Zilte strives to offer diners a global emotional experience, starting with the skyline of Antwerp from the top floor of the Museum aan de Stroom. The understated designer interior is luxurious yet relaxing, illustrated by the vintage record player softly playing jazz in the background. Everything is spot on from the gracious welcome and the wine waiter’s savvy tips to the biscuit with coffee. Viki Geunes has stripped his restaurant of everything but the essentials.
Sourcing outstanding quality ingredients is the key to success. The chef matches his acutely sensitive tastebuds with creative flair, pairing seabass, for example, with different textures of wild asparagus. Each mouthful fascinates, surprises, even disconcerts, provoking a felicitous chaos of flavour and texture. The powerful juices of seabass are mixed with the velvety taste of asparagus. The fastidiously meticulous chef deftly plays with each texture and flavour, crafting dishes that are complex and gutsy, yet free of fussy frills. In addition to knock-out sauces, exotic side dishes add a surprising, yet mild spicy note. Viki Geunes effortlessly demonstrates why he is regarded as one of the best chefs of his generation.