," De Mangeleer likes to
present himself as a family man. "By stopping we bought back some freedom," he says. "The pressure dropped a little. I had hoped it would be quieter, but I've never worked so hard before. Since January 7 I had one or two days off. The more you have founded, the more difficult it becomes: you have made so many mistakes, you want to eliminate them. In the run-up to the new L.E.S.S. I walked around stressed, but a new slump hasn't happened. I'm enjoying it. I do. Now the financial lines were also much better set up. And in the meantime, three quarters of our investment has been repaid. Careful: I'm not in. My company's got some oxygen. That's different.
"I'm not very much at home, but I feel like I've had enough. And I want to be able to show my children what I've done. And if they have a dream, they can help them. I even have an amount in my head," "I'm a little reluctant to travel now. In December, I was Japan. In January there was an event in Lyon, in early April there was one in Lisbon. In May I go to San Francisco, in June to Germany, in July to Hong Kong and in August again, in November Budapest will follow. That's all that's fixed yet. But I want to pick up my own life again. Once everything's up and running, I'll travel like I used to. I need that, get out of here. And so does Annelies. When we closed Duke Jan, her biggest concern was that I'd be home every night. And my lesson was spelled."
"I'm used to being alone with the kids every night," she says. "It's nice when Gert is there, but if it takes too long he gets restless. Then there's more chaos here too. In the end, there's little difference from the past. I'm looking forward to going to a party or so together, but a man who's home every night, I really didn't like that." Caviar On his
iPad,
Remi shows a video of a woman who tastes too enthusiastically, chews noodles, "That's how he sits there watching movies all day long. And then we saw, "Daddy, when are we going to eat noodles again?" So now. "I like to cook at home, but never sausage with apple sauce: so can Annelies. And when I cook, I do my way. The children eat with you: good. They don't eat with it: it's fine, too."
"Too spicy, Titus judges. Remi wants "without nuts and that green" - the pipe onion is hard to find - but thinks it is "delicious."As a main course, father crispy duck serves salad with hoisin sauce - a classic in L.E.S.S. "I regularly bring some products", he says. He fries pieces of duck leg that have been preserved in advance until crispy and prepares a salad of pomelo, pomegranate and pine nuts, mint, coriander and red onion. The offspring is feasting. "This isn't a three-star kitchen, is it? This is simple food, as in L.E.S.S.: tasty, neat and beautifully presented. I'll be amber if there's a leaf wrong. Annelies calls me an autistic person."
"When he recently made balls in tomato sauce, he weighed each ball separately," she says. "When I cook, it's very common. Babysits sometimes think it's lobster and caviar here every day," which is demonstrated by the fact that half a kilo is being fished out of the fridge. "Our weekly portion", he jokes.
Photography by: Birger Stichelbaut
