Lieven VAN AKEN

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

"I wanted to be a fighter pilot, but it didn't work out. So I turned to catering," confides Lieven Van Aken. It has everything he's looking for: craftsmanship, freedom, creativity and rigor. "Just like in the army," he says. The Belgian got his start at the Hof Ter Hulst restaurant in Hulshout, working with Gohan Schroven. "He'd worked with some of France's top chefs and had a wealth of knowledge. That made me want to go further."

In 2008, he continued his training at Comme chez Soi, a Brussels institution. "I went from working with two people in the kitchen to working with a large brigade," he recalls. Four years later, the young man left for France to become sous-chef at Les Prés d'Eugénie. "I'd heard that Olivier Brulard (MOF 1997) was returning to Michel Guérard. I'd heard a lot about him from my first chef, who'd worked with him."

The collaboration with the Guérard family continued in 2015 at Château de Riell, in Molitg-les-Bains (Pyrénées-Orientales). He finally left his position as chef a year later to assist Matthieu Dupuis Baumal at Domaine de Manville, in Les Baux-de-Provence. "He had just taken the job, and there was a lot to do. We put it back together and restructured it."Since 2018, Lieven Van Aken has successfully taken over as chef at L'Aupiho. In fact, Gault&Millau recognized his talent by awarding him 2 toques in his first year, then 3 toques the following year, followed by the Jeune Talent 2021 trophy for the PACA region.

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