He developed a taste for cooking through contact with his Flemish grandmother, from Tongeren,[3] who made her own bread and hams in the countryside.
He did a three-month internship in the United States and, back in Liège, met his partner Stéphanie in 1995[4] He decided to move to Brussels and started to work at the restaurant l'Amandier sleeping in his Honda Civic, parked in front of la Villa Lorraine restaurant, because he could not afford accommodation.
He then alternated between starred and non-starred restaurants, working for Roland Debuyst in Nossegem, before going back to the United States.
He then became head chef for the first time in a restaurant in Brussels, Voyage à travers les sens.
Bon Bon was closed in June 2022 and Hardiquest opened a new restaurant, Menssa, on the same site on 7 February 2023[8] Christophe Hardiquest is a member of the Association des Maîtres-Cuisiniers de Belgique,[9] and of the Grandes Tables du Monde.