Jack O'Shea one of Belgium's best butchers that used to sell meat to some of the best restaurants in Brussels and beyond has closed its doors indefinitely. According to Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure, the three butcher shops in Brussels and the Chop House restaurant closed indefinitely this week. They said that the chain faces significant financial problems and a bankruptcy could be on the horizon for the company. Jack O'Shea made a name for himself when he opened his first shop in the European district of Schuman in Brussels in 1998. A long-time proponent of nose to tail cooking he opened the Chophouse restaurant restaurant last year was part of a strategy to eliminate waste. A 10th generation Irish butcher, O'Shea expanded his business in recent years opening a butcher shop in central Brussels together with the Chop House restaurant and also opened a butcher's shop instead of Slabbinck, a famous poultry butcher who had died tragically in a traffic accident in … [Read more...]
Four new chefs join Generation W
Four new chefs have joined Generation W, the collective of chefs from the Wallonia region of Belgium (the W representing Wallonia). The new chefs are Philippe Meyers, chef of Restaurant Philippe Meyers in Braine-l'Alleud, Stephane Diffels chef of L'Air de Rien in Esneux, Jean-Philippe Watteyne, chef of Icook in Mons and Benoît Van den Brandem chef of Cuisinémoi in Namur. The number of chefs in the collective has now reached 24 and they cover the whole region of Wallonia. The collective also includes over 20 artisanal producers from the region. "Joining Generation W is part of my growth as a chef, and of the importance of sharing and exchanging information with chefs and artisanal producers that have the same passion as I have," said Van den Brandem, chef of Michelin starred Cuisinémoi. Having worked in the business for around 10 years, he loves to focus on terroir, local produce while just cooking them to the bare minimum or even serving them raw to let the taste be as … [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...]
San Degeimbre creates menu for new temporary rooftop restaurant in Brussels
After the successful opening of San Degeimbre's restaurant San in Rue de Flandres in central Brussels, the two starred Michelin chef of L'Air du Temps has created a menu for Orangery, a new rooftop restaurant that opened on 1 June and which will remain open until 30 September. In the heart of Brussels, the new restaurant can be found at the top floor of Parking 58 at 1 Rue de l’Evêque. The location has been known among Brussels insiders as the car park from which you can get a stunning view of Brussels from its top floors. The menu, created by Degeimbre, will change every 15 days. The owners of the parking have created this temporary restaurant with a breathtaking view. The restaurant is open for lunch from Monday to Friday. A temporary bar, Skybar 58 will be open on the weekends. The rooftop also houses a stunning garden from which to savour either the four-course lunch menu, the cocktails served in the evening at the bar, or to soak in the 360 views of Brussels. … [Read more...]
Kobe Desramaults to reinvent dining experience with new restaurant in Gent
Belgian chef Kobe Desramaults may well be closing his renowned restaurant In De Wulf at the end of this year but he is certainly not stopping there. After announcing that he is closing the restaurant that became a world famous foodie destination, he wants to create a completely different restaurant from In de Wulf and has already found a location in the Belgian city of Gent. "I want to have the complete essence of what I did at In De Wulf but I will change the frame of the restaurant. Over the past months I have reflected a lot about what I like about my job and I will translate that into the new restaurant," he told Food and Wine Gazette. Desramaults is already present in Gent with his restaurant De Vitrine and his bakery/restaurant De Superette. "The new restaurant will have an open kitchen and we will be working with fire because the latter is something I really like. I also do not like cooking for a lot of people at the same time because that is not cooking. I want to be … [Read more...]
Father and son Eric and Tristan Martin work in symphony at Maison Lemonnier
Father and son Eric and Tristan Martin are passionate about food, wine and the region they live in. It is therefore no wonder that they work together in an idyllic setting in Lavaux-Ste-Anne in the Belgian Ardennes where they run a hotel and restaurant which has been open for 10 years. Eric has been cooking for more than 25 years while his son Tristan who studied at the Paul Bocuse Institute joined him in Maison Lemonnier in spring 2008. The father studied law but had already made his decision that he would be cooking. In his words, his love for nature and the region was such that cooking was the only obvious choice. You can see that passion in the philosophy of their cooking, the love for the region and its ingredients, the need to try and make their gastronomic restaurant accessible to young people (but not only) through a 'subsidised' menu on the chef's table and their hospitality. It was on a sunny Saturday morning that I drove to Maison Lemonnier in Lavaux-Ste-Anne in … [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...]
Mindjî, European festival of gastronomy organised by Generation W postponed to next year
The recent terror attacks in Belgium and the current economic climate have led to the postponement of Wallonia's European festival of gastronomy. Mindjî, was scheduled to be held at the Citadel of Namur between 3 and 7 June 2016 has been postponed to next year, Generation W said in a statement. The festival, the first European festival of gastronomy was scheduled to be organised by Generation W, a collective of chefs from Wallonia (the W representing the French speaking part of Belgium - Wallonia). The event would have showcased the artisanal, gastronomic and creative abilities of Wallonia bringing together chefs and producers from the region together with Flemish and European chefs. The event had to feature not only participants from the world of gastronomy but also academia as well as economic actors from the Wallonian region. The organisers said that it in the current climate it was too risky to organise the festival. They examined all options and possibilities, … [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...]
Benoît Nihant’s Easter creation
Bean to bar chocolatier Benoît Nihant has launched his chocolate creation for Easter. He has created a chick (rather than the traditional egg) as his showcase piece for the Easter festivities. It is available in all his shops (Brussels, Liege, Embourg and Awans) as well as Rob in Brussels. The Poussin Câlin, as it is called, will be available in a limited edition at €56 from 1st March. It comes in two versions, with its beak either pointing upwards or downwards towards the other Easter creations like chocolate eggs. It is made from dark chocolate. The beans come from San Francisco de Macoris in Dominican Republic. The yellow colour is composed a range of flavours which is set to please all chocolate lovers. For Easter, Nihant has also created four flamboyant eggs which you can buy in an assorted box. The four eggs are the milk chocolate egg (a ganache with vanilla from Madagascar), the dark chocolate egg (intense ganache of dark chocolate), the red egg (milk … [Read more...]