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 new atelier in Brussels, he wanted to surprise his customers and also potential new ones with the delivery of their products straight to their doorsteps.
At the webshop, which opens today and which remains open till 15 January, by which time the Brussels atelier will be open, you will be able to buy his renowned t-bone steaks or côte à l’os from a few different races as well as the meat he is most well known for – the west Flemish red.
“As for charcuterie, we are offering our famous ‘bokaaltjes’ with different sorts of paté, rilette & more. All of them are perfect on a toast. To really make it a holiday popup webshop we are also selling gifts,” Dierendonck told Food and Wine Gazette.
The Flemish butcher is looking forward to opening his Brussels shops saying in August when he announced the decision that this was a start of a new adventure and a dream come true. “The artisanal approach, terroir and passion are the focal points of our butcher shops and these are the values that I have picked up from my father Raymond Dierendonck,” Hendrik said.
The new atelier in Brussels replaces the Jack O’Shea shop close to Place St Catherine that closed abruptly in summer.
Dierendonck raises the Belgian Red breed in their own farm. This is an extremely rare breed of cattle and a recognised regional product of West Flanders. The cattle has the capacity to produce quality meat from a grass diet. The permanent pastures located in the Ijzervallej and the polders are suitable for these animals. Dierendonck considers that these pastures called “fat pastures” give the Belgian Red its distinct flavour.
The butcher has a shop in the heart of a culinary hamlet of Sint Idesbald from where the father of Hendrik started 39 years ago. The meat is aged which is always the sign of a great butcher shop.
Last year he also opened a restaurant called Carcasse which aims to allow clients to experience the work of a butcher through workshops and demonstrations.
Dierendonck supplies meat to some of the top restaurants in Belgium and also outside of Belgium and is known to work with some of the best chefs in the country.
Leave a Reply