Interview with Grégory Lauwaert, Chef of the restaurant Dans le Noir ? Brussels

To help you learn more about our concept, we interviewed Grégory Lauwaert, the Chef of Warwick Brussels and Dans le Noir ?.  Indeed, we do not only eat in total darkness, but we also offer you a full-fledged tasting experience: a 100% surprise menu with a combination of textures and flavours as well as local and seasonal products. We tell you more about Chef Grégory Lauwaert and his new challenge.

 

Hello Chef, to begin with we would like to know what your background is?

First of all, I trained as an apprentice for 5 years in a starred restaurant in Brussels and then became a kitchen clerk. I finally became a Chef when I was 26 years old. I am currently working at the Warwick and for the "Dans le Noir” concept.

How would you describe your cooking and your culinary style?

I have a Belgian-French cooking style, but I can cook a bit of everything. With the Warwick Hotel and the Dans le Noir? restaurant, my cooking is very much focused on gastronomy.

In 2021, the restaurant Dans le Noir opened at the Warwick, and you became the chef of this innovative concept, how did you see this new challenge?

I took it as a totally different and new experience because serving food that will be tasted in the dark forces me to work differently. We have to do some studies and tests around this experience to get an idea of how tastes and flavours change in the dark without confusing the customers too much.

Did you enjoy having this freedom in the making of these new types of menus and beyond the cuisine, in the Dans le Noir experience?

For me, I consider Dans le Noir ? to be a very nice life experience as much as a cooking experience since it is totally different to work with with visually impaired people. You must re-think your organisation so that we can work in symbiosis with the guides and for the full experience to work well.

Do you have any inspirations in the kitchen such as chefs or a particular culinary style?

My first chef himself was an excellent mentor who taught me how to appreciate the French gastronomy and that's why I like to associate it with Belgian food in this surprise menu. I like to work with seasonal products, and the fact that we change the menu every three months at Dans le Noir ? reinforces this habit.

To finish and come back to our concept, we would like to know what Dans le Noir? means to you?

It's something I could never have imagined doing, making meals that will be tasted blind is in my opinion something that goes far beyond the kitchen, the whole infrastructure around the experience is to be lived once. I wish it to any chef to try this way of working because as I said, you can have so much fun in the kitchen and always go further!

Finally, here are a few of our last tripadvisor reviews:

Very nice experience!

"An experience to try, the meal was delicious, thanks to our guide Carmen! We didn't see the time pass..." Eva R. 02/2022

Excellent experience!

"Warm welcome, excellent food, very convivial moment and full of discoveries, we warmly recommend!" Vbkalizee 02/2002

 
"Great!

"I had the opportunity to eat in this restaurant with a friend, the was very good, and the staff is very nice!" Esteller 01/2022