Christophe Hardiquest closes Menssa, his starred Brussels table
The chef who held two Michelin stars at Bon-Bon serves his last Menssa dinner on 14 November and turns to private dinners, cooking classes and consulting.
Christophe Hardiquest closes Menssa, the Michelin-starred counter restaurant he opened in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre in 2023, after a final service on 14 November. The Brussels chef says he is not retiring but wants to spend his time creating, researching and teaching instead of running a fixed dining room.
The announcement came on Monday 19 October in a statement from the chef and a notice on the restaurant's website, which says bookings, private events and gift vouchers remain possible until the last night. Menssa sits at Avenue de Tervueren 453, the same address where Hardiquest ran Bon-Bon until 2022.
“Today I want to devote my time to cooking itself: creating, researching, passing on,” Hardiquest said in his statement, quoted by La Libre. Speaking to Paris Match Belgique, he called the move a personal decision and added that his cooking is aimed at enthusiasts.
Two starred closures at one address in four years, and still no farewell to the stove.
From Bon-Bon to Menssa in Brussels
Hardiquest opened Bon-Bon in 2001 in a former Indonesian furniture shop in Uccle. It won a first Michelin star in 2004, moved to Woluwe-Saint-Pierre in 2011 and added a second star in the 2014 guide; Gault&Millau rated it 19.5 out of 20. He closed it in June 2022 and reopened the space in February 2023 as Menssa, rebuilt around a curved counter facing the kitchen.
Menssa earned one Michelin star in 2024 and kept it in 2025 and 2026, according to BRUZZ, and holds 17 out of 20 from Gault&Millau. Its end adds to a difficult autumn for Belgian fine dining: the two-star La Table de Maxime announced its closure earlier in October, and in the city centre L'Écailler du Palais Royal is closing after 59 years.
Why Hardiquest closes Menssa without retiring
The chef lists four strands of work, according to BRUZZ: private dinners and made-to-measure gastronomic events, advice for hospitality groups and young chefs, a bigger role at Le Petit Bon-Bon and more projects abroad. Dinners will take place in clients' homes or hired venues, and he plans cooking classes in which guests prepare the meal alongside him.
Le Petit Bon-Bon is the brasserie at the Corinthia Brussels hotel, whose menu he has designed since 2025; he will now train its staff, oversee the plates and work on service in the dining room. He will also work with the Gillet family, owners of the neighbouring restaurants Sanzaru and Mizaru, and support the new restaurant that will move into the Menssa building.
For diners the window is short: just under four weeks of service remain on Avenue de Tervueren. For Hardiquest, it is the second time in four years that he has closed a starred restaurant at the same address, this time without opening another one of his own.
