First Culinary Subscription in Belgium: “I Want to Break the Industry Codes”

Gourmet fast-food restaurant Demain à Main is offering its customers a subscription model, much like one would subscribe to a streaming platform or a gym membership. A pioneering concept in the Belgian foodservice market, and still quite rare among fine dining establishments more broadly.

“Subscription is a way for us to stabilize our revenue,” explains Guillaume Gerdsorff pragmatically. “It gives us cash flow from the start of the month and better visibility to plan ahead.”

This young chef-entrepreneur, raised in the hospitality world within a family renowned for luxury hotels and fine dining, and trained under some of the great names in French cuisine, now invites customers to subscribe to his “gourmet fast food” concept, Demain à Main.

For less than €30 per month, the first 1,000 subscribers to this limited offer can dine twice a month at the riverside establishment, facing the Citadel of Namur, enjoying a dish of their choice along with a drink.

The chef’s relaxed approach to cuisine – which already earned him a Bib Gourmand for his previous bistronomic venture (Kookin, 2019) – had previously challenged the norms of fast food by reworking brasserie classics and, above all, showcasing his signature handmade pasta, crafted in an open kitchen visible from the dining room.

But Guillaume Gerdsorff now wants to take innovation even further with this paid loyalty concept – a model that appears to be a first in the Belgian market. “I want to break away from traditional horeca and offer something different. That’s what I love,” he says candidly.

Several dining-related memberships do exist in Belgium, such as Restopass, whose top-tier plan includes access to selected gourmet restaurants. But these are built around discounts or special deals – not a true “Netflixification” of the culinary experience, as Demain à Main proposes.

To date, the direct subscription model remains relatively rare on a broader scale. Most initiatives focus on a single product, like coffee, or rely on discounts, all-you-can-eat formulas, or bundled offers. Large corporations, even outside the foodservice industry, build communities and reward their members with exclusive culinary experiences or financial perks — like Visa’s Infinite Dining Series.

Yet consumers seem to find the idea appealing. According to the latest National Restaurant Association state of industry report, a majority of Gen Z adults (81%), millennials (79%), and even older generations (71%) say they would likely subscribe to this type of meal plan.

A Living, Breathing Form of Innovation

It's hard not to recall the words recently shared by Daniel Baven, CEO of Danish startup Noahs, which aspires to become the Spotify of Food: “Streaming of food is inevitable.”

With Demain à Main, this techno-futurist vision is starting to take shape. The dining experience becomes inevitably connected – and platform-based.

Everything is managed online, from registration to cancellation. Upon arrival at the restaurant, where the kitchen operates continuously, customers simply log in via their account and order using a QR code – reportedly powered by Luxembourg-based platform Iziii, rather than Belgian mobile-ordering leader OrderBilly. Then, they simply enjoy the moment.

Behind this streamlined customer journey lies a clear ambition: to simplify the act of eating well, to build loyalty differently, and to optimize horeca operations through better margin control.

More than a digitized dining experience, Gerdsorff is testing a business model — in a sector under pressure from inflation, labor shortages, and increasingly volatile consumer behavior. This serial restaurateur is betting on agility and innovation, remixing the codes of digital platforms (direct customer relationships, community engagement) to suit the needs of hospitality.

The Namur-based chef insists his core mission hasn’t changed: to deliver generous, artisanal cuisine, liberated from traditional constraints. His experiments are rooted in his culinary lab, La Rue de Demain, a foodie corridor running through the heart of the city.

There, he operates four hybrid-concept establishments: Ta Mère la Gaufre, where everything from sweet to savory is made in-house, Good Guy Smash, a takeaway and delivery outlet for smash burgers aimed at “kidults,” and Le Tailleur de Pâtes, a kitchen and school in one, where Gerdsorff passes on his pasta-making expertise honed in Bologna.

A Model of Exploration, Before It Becomes Exploitation

The question remains whether this first attempt at a culinary subscription model will become part of long-term consumption habits – or remain a smart, timely response to a period of economic uncertainty.

While Demain à Main may offer a compelling path toward improved cash-flow stability in the horeca sector, this low-cost formula (€29.90 for two meals) currently appears to target a niche, appealing yet likely limited to urban consumers seeking originality and convenience.

Will it prove resilient in the face of rising ingredient and labor costs, while still meeting the high standards of exclusivity and creativity expected from top-tier cuisine?

Widely embraced by younger generations, will this “platformization” of gastronomy deliver a lasting competitive advantage or risk diluting the sense of occasion that defines fine dining? Could it ultimately clash with the very essence of the exceptional culinary experience.

Perhaps Demain will tell.