What does a 10-year-old ask a chef? How does the conversation go? Most importantly what can one learn from a conversation between a beginner, in this case and someone who is on top of his game. For a school project, my 10-year-old son had to present to his class a topic related to food. It could have been anything from the food pyramid to wine making. He decided to choose to speak about the Michelin guide and top chefs. Without any prompting his decision was clear from the start. Talk about following in someone's footsteps. He asked me whether it would be possible to interview a chef as part of his project. Christophe Hardiquest, of Brussels 2 Michelin star restaurant Bon Bon kindly accepted. On a late spring afternoon, we headed to the leafy Brussels commune Woluwe St Pierre to meet with the chef who has a 19.5 Gault & Millau score, the highest in Belgium together with Peter Goossens. And this time, I took the back seat as I sat behind the camera to record the … [Read more...]
Showcase of Belgium’s heritage, traditions and roots at first Bon Bon Origins dinner
Thursday 19 January, Restaurant Bon Bon, Brussels: A few days after the shock announcement that Hertog Jan, one of two 3 Michelin star restaurants in Belgium would close at the end of this year, chef Gert de Mangeleer was cooking his first ever collaboration dinner in Belgium as guest of Brussels chef Christophe Hardiquest. This was the first Bon Bon Origins Dinner, a series of dinners created by Hardiquest, chef of two Michelin star restaurant Bon Bon who has been going back to the origins researching stories and recipes that are part of Brussels and Belgian heritage. One such story from the previous century has made it to the first Bon Bon Origins dinner. Up to the 1950s, in the streets of Brussels, there used to be a man called the 'marchand de coco' who would walk with 40 kilogrammes on his back and serve a drink called the Kalichezap, a mix of lemon, almonds and liquorice among others. Today, chef Christophe Hardiquest has turned this drink into a dessert that is served in … [Read more...]
“A childhood dream come true” – Hendrik Dierendonck on the opening of Brussels butcher shop
Hendrik Dierendonck, the renowned nose to tail Belgian butcher, has opened the long-awaited shop in Rue St. Catherine in central Brussels. "It is a childhood dream come true for me to open a Brussels shop particularly in the city centre." Dierendonck told Food and Wine Gazette that this was a big step for him. "I have always been working on the Belgian coast and since I was young, I have always dreamt of this step." When he was young, the Belgian butcher used to work with his father Raymond Dierendonck in St Idesbald on the Belgian coast in summer while in winter he spent his time in Brussels. The opening of the Brussels shop replaces the Jack O'Shea shop in the Place St. Catherine area which closed abruptly last summer though it has been completely refurbished in an open style to reflect Dierendonck's approach to butchery. "I want to present Brussels residents and visitors to Brussels with an old school approach. Here they will find the artisanal approach, with an … [Read more...]
BRUSSELS FROM/TO at Bon Bon: Deconstructing Brussels classics and modernising them along the way
What happens when you take Brussels and Brabant classic dishes, deconstruct them and then reinvent them? Can tradition meet modernity? Can humble ingredients steal the show in a top class restaurant? And what happens if you get two foreign chefs from France and Portugal to help you reinterpret these dishes at a six hands dinner. That is what happened last Tuesday at Bon Bon restaurant in Woluwe Saint Pierre, a commune in Brussels.Two Michelin star chef Christophe Hardiquest invited the inventive Inaki Azipitarte, chef of the famous Parisian restaurant Le Chateaubriand and Leonardo Perreira, formerly at Noma and now about to embark on a new journey in Porto as he prepares to open his restaurant there. Bon Bon was recently in the news as it will host 20 of the world's best chefs at the first ever Gelinaz! Headquarters event taking place on 10 November. Inaki certainty needed no introduction. He is famed for starting off the bistronomy movement in Paris which was considered one … [Read more...]
Matthieu Chaumont (Hortense): The man who introduced a cocktail culture in Brussels
The cocktail bar scene in Brussels was pretty non-existant before Matthieu Chaumont, the owner and cocktail master of Hortense opened his bar in Place Sablon in 2012. Although the cocktail bar scene in Belgium is pretty vibrant particularly in the Flemish cities of Antwerp and Gent, Brussels did not have a proper cocktail bar like the one created by Matthieu four years ago. He attributes this to the fact that there was no cocktail culture in Brussels despite the presence of a large expat community for a very long time. "For example, I don't remember my parents ever drinking a cocktail. When they would go out, they have a tendency to order a glass of wine or beer but I have never seen them drinking a cocktail," he tells me. Matthieu has over the past four years worked to change this trend and he seems to be managing thanks to a receptive audience which is now becoming more and more interested in exploring new things. "In our first year, our crowd was mainly composed of expats but … [Read more...]
Tensions rise as Brussels restaurants struggle to recover from bleak period
These are not easy days for Brussels. As the city tries to return back to normal after the terrorist attacks last month, restaurants in Belgium's capital city are facing tough times. While many have been putting up a brave face over the past few months, more and more Brussels restauranteurs are starting to feel the pressure following months of difficulties, and tensions seem to be rising. Only this weekend, Lionel Rigolet, chef of two Michelin star restaurant Comme Chez Soi said that "Brussels is dying," in Belgian newspapers l'Echo and De Tijd. And in a sign that tensions seem to be rising, the Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur, was asked to leave a gastronomic restaurant in the city centre because the chef was angry with him. The pedestrianisation of the Brussels city centre in summer last year was heavily criticised by restaurant and shop owners in the city centre with many restaurants reporting considerable drops in turnover. But the situation is far more complex than this, … [Read more...]
Chocolate maker Benoît Nihant seeking to expand in Brussels and beyond
Benoît Nihant, the bean to bar Belgian chocolatier is looking to expand with the opening of more shops without losing the artisanal approach that makes his chocolates so special. Having successfully opened a shop in the Belgian capital city, Brussels, and exported his chocolates to Asia, Benoît wants to open additional shops in Brussels and does not exclude openings in Antwerp and Gent though his focus for the time being is Brussels. He told Food and Wine Gazette he was actively looking for places in the area of Uccle, Waterloo and Stockel to go closer to where his customers are. His current store in Brussels is in Ixelles but it took him a long time to find it. "We had been wanting to open a shop in Brussels for a long time but we could not find a suitable place. We did not want to be near the Grand Place because it is the place where only the tourists go, we did not want to go the Sablon because that is more of a showcase, the rent is very expensive and it is why there are … [Read more...]
‘Nocturnes du Sablon’ in Brussels to take place as planned
It has not been an easy week for Brussels. From Saturday morning, the capital city has been in lockdown because of a heightened risk of terrorist attacks. It has meant closed shops, schools and metro amid the highest threat level for the Belgian capital city. But from today, the situation has slowly started to return back to normal with the reopening of schools and the metro despite this heightened threat level. Large scale events have been cancelled. But last night, the organisers announced that the Nocturnes du Sablon, which has been organised for more than 20 years, will take place as planned between Thursday 26 November and Sunday 29th November with increased security. Since four years, this event is organised with the participation of the Culinaria Agency which is famous for the annual Brussels Culinaria event. Some of the top names in Brussels and beyond have confirmed participation for this weekend's event. The chefs taking part are Alex Joseph (Rouge Tomate), Axel … [Read more...]
Brussels: an underestimated culinary destination
Millions of people enter Brussels, the capital of Europe, each week. Most come for business or work meetings, some come en route to visit other places in Belgium like Bruges, Gent or Antwerp, others to work and still some to visit what is the administrative capital of Europe. No one comes for its food. That is a mistake, because the food scene in Brussels is incredibly varied and surprisingly good. The same can be said of Belgium, an underestimated culinary country, if ever there was one. Tourists visiting Brussels will normally head to the Grand-Place area and to what has now become one of the largest pedestrian zones in Europe, near the Bourse (Stock Exchange), which will soon be turned into a beer museum and the Place St Catherine area. They will be lured into one of the many restaurants serving mussels and 'French fries'. They will know that Brussels and Belgium is well known for its beers and chocolate, but few are aware of the culinary diversity or richness of the … [Read more...]
Christophe Hardiquest’s Bon Bon set to join Les Grandes Tables du Monde
Bon Bon, the two Michelin star restaurant in Brussels of chef Christophe Hardiquest is set to join 12 other Belgian restaurants in the 'Les Grandes Tables du Monde' list, Pierre Wynants, the vice president of the association announced when he was speaking during a discussion on a recent book he co-authored on Belgium's culinary future earlier this week. Christophe Hardiquest will join the other Belgian chefs who are part of 167 restaurants in 24 countries worldwide. It will be the fifth Brussels based restaurant on the list following Jean-Pierre Bruneau (Bruneau), Laurence and Lionet Rigolet (Comme Chez Soi), Pascal Devalkeneer (Chalet De la Foret) and Yves Mattagne (Sea Grill). Brussels lacks a three Michelin star restaurant after Comme Chez Soi lost the third star upon the retirement of Pierre Wynants. Gault Millau awarded Bon Bon 19.5 out of 20 in its latest guide for Belgium and Luxembourg. This year, Belgian chef Sang-hoon Degeimbre (L'Air du Temps) joined the list … [Read more...]