Cloche

The story

Cloche Aalst: Modern French Dining in Hofstade, Gault&Millau 14

Cloche is a modern French restaurant at Hofstade-Dorp 21, 9308 Aalst (Hofstade), Belgium, where chef Tobias Clocheret cooks seasonal menus in view of the dining room. The restaurant received a Gault&Millau score of 14 for 2026, and Michelin has recommended it for the same year.

Chef and cooking style

Tobias Clocheret starts from the product and classic French technique, but he leaves room for the unexpected. A forgotten herb, a local find, or a familiar classic told in a slightly different way can all appear on the plate. Guests are told he is a man of few words and great precision, and each plate that leaves the pass carries his stamp.

Dishes on the seasonal card

The menu changes with what the season offers. Guests choose how many courses they want, and the kitchen assembles the sequence. Sample dishes include prawn with cucumber, crème d'Isigny and dill, turbot with courgette flower and tarragon, and Duroc pork with mint, pea and lardo. Dessert might be cherry with almond, mascarpone and 64% dark chocolate. The lunch menu is shorter, with confit salmon, farm chicken with morels, or chocolate and hazelnut.

Room and terrace

The kitchen sits inside the dining room with no screens or partition, so the cooking becomes part of the evening. Host Wim De Mulder receives guests, and herbs and edible flowers come from the restaurant's own herb garden. In good weather, dinner moves out to the terrace while the last evening light falls across the plates.