Notos is this year celebrating 20 years of Greek cuisine in Brussels. To celebrate the occasion, a Greek traditional dish that was never served in the restaurant before, the Moussaka, was served over two weekends aimed at celebrating the 20th anniversary. Following the resounding success of the dish among clients and guests (including us), chef Constantin Erinkoglou has decided to start serving this iconic Greek dish on order both in the restaurant or to take home. The moussaka is an ancient dish that originates from the ancient Ottoman empire. Made with aubergine and lamb mince, it is one of the most traditional Greek dishes you can find. Its recipe varies depending on the family that makes it. Known for his modern and personal take on Greek cuisine, Constantin has decided to offer this traditional dish for tables of eight people or more both for lunch and dinner. The price for the take away mousakka is 16 euros per person and 21 euros in the restaurant. When he opened in … [Read more...]
Dierendonck opens online store for Christmas, Brussels butcher shop to open in January
Hendrik Dierendonck, one of the most famous butchers in Belgium is opening a pop-up online store for the Christmas festivities to reach out to his growing fan base which for the time being has had to take the trip to the West Coast of Belgium to buy his renowned meat. Dierendonck, who is set to open a shop in the Belgian capital city, Brussels, has seen the opening of the shop delayed so he has decided to set up the pop-up webshop instead. Dierendonck told Food and Wine Gazette that they will be opening the webshop for the holidays "to offer a very select and pure variety of products which I will select. I also want to explore the potential of this market. We want to get in touch with people who cannot make the trip to the West Coast of Belgium. We have been receiving a lot of questions from people who do not live nearly as to whether they deliver their meet." The Belgian butcher said that since he was getting the feeling that their would be a delay with the construction of his … [Read more...]
The questions Michelin refuses to answer
Michelin is at the centre of criticism for its decisions relating to the publication of the Michelin guide in Belgium and Luxembourg. But, given the opportunity to set the record straight, it has refused to answer questions put by Food and Wine Gazette. Questions addressed to the company that publishes the Michelin Guide were left unanswered with Samuelle Dorol, the PR manager responsible for the Michelin Guides worldwide saying "Thank you for giving us the opportunity to react to your article but I have to decline. You are free to express your opinion regarding the selection which is something we fully respect." The questions sent to Michelin were not aimed at contesting the selections but rather at setting the record straight and giving the opportunity to Michelin, to give its side of the story and explain its policies on transparency, restaurant visits, how many inspectors it has, and whether it is true that some cities and countries pay for a guide to be published among … [Read more...]
Third edition of Vini, Birre, Ribelli in Brussels this weekend
The third edition of Vini, Birre, Ribelli takes place this weekend on Saturday and Sunday at the prestigious garage Citroen Yser in Brussels. The event brings together over 160 wine makers, 25 brewers, 13 Slow Food restaurants with the collaboration of Slow Food France and 12 ethical and other stands. The winemakers in attendance hail mainly from France and Italy with six wine makers from other countries. As for the first two editions of the event, the exhibition will be exclusively craft, sustainable, organic and mostly natural products. It brings together in a single location the better and wine's alternative worlds and food that is good, clean and fair. Last year, the event welcomed 3,200 visitors. This year, the organisers aim to have 4,500 visitors attending the Citroen Yser building which was recently acquired by the city of Brussels to become the Museum of Contemporary Art in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou. The exhibition opens on Saturday and Sunday at … [Read more...]
Michelin’s guide for Belgium exposes problem of consistency and credibility
To understand what is truly happening in the Belgian gastronomy scene today you would need to at least visit five restaurants, one in Brussels, three in Flanders and one in Wallonia. The restaurants of Christophe Hardiquest (Bon Bon in Brussels), Peter Goossens (Hof Van Cleve, Kruishoutem), Gert de Mangeleer (Hertog Jan, Zedelgem), Kobe Desramaults (In de Wulf, Dranouter - the restaurant will close next month and the chef opens a new restaurant in Gent next year) and Sang-Hoon Degeimbre (L'Air du Temps, Liernu) have over the past years left a significant mark on Belgian cuisine. Any foreigner visiting Belgium or looking to learn about Belgian cuisine would discover five chefs and restaurants with a distinct culinary style and a cuisine that is varied, territorial and innovative. But Belgium's culinary scene does not stop here. It is also home to The Jane in Antwerp, for example, a restaurant owned by Sergio Herman and Nick Bril which has been fully booked since the first day … [Read more...]
No new two or three Michelin stars in Belgium
There were no new two or three Michelin star restaurants in Belgium when Michelin released its new Michelin guide for 2017. This means that Belgium's number of three Michelin star restaurants has gone down from 3 to 2 with the closure of De Karmeliet in Bruges in the past few weeks. The two restaurants that have three stars are Gert de Mangeleer's Hertog Jan in Zedelgem and Peter Goossens Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem. On the other hand, nine new restaurants have been awarded a Michelin star. The three new Michelin star restaurants in Brussels are Bozar Brasserie, La Villa Emily (owned by Serge Litvine of La Villa in the Sky and Villa Lorraine among others), and Wine in the City. (See full list of new one star restaurants below). Pundits during the past week had been speculating that Bon Bon in Brussels and L'Air du Temps in Liernu could receive the coveted 3 stars. Brussels will have to wait at least another year to see whether it will eventually get a three star restaurant. … [Read more...]
Ants on a Shrimp to premiere in Brussels on November 28
Fine Food Fanatics is organising the Belgian première of Ants on a Shrimp, a documentary film on Rene Redzepi's Noma adventure in Japan in Brussels on 28 November at the UGC Cinema complex. Film director Maurice Dekkers will be present for the screening of the documentary. The event is followed by a gastronomic night and party at Humphrey's restaurant which is within walking distance of the cinema. The event costs €55 and includes the ticket to watch the documentary, 1 cocktail, 1 beer, 1 wine and three fine finger foods prepared by the chef of Humphrey's Yannick Van Aeken, formerly sous-chef at Noma. Humphrey's was the place which hosted the after party of the Gelinaz! Headquarters event that took place at Bon Bon last week. It has become the place to be in Brussels. Chef van Aeken with his business partner Glen Ramaekers have created a casual restaurant away from the constraints that a fine dining experience may create. Van Aeken has adopted what he has learnt as … [Read more...]
Tim Boury is Gault & Millau 2017 chef of the year for Belgium
Tim Boury, the chef of restaurant Boury is the chef of the year for the Belgian and Luxembourg Gault & Millau 2017 guide which is released this week. Boury's restaurant is in Roeselare. The Belgian chef had been young chef of the year a few years ago and Philippe Limbourg, director of the guide said "We made no mistake. He has continued to evolve." He takes the title from Sang Hoon Degeimbre who was last year's chef of the year for Gault & Millau. Mélanie Englebin of restaurant Cécila in Brussels was the young chef of the year together with Thomas Troupin (La Menuiserie - Waimes in Wallonia) and Maarten Bouckaert (Castor - Beveren-Leie in Flanders). The latter, the former sous-chef of Peter Goossens at Hof Van Cleve scored 16 out of 20. The two top restaurants in Belgium according to Gault and Millau remain Hof Van Cleve and Restaurant Bon Bon in Brussels both with 19.5 points. Hertog Jan moves closer this year with 19 points while The … [Read more...]
‘A chef is an artist with sensibility’ – Christophe Hardiquest
When Christophe Hardiquest moved his restaurant from Uccle to Woluwe Saint Pierre in Brussels six years ago, little did he know the difficulty he would face in the first few months to replicate the cuisine that clients were accustomed to at his old restaurant. That story still gives him goosebumps though he has benefitted from that experience. Today, six years later, the Belgian chef is embarking on a new approach to his cuisine with the aim of restoring the identity of Brussels cuisine, of rebuilding the tastes and flavours that are synonymous with the Belgian capital city, while reinventing them as you would expect from the chef of a high-end restaurant. “I started to think that we had lost our identity but it is now coming back. I do not want to offer a Parisian cuisine in Brussels just because we are close to Paris. I don’t want to do this anymore,” Christophe told Food and Wine Gazette in an interview. Like many others, Christophe realised that the more you travel and the … [Read more...]
artXwine: a new concept pairing wine with art in Brussels
artXwine is a new concept just launched in Belgium which aims to pair wine with works of art. Set up by Francoise Gauthier and Rene Judak, artXwine wants to add a new dimension to food and wine pairing by adding a new sense, sight. The founders, both wine and art lovers have joined forces to create this new experience which they say is very rare. They believe that like wine, art can create multiple emotions that move the person viewing that art. "Almost unexplored, we believe that captivating these two difference universes and merging them together is perfectly natural. The events are organised in Rhode-Saint-Genèse, a commune in the south of Brussels close to the Fort-Jaco neighbourhood. The organisers welcome guests in a recently renovated cottage with its century-old greenhouse. Francoise Gauthier is a chemist who studied oenology and is a wine and champagne importer. He has organised lots of wine tastings and art and antique exhibitions. On the other hand Rene Judak, a … [Read more...]