For me it started small, when I was small. As a child I played restaurant, stirred imaginary pots and dreamed of tables full of good food. My first cookbook was Tiny in de keuken, which I leafed through endlessly and dreamed over.

My very first real recipe? French toast. I still remember how proud I was dipping those slices of bread in egg and milk, frying them golden brown and sprinkling them with sugar. That simple little plate felt like pure magic, as if I could make people happy with something small.

I got my love of pure flavours from my grandmother. She had a farm where everything was homemade: vegetables from the garden, milk, eggs, meat, and cellars full of preserved treasures. In the summer house she baked bread on the Leuven stove. Simple, honest, real. With her, life revolved around sitting together at the table.

Whenever we went visiting, I would always ask: “And are we staying for dinner?” Because only then did it feel really cosy to me.

When my mum started working — I was ten — I took over the kitchen at home on Saturdays. First baking biscuits, then whole meals. I cut out recipes and turned them into my own little cookbooks. From my aunts I learned to bake bread, make jam, paella, one-pot dishes. The world of cooking had no end.

At fifteen I found a student job in a Spanish restaurant. That's where my love of southern cooking grew: the smells and colours, the warmth on the plate. Later, as a student, I cooked festive meals and organised Christmas dinners for all my housemates. Everyone was welcome — an open house before its time.

Food played the leading role in love, too. My first date with Wimpie became a four-course meal in his flat in Brussels. I spent all my savings on it, and we clicked straight away. To this day I cook with just as much love for him and for our three children.

I trained at Spermalie, but I learned most of all by watching, tasting and being open to other flavours and cultures. I read a cookbook as if I were tasting it, as if I could already smell the result before it even reaches the table.

That's the story I now want to share, together with Vicky — my cooking friend of fifteen years. A place where everything feels right: from plate to interior, from aroma to atmosphere. An open house for everyone!