The story
Nova sits at Collegestraat 11 in Sint-Niklaas, where a seasonal BBQ kitchen cooks over an open wood fire and the Michelin Guide lists it as Recommended for 2026. The restaurant serves a set tasting menu from a small dining room, so reservations matter.
Guests sit at the chef's table or at a regular table, close enough to the central kitchen to watch each plate come together. The wood-fired BBQ is in view and you can feel its heat from the room. Guy de Jonghe, who taught himself to cook, works the counter beside the fire. The room seats a maximum of 18 guests per seating.
The kitchen cooks with what grows nearby and sources from farmers and producers it knows well, with a preference for the region or the closest possible source. The menu changes with the day's supply and is a carte blanche, so the dishes shift from week to week. The Carte Blanche tasting menu costs 110 euro, and a creative Friday lunch version costs 75 euro. Water is unlimited for 7 euro, and the wine list runs from 9 euro per glass, with homemade non-alcoholic drinks alongside.
Le Fooding listed Nova in 2026 and described a five-course menu that moved from seared scallops with creamed celeriac and clementine to grilled monkfish in shrimp bisque. Later courses included mackerel with a coulis of fermented tomatoes and house kimchi, venison with stuffed Savoy cabbage, and a tiramisu. Grilled oysters and a langoustine dish can be added for a supplement.
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While the winter fun fair floods Grote Markt in Sint-Niklaas with its flashing neon and the greasy aroma of churros, just a can smash away on Collegestraat sits Nova. At carefully timed seatings, Tineke Maerevoet warmly welcomes a maximum of 18 guests into this slim, serene space of pale wood and creamy neutrals, all here for the radical, eco-locavore cuisine of her self-taught husband, Guy de Jonghe, who’s busy behind the counter tending to a crackling wood fire. Over the five-course tasting menu, the chef rolls out deeply flavorful, sauce-forward creations: the inevitable amuse-bouche kicks things off (that evening, seared scallops with creamed celeriac and clementine); followed by stunning grilled monkfish steak nestled in shrimp bisque with spinach and leek ravioli; marinated mackerel, seared and ringed with a coulis of last summer’s fermented tomatoes, watercress jus and house kimchi; then seasonal game in the form of venison, paired with stuffed Savoy cabbage and a sublimely meaty jus… climaxing with a tiramisu extravaganza that (almost) stole the show. Want to push things further? Grilled oysters with beurre blanc or a signature langoustine dish can be added for a supplement. · Jean-Eude d’Aye-Quiry
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