Guido Braeken takes Create into Les Grandes Tables du Monde

Guido Braeken has taken his restaurant Create in Eijsden into Les Grandes Tables du Monde. The two-star restaurant on the Kasteel Oost estate became a member on 12 October, making it the fifth Dutch address in the international association.

Dutch guide Lekker500 put the membership back in the spotlight today, just over a week after it moved Create from 19th to 9th place in the Lekker500 2027 ranking. For Braeken it is the third recognition in quick succession: in early October Michelin confirmed Create's two stars, a week before the restaurant joined the association.

Create occupies the former barn of Kasteel Oost in Oost-Maarland, which has housed the hotel Van Oys Maastricht Retreat since 2025. The restaurant opened in spring 2025 and received two Michelin stars straight away in October of that year, about six months after opening. Braeken, born in Maastricht in 1984, had done the same before at Julemont at Kasteel Wittem, which went from zero to two stars within nine months in 2022. Max van der Sterren is chef de cuisine.

In eighteen months Create has collected two stars, a top-ten place and a seat among 200 international tables.

What Les Grandes Tables du Monde demands

Les Grandes Tables du Monde was founded in Paris in 1954 by six restaurateurs, among them the owners of Taillevent, Maxim's and La Tour d'Argent. It began with mostly French and Belgian addresses and now counts more than 200 restaurants and chefs from 28 countries. Candidates must score highly on every criterion: quality and originality of the dishes, authenticity of the ingredients, an excellent wine list and exceptionally good service.

Braeken told regional broadcaster L1 Nieuws that membership is "a great honour". Marc Alofs, managing director of Van Oys Maastricht Retreat, pointed to the company Create now keeps, saying Les Grandes Tables du Monde "is a household name and very highly regarded in the culinary world".

Guido Braeken joins De Librije and Fred

With Create, Guido Braeken enters a small Dutch group. According to L1 Nieuws, De Librije in Zwolle, run by Jonnie and Thérèse Boer, Inter Scaldes in Kruiningen under Jeroen Achtien, Fred in Rotterdam under Fred Mustert and Le Epifaan of Jarno Eggen and Cindy Borger were already members. Earlier this autumn the Italian restaurant La Rei Natura also joined Les Grandes Tables du Monde.

From Wednesday to Saturday Create serves à la carte at lunch, and also on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. On Friday and Saturday evenings only the Heart of Create menu is available: twelve courses for €245, a price the website says applies until the end of December 2026.

South Limburg already had two restaurants in the Lekker500 top three, Brut172 and De Leuf; with Create the province now also appears on the French association's member list.