What is Vincent De Laloy's professional background?

A chef's CV tells a quiet story about how they cook. Vincent De Laloy's path is a textbook example of classical Belgian craftsmanship, with the added weight of a family Michelin heritage. He is the grandson of a Michelin-starred chef who ran the restaurant Chez Grégoire in the 1960s, an early exposure to top-end professional standards before he chose the profession for himself. That family inheritance is rare in a brasserie context and it visibly informs his refusal of industrial shortcuts.

His formal training took place at the CERIA, the hotel school in Brussels widely considered one of the references in Belgian culinary education. From there, Vincent built his hands-on experience across four kitchens, each with a distinct character. Étangs Mellaerts gave him a first taste of brasserie volume in the green southern fringes of Brussels, a setting structurally close to what he would later face at Chez Clément. Thoumieux exposed him to classical French bistronomy and the discipline of consistent technique under pressure.

Le Méridien, an international hotel kitchen, brought a different scale and a different rhythm: large brigades, multi-shift operations, the practical reality of cooking for travellers from very different food cultures. Le Trèfle à 4 completed the picture with a more traditional house signature. Each of these four stages added a layer to his toolkit: volume, French technique, international consistency, classical line. By the time France Clément offered him the head chef position in 1996, he had a uniquely well-rounded preparation for the role.

The result, three decades on, is visible in the way the brasserie operates. Vincent's brigade of thirty-two people manages 200 to 300 covers per service while maintaining the everything-made-in-house principle. The cabillaud florentine, his signature dish on the menu, is a perfect example of his approach: it draws on classical French technique (florentine is a spinach-based preparation traditionally framed in French cuisine) and adapts it to the brasserie register without losing its rigour.