Professional Belgian Head chef, Mélanie Englebin is a graduate of the prestigious Provincial Hotel School of Namur.

Mélanie was born in Brussels in 1982 where she spent her childhood and a large part of her adolescence.

Very young, Mélanie was passionate about gastronomy and decided to make it her profession. Thus, at the end of her general humanities, she enrolled at the EHPN in Namur from where she graduated with great distinction and a mention for her end of studies work on one of the aspects of oenology.

After internships under the aegis of prestigious starred chefs, Mélanie decided to perfect her knowledge and develop her talent in various parts of the world.

• "Chalet de la Forêt" - Uccle (Brussels)
  Member of the brigade of starred Head Chef Pascal Devalkeneer
  
  
• "Grill aux Herbes" - Wemmel (Flanders - Near Brussels)
  Sous-Chef to Head Chef Evan Triantopoulos
  
  
• "Sea Grill" - Brussels Centre
  Sous-Chef to starred Head Chef Yves Mattagne
  
  
• "The Greenhouse" - London
  In the Head chef's lead team
  
  
• "L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon" - London
  In the head team of the chef
  
  
• "Four Seasons" - Bora-Bora (French Polynesia)
  Head Chef
  Mélanie will develop her passion for dishes based on fish and other sea products.

In 2013, advised by her peers, Head Chef Mélanie decided to realise the dream she had as a 10 year old girl, she decided to open her own restaurant. 

She chose the historic centre of Brussels, 100 metres from the Grand Place and a stone's throw from the Manneken-Pis, in what later became the pedestrian precinct of sad memory. 

Mélanie calls her restaurant "Cécila", in homage to her mother.

In this charming restaurant, a former Brussels bistro, Chef Mélanie will develop a gastronomic cuisine. Every day, a different unique menu made from fresh, seasonal market produce is offered to guests and concocted behind the stoves visible from the dining room.

Very quickly, Head Chef Mélanie will obtain distinctions thanks to her surprisingly creative cuisine.

• In 2014, the Gault & Millau guide awarded her the title of "Discovery of the Year".
• Also in 2014, the Delta Guide awarded her the "Delta de Bronze" 2014/2015
• In 2016, Chef Mélanie was awarded the title of "Young Chef of the Year" by the Gault & Millau guide, with special mention and a score of 15/20. 

In 2017, as the centre of Brussels was becoming less and less attractive and her kitchen was becoming too small, Mélanie closed her restaurant to bring it to gastronomy enthusiasts throughout Belgium.

Since then, Chef Mélanie has been offering her talents as a "Head chef at home". 

She brings the unique experience of a gastronomic restaurant to your home or business for intimate meals, private parties, receptions, banquets, cocktail parties, etc.

The chef intentionally limits the number of guests to 12 in order to keep the culinary project creative, gastronomic and convivial. Mélanie takes care of all the organisation, incorporating a smile into a dynamic professional service.

The Head Chef will also create events such as "Cécila on Tour" which was a resounding success. The tour started in Brussels, in the restaurant chez Rob in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre and continued in Flanders and the Walloon provinces of Namur and Luxembourg. 

During the coronavirus confinements, i.e. from March 2020, Melanie also offered her gourmet dishes for home delivery. 

The menus changed regularly so that everyone could discover or rediscover dishes that would inspire wonder.

These deliveries are only made during confinements.

Whatever the service offered, Chef Mélanie remains true to her principles by proposing only gastronomic menus made from fresh market produce and respecting the seasons.

Mélanie offers a cuisine of aestheticism and sensitivity in which fresh products from the sea and the land are combined, always with subtlety, balance and refinement.

Each dish is a surprise with multiple flavours and aromas. They are accompanied by herbs, shoots or flowers and are created with products that are sometimes less well known or that would not necessarily have been chosen. 

As Mélanie likes to say, "I cook, therefore I am", a formula that perfectly sums up the paradigm of her passion...