The prestigious Michelin Guide will award its stars to selected establishments in Belgium and Luxembourg at a ceremony held in Antwerp on Monday. Among the restaurants included in this year's selection are two Luxembourg City staples, Le Lys and La Cristallerie.
Monday's programme in Antwerp features the Michelin Guide's ceremony for Belgium and Luxembourg. It promises to be particularly exciting for Kim de Dood from the restaurant Le Lys and Milan Brée from La Cristallerie: both Luxembourg City restaurants were newly included in the guide's official selection this year.
While the selection in itself is a feat, it opens the door to the top prize for any restaurateur, the Michelin star.
While some are hoping for their first star, others also face the possibility of losing one, something three Luxembourg restaurants experienced in 2022, when La Cristallerie, Clairefontaine, and Jardins d'Anaïs all lost a star.
Kim de Dood of Le Lys makes no secret of his ambitions. "I am going to Antwerp and hoping that something comes of it," says the head chef. "When you are invited, you always tell yourself: 'Maybe I will be rewarded.'"
Since the restaurant opened in summer 2025, he has been working towards his goal of the mighty Michelin star. "Honestly, I think we have earned it," says the chef, drawing not only on what his clients tell him but also on comparisons with other restaurants that have already been recognised.
A star is not only a stamp of approval, it's unbeatable marketing. "It is great to have 4.9 on TripAdvisor, but a star immediately gives the restaurant a whole new dimension," says the chef of Le Lys.
This ambition also brings pressure, not only for him, but for the whole team and management: "Everyone wants to go in the same direction. We all want to reach for the stars."
The key factor, he believes, is how consistently high quality reaches the guests at the table: "Consistency makes the difference. When everything is at a high level, and you receive that quality on every visit, that is what makes the difference."
Should the star not come, he would of course be disappointed: "At first it would be hard for me, but then you start again from scratch and tackle it even better next year."
At Milan Brée's La Cristallerie, the tone is somewhat more restrained. The invitation to Antwerp alone is something he regards as a great honour: "I am enormously pleased to have been invited, it is the first time as a head chef. Before, it was always my bosses who went, and my team and I would watch from the kitchen on YouTube. Now I am there myself."
La Cristallerie has entered a new chapter in recent months. A year ago, the restaurant had dropped out of the guide entirely; now it is back. "One thing was always clear to us: we wanted, at the very least, for Michelin to see us," explains Milan Brée.
Is a star realistic? "That would of course be something special, a real milestone for the team and me. Whether my kitchen deserves a star, I do not know. I cook the way I enjoy cooking. The feedback from clients is very good, but what goes on in the minds of the inspectors, I cannot say."
For him, the product and technique are clearly at the heart of everything: "It does not always have to be noble ingredients, you can make a superb starter from celeriac. That is where you make the difference."
Should Monday not deliver? "I will carry on as I have for the past year and see how we can improve. The invitation already means a great deal to me, I am 33 years old, in my first head chef position, and we have only been open for a year."
In the end, Kim de Dood and Milan Brée are heading into the ceremony with different expectations. Nonetheless, both know that they are now at least on the Michelin Guide's radar. On Monday at around 12.30pm, the verdict will be delivered in Antwerp.
