Places 32 Keys, Please!
Places 32 Keys, Please! Where Old Meets New In the heart of Limburg, a reinvigorated hotel group is leading the charge to combine gastronomy, history and design. By Brian Noone Limburg culinary scene. “We have more and more people who start in Amsterdam or Brussels, visit us, and then go on to the Moselle or Champagne before flying back home from Paris,” Oostwegel confirms. Standing on the slopes of his petite vineyard, it’s easy to see why more foodies will soon be flocking here: Oostewegel has turned a large portion of St Gerlach’s grounds into a garden, orchard and apiary – another portion is a rewilded meadow (chosen over a golf course) – and the produce he grows on site and sources from the region is extraordinary. “They say our climate now is what Burgundy’s was in the 1990s,” he says, explaining that the local wines are increasingly winning international prizes. Oostwegel took over the family business from his father, also called Camille, on 1 January 2020. After the inauspicious start that year, Oostwegel has been on a mission to modernise and transform each of the properties into destinations worthy of discerning visitors – a task for which he’s well suited, having worked for years in global PHOTOS © OOSTWEGEL COLLECTION L imburg is a really special place,” says Camille Oostwegel as we walk the grounds of Château St Gerlach, one of his four properties in and around Maastricht. “The food, the people, the culture, the history – even here in the Netherlands, it’s not fully appreciated,” he enthuses. He’s right: the art-world glitterati descend on Maastricht every March for TEFAF, the seminal international art fair, but there isnt’t an overwhelming number of other international visitors to the country’s southernmost province, usually just some intrepid gastro-tourists who have discovered the burgeoning CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
33 PHOTOS FROM TOP: © OOSTWEGEL COLLECTION (2), CHANTAL ARNTS brand management at Starwood Hotels (as did his American wife, Meredith, who is also part of the team at the Oostwegel Collection). The biggest changes so far have been at Château Neercanne, a purpose-built 17thcentury pleasure palace that has served its aims well over the years, hosting everyone from Russian tsar Peter the Great to the group of politicians who signed the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, bringing the European Union into existence. There has been a destination restaurant here since the 1950s, earning at least one Michelin star most of those years, but there hasn’t been overnight accommodation available during that time – until now. “It is magical here,” says designer Roelfien Vos as we walk around the seven new suites she’s designed at Neercanne, which is so close to the Belgian border that your mobile phone welcomes you to Belgium on arrival. The suites are sanctuaries of muted colours, naturalistic patterns inspired by the grounds, bespoke furniture and contemporary tech. “This is truly a dream project,” enthuses Amsterdam-based Vos, who is also, along with her team of ten, redesigning the suites at St Gerlach. All four hotels are rapidly evolving, putting gastronomy and design to the fore. They each still have some rust to kick off – as yet there are no gyms, for instance – but at the moment, the value is exceptional, as is the relative peace of a region still barely on the radar of global gourmands. oostwegelcollection.com Above: dining in a former church at Kruisherenhotel in Maastricht; below, from left: tableside at Neercanne’s Michelin-starred restaurant; a bird’seye view of one building at Château St Gerlach; opposite, from top: looking out from a new suite at Château Neercanne; the young Camille Oostwegel Bite by Bite in Limburg More restaurants to try in the region Combining Belgian and Dutch Limburg, there are 33 Michelin stars, more than enough for a few trips. In Maastricht, Beluga Loves You (belugalovesyou.com) has been a longtime favourite, and French stalwart Tout à Fait (toutafait.nl) is justly popular, as is the Asianinflected Studio ( studio.restaurant). Outside the city, try Rantrée (rantree.nl), which boasts eighth-floor views and stellar modern French dishes; De Leuf (deleuf.nl), for more Asian flavours; or Brut172 (brut172.com), where former Beluga chef Hans van Wolde is working wonders. Over in Belgium, try contemporary marvels at Ralf Berendsen (ralfberendsen.be) and Cuchara (cuchara.be), or Aurum by Gary Kirchens (restaurant-aurum.be) for another stunning restored castle with updated traditional dishes.
