Three travelling gourmands fly to Maastrict to sample the two-star splendour of Le Clos St. Denis. If the restaurant staff paid any attention to our scruffy flying clothes or exuberant pleasure at flying so far to eat so much, they didn’t show it. Discretion and courtesy are two more virtues of this wonderful restaurant.
The scud running needed in the marginal VFR conditions to fly over Holland on our way to another great lunch were not as frightening as it might have been. The boringly flat terrain over which we were travelling did not really pose a threat. Fifteen hundred feet and we were still well above any potential obstructions in our path. The ground below was still very much grey winter, although there were the odd little signs of the approaching spring as I glanced below at the passing fields. The Cirrus ate up the distance from Denham to Maastricht at 170 knots in hardly enough time to work up at appetite. Although we had not reckoned it 
would take 15 or 20 minutes to get a taxi when landing, as well as another forty minutes for the taxi ride into the Belgian hinterland, a phone call to Clos St Denis relieved us of any time pressures. They said they would keep the kitchen open despite our late intended arrival. In your experience how many restaurants would do that for you?
Eventually we turned off the main highway into a winding country road that leads us to an uninviting grey wall at the side of the restaurant and I wondered if we had made an error in travelling all this distance. However, when walking into the courtyard of the magnificent 17th century farmhouse the view was gorgeously picturesque with wooden chairs around old oak tables in a lovely restful garden. I immediately began to get the sense of a beautifully sculpted environment. As we entered the restaurant reception apologising profusely for our very late arrival we were given a charming welcome. The fragrance of the fresh flower arrangements, reminiscent of the best Parisian florist window displays, wafted through the air as we were shown to our table.
The best way I can describe the decor was opulent baroque, with intricate tapestries on the walls and a panelling in the dining-room.
I started with one of Chef Christian Dennis’ signature dishes, which were some ravioli stuffed with goose liver and gently levitating in a light and delicious wild mushroom sauce and then covered with a shavings of black truffle. The dish was not the molecular gastronomy of Heston Blumenthal of Fat Duck fame, or Ferran Adria of El Bulli, but the superb cooking of a traditional chef. I would have travelled across the universe for this absolutely divine dish, with flavours that were at the same time intense, but not overpowering. My main course with of Carre d’Agneau, roasted in rosemary, and then served with a sauce made from its own jus and served with a thin corn galette topped with young asparagus tips was equally good.
My figure wouldn’t allow me to take a desert, but the sounds coming from my fellow aviators lead me to think they were in a very happy state at the end of the meal.
Contact information
Grimmertingenstraat 24
3724 Vliermaal – Kortessem
Belgium
Tel. +32 (0) 12 / 23 60 96
Fax. +32 (0) 12 / 26 32 07
Important information
Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Closed 29.03-6.04, 18.07-3.08, 1.11-9.11, 29.12-10.1
Meal for two: €140
Michelin Rating: **
Nearest Airport
Maastricht(30m) International airport
Aero-Kiewit (14m) 600m Grass Runway, PPR
Helicopter GPS N50 49′ 27″ E005 25′ 52″
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