The restaurant owner is Anca, an affable woman with great taste for wines, interior and of course, for food. Robin complements her perfectly; when he started at Alexandre, he decided to give the dishes a female, elegant and filigree twist. Robin (or The Robin, as he’s called by friends in the food scene) is, to say the least, a perfectionist and everything about his dishes is well thought through; the colours, tastes, textures and of course the ingredients; the produce is well-balanced and perfectly aligned with each other. On top of this, the restaurant has a sustainable outlook, wasting as little food as possible and using each ingredient wherever and however possible. What’s in the sauce, dressing or puree, is usually also on top of the dishes, such as shiso, violet petals or wild leaves.

To follow the seasons, the menu changes frequently, with one element usually being replaced every two or three weeks. In summer, you might find dry aged milk cow or all kinds of baked, smoked, cured or raw fish dishes on the menu. While towards winter and spring time it could be game duck or milk-lamb that you’ll discover on your plate. The dishes are never ordinary or boring, you’ll always experience something you haven’t eaten or even heard of before, such as tamarillo, juice from young pines or verbena. Once, for example, there was a deconstructed Lobster roll on the menu, inspired by Robin’s wife’s stay in Boston. The Lobster was sautéed in garlic, served in a delicate and very flavourful sauce made from toast, baked apple and tamarillo, lemon and mustard. On the plate there were also green tomatoes, chervil and a juice reduction from young pines. This dish was so surprising and interesting, while being very tasteful and an absolute colour bomb, intensified by the blue plate it was served on.

Service and kitchen staff are utterly lovely and it’s visible that the team at Alexandre is a team of people, who love food and want to bring it to their guests in the most perfect way. It’s haute cuisine with creative tastes and dishes in a non-pretentious, but welcoming and warm setting.

Address: Rue du Midi 164, 1000 Bruxelles

Prices: Quick lunch 28€, Lunch 40€, Grand Lunch 60€, Petit menu 70€, Grand menu 120€

The post Alexandre – International cuisine with a female twist appeared first on Brussels Express.

Yamato is a simple and honest place that serves great food. It was opened in 2016 by Kato, who came to Belgium when he was 23. After he had worked at several Japanese restaurants in Belgium, he took over the restaurant from Mr Inagaki, one of the first to introduce Japanese Ramen food culture to Brussels. Kato owns three restaurants (Yamato, and Menma in two locations), but Yamato is the only one where the broth used as a base for the Ramen is made from chicken, whereas other places predominantly use a pork base.

What’s Ramen? Ramen is a Japanese soup consisting of a broth basis that is served with homemade noodles, vegetables such as spring onions, soy beans or bamboo shoots as well as pork slices or Katsu. Katsu is breaded pork, which is very thin, crispy and juicy, cut into slices and added on top of your big bowl of Ramen. You can also choose the Miso version, which means that Miso paste (fermented bean paste) is added, giving your soup a more intense, saltier taste.

Another thing that makes Yamato special is the setting. You get delicious soup bowls while sitting at one of the stools around the bar from where you can watch Kato cooking and preparing steaming bowls, filled with handmade curly Ramen noodles, chicken broth, vegetables and meat (or without it if you’re vegetarian).

You can also order other dishes at the little corner restaurant right by Saint Boniface. Their Gyozas are delicious and the Katsudon, too. If it’s your first time here though, definitely try the Miso Katsu Ramen. It’s smooth in its taste, full of umami flavour and full of different textures. Once you’ve taken a bite into the Katsu, you’re going to come back to Yamato over and over again.

Good to know: Gyoza around 7€, Ramen 12-14€

Address: Rue Francart 11, 1050 Ixelles

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The restaurant is one big dining room, decorated in a romantic and somehow mystic way: it’s painted in a dark forest green, decorated with fresh flowers, green leather cushions, old paintings and other Art Nouveau pieces. In the middle of the room there’s a large, heavy, wooden commode with even more fresh and colorful flowers on it. Dark brown wooden tables and heavy chairs put you in the perfect mood to have a more-course dinner and three or more glasses of wine. The waiters are neatly dressed and are very polite and helpful. You could say that there’s some kitsch to the whole place, but it’s just the right amount.

The menu changes depending on season, but you’re able to order many of the traditional dishes all-year-round. Belgian food culture includes dishes such as intestines or brain and Les Brigittines serves these, but also pig feet, udder, and other curiosities. If this is not for you, don’t worry. There are many other choices, such as their delightfully tasty and soft pork belly with cubes of raw tuna on top, seasoned with spicy ginger, fresh cilantro and green lime. You could also try the rich, creamy soup from grey shrimps that Dirk orders from the North Sea.

A classic is, without question, the roasted chicken cooked in vinegar that arrives at your table served by the chef himself and accompanied by loud, cheerful music. If your dinner hasn’t been an event until that point, it certainly is now. Another must is their changing fish dishes, the pigeon, or simply the beef steak. Make sure you try the ‘Geuze’, a special, quite sour Belgian beer, fermented in a copper barrel for over a year.

 

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[Brussels | Les Brigittines] – side of pork with tuna Tatar on top, marinated in lemon juice, ginger and cilantro. Think I’m still dreaming 💭💭 ♦️ review is on the @brussels.express! ______________ #lefooding #belgiancuisine #lesbrigittines #dinner #weekend #saturday #wine #naturalwine #tatar @lefooding

A post shared by Kaja Hengstenberg (@kajahengstenberg) on May 24, 2017 at 11:37pm PDT

Dirk Myny pays very special attention to the ingredients he uses and therefore you’ll always find something new when enjoying your meal at his restaurant. It’s the comforting food you want to eat on rainy evenings or sunny lunches just to leave with that little, good amount of tipsiness.

Price: 3-course lunch is 35 €, 4-course market menu is 55 €, 6-course menu “canaille” is 75 €, à la carte starters are 14-21€, main dishes are 25-35€, wines are

Address: Place de la Chapelle 5, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

The post Les Brigittines – The dinner you won’t forget appeared first on Brussels Express.

I don’t drink so much coffee as people would expect. I guess it’s around 3-4 cups. But what’s for sure, I try/taste a lot, as well. It’s to control recipes and ratios, just like a cook.

Tell us something about yourself and your café in Ixelles?

Since I was a student, I’ve been working in the hospitality industry as a waitress. I always wanted to open my own place (but not especially a café). In 2013, I found a job at Café de la Presse here in Brussels. When I arrived there, they changed their coffee supplier and I met the guy who roasted the coffee. It was this moment that kicked-off my ‘coffee life’. I worked there during three years and learnt everything about work as a barista. In 2016, someone proposed a place/shop to me. I visited it, and Fika’s story began.

If you had to choose: flat white, cappuccino or latte?

Cappuccino. For me it is the drink containing milk that has a good balance: you taste the body of the coffee and enjoy it with the sweetness from the foam and warm milk.

Why did you call you cafe ‘Fika’ and why did you open it in Brussels (if there’s a reason)?

Brussels: it’s just the life that decided.

Fika is a combination of a culture that I like (Scandinavian) and my passion for coffee. I wanted to open a place about coffee culture and the coffee break, not especially a copy of a Swedish café.

Also, one of the most difficult things when you start a business is to find the name: it should be short, easy to remember and easy to read/pronounce. ‘Fika’ came naturally with my concept.

What is « Fika » for you? What makes a perfect Fika?

“Fika” for me is ‘to take a time for a break’, ‘take 5 min or more if you can, to relax with a drink and/or a snack’.

What’s special about your coffee? Where does it come from?

We only serve specialty coffees. This means the coffee have a score that reflects in quality. I work with 2 roasters (as my main suppliers): Café Capitale (a local roaster based in Brussels) and April, from Copenhagen. We change coffee origins on a regular basis, depending on what the roasters’ selection is and how the harvests look (coffee also has seasons, and change depending on the country it’s from).

Do you feel the coffee scene in Brussels and in Europe is developing fast? What do you think will be the next big trend?

Coffee is already a big trend, but when it comes to Europe, it’s developing faster in countries like the UK, The Netherlands or Sweden than in Belgium.

Do you bake the pastries yourself?

Some, but not everything myself. From the beginning, I work with Fanny, our part-time baker. But yes, the concept of ‘Fika’ is to bake everything ourselves!

What do you prefer? Semlor or cinnamon bun?

(She laughs) – hard question! I like both, but Semlor is only eating during a certain period and it’s a bit heavier than a cinnamon bun. I can’t eat a Semla every day, a cinnamon bun I can!

What’s hardest & most fun about having a small business/cafe?

The concept to do/manage everything yourself is hard but it’s so rewarding!

A small shop attracts loyal customers. The café been there for 2 years already and the interaction with my customers has become a friendly relationship. You feel like home at ‘Fika’.

What do you like most about Brussels?

It depends on the area you are in. What I like about Brussels is that the atmosphere is nice: the human size of the city with capital city advantages and all the different nationalities…

What’s the cosiest place in Brussels for you?

Is it arrogant if I respond Fika? (Joana laughs) Every day I try to make the shop as cozy as possible, it’s my job!

The post Interview with Joana from Fika appeared first on Brussels Express.

Why is this such a delicious, crowd-pleasing recipe? This courgette or zucchini bread has a smooth taste, because of the chunks of zucchini that go into it mixed with buttermilk. It’s then toasted in butter so that it gets nice, crispy and golden brown from both sides. You add some spiciness through a simple chipotle sour cream and then balance this off with a sweet tomato jam with hints of lime. It’s just a very pleasant composition of flavours, textures, ingredients and colours.

Ingredients

For the Zucchini loaf:

360g flour

1 tsp baking soda

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tsp dried thyme (the leaves)

100g shredded Zucchini

2 eggs

265 ml buttermilk

3 tbsp sunflower oil

more salt to taste

(optional: 150g Feta, crumbled into the final batter)

For the Halloumi:

250g Halloumi, cut into 1cm slices

For the chipotle sour cream:

1 – 1 1/2 tsp ground chipotle

300g sour cream

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tbsp maple syrup

salt to taste

For the tomato jam:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1 shallot, chopped into very small cubes

400g cherry tomatoes, washed and dried

juice from 1 lime

2-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

4 tbsp brown sugar

salt to taste

To serve:

some butter

3 spring onions, finely slices

some sea salt flakes

Preparation

For the loaf:

Preheat oven to 180C.

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pepper, thyme and shredded zucchini in a bowl and set aside. You could also add some chopped parsley or basil, if you want your courgette bread to be ‘herbier’.

Whisk eggs with buttermilk and oil, add some salt if wished, in a big bowl. Stepwise add your flour mixture and fold into the egg mix.

Grease a loaf pan and pour in the dough. Bake for 55 minutes, until your loaf is golden-brown. When you insert a toothpick, it should come out clean.

Let cool entirely. Can be made 1-2 days before serving.

For the chipotle sour cream:

Put all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

For the tomato jam:

Heat a pan on medium heat. Add olive oil. Add garlic and shallots and fry until translucent and soft, but not browned. Add tomatoes and fry on higher heat until they burst and get soft.

Add lime juice, apple cider vinegar and sugar and stir well. Reduce heat to medium-low and let everything simmer for 15 minutes. Add some salt to taste – the jam should retain its soft and fruity flavour.

Cool down and store in an airtight jar or use immediately. Can be made 2-3 days before serving. Also tastes great with cheese, or simply spread onto a slice of bread.

Assembling:

Heat a pan on medium heat. Add a teaspoon of butter and wait until it has melted. Slice your zucchini loaf into 2 cm thick slices and add 4-6 of them to the pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes, then turn. Both sides should be golden brown. Take out of pan and arrange on plates. Fry the remaining slices of the bread.

At the same time, heat another pan and fry halloumi from both sides, without any fat added, until nicely roasted.

Place one piece of halloumi on each piece of zucchini bread. Add a tablespoon of chipotle sour cream and a teaspoon of your tomato jam. Garnish with sliced spring onion and a pinch of sea salt flakes. Serve warm.

The post Toasted Zucchini Bread with Grilled Halloumi, Chipotle Sour Cream and Tomato Jam appeared first on Brussels Express.

The classes take place in the dining room of Sophia’s apartment in Ixelles either on a weeknight or during the weekend. Everyone is welcomed with a seasonal drink – be it a quince Bellini, a Mezcal and fresh grapefruit cocktail or a glass of Prosecco with blood orange syrup and rosemary. After a short meet and greet the class begins and Kaja and Sophia introduce everyone to the evening’s dishes and talk about unusual or special ingredients.

After participating in the preparation of the dinner (usually 4-courses) everyone sits down to eat, chat and enjoy some glasses of wine. There’s always ‘a twist’ to the food served. Be it a sumac and preserved lemon butter, a whole orange cake with cardamom cream, slow-cooked short ribs glazed in Korean gochujang paste, or buttermilk pancakes with miso butter. Both ladies have lived in and travelled different parts of the world, which is where the inspiration for their dishes comes from. In total, the evening typically lasts about 2.5 hours.

Kaja and Sophia find it important to use good-quality ingredients only, and to use local and seasonal produce as far as possible. They want to cook something that people will like and that will hopefully inspire them to also prepare the dishes at home after the class. “We are happiest when people leave with a smile, a full belly and maybe also a new friend by their side”, they say. After all, the Supperclubs & Cooking Classes are also a great opportunity to meet new people, mingle and to talk about food, life and everything in between.

The most recent Two Kitchens Brussels event was ‘The Brunch Edition’ on 16 & 17 March, featuring a large range of sweet as well as savoury dishes such as banana bread with Tahini frosting, turmeric and cardamom granola made with puffed quinoa, toasted Zucchini bread with grilled halloumi, chipotle sour cream and tomato jam, and BLT sandwiches with gochujang and maple glazed bacon.

The Spring Edition on 6 April and 26 April, is their next event. Participants will learn how to make Ricotta Gnocchi as well as spring Fattoush (a Middle Eastern salad with fried flatbread croutons, which Kaja and Sophia will be giving a twist) and homemade tarragon butter with roasted sunflower seeds. During the Nordic Summer Edition on 14 and 18 May, the two will prepare gravadlax and other dishes that recall a Swedish or Norwegian summer – as always with a little twist.

Price: 35€ for a brunch class, 50€ for a dinner class

Contact and reservation: twokitchens.reservation@gmail.com

To hear about next events, follow their @twokitchens_brussels Instagram page or Two Kitchens Brussels on Facebook

The post Two Kitchens Brussels – The Cooking Class & Supper Club among friends appeared first on Brussels Express.

Literally translated, Pão de Ló means bread of Ló, but taste and texturewise it’s more a sponge cake than a bread. Its production dates to the beginnings of the 18^th century, when a certain Clara Maria started to produce the today famous Pão de Ló de Margaride. The little bread factory, that is more of a vintage bakery, still exists today and is located right in the heart of Felgueiras. We were quite lucky to visit it and watch the hard-working ladies and men during the whole process. It was an exciting experience to see how this traditional cake has been prepared for centuries and retained its charm over all this time.

Pão de Ló is made from eggs, sugar and flour. It’s just the egg yolks that are being used and Guilherme, the owner of Pão de Ló de Margaride, told us that 25 egg yolks go into a kilogram of batter. The yolks are first beaten with the sugar until a creamy batter has formed. Only then the flour is added, and everything is mixed to an even dough. The dough is then filled into clay cake forms that have a hole in the middle and are lined with a thick white paper. Once the dough has been evenly distributed, the cake is baked in the oven for 40-45 minutes. The final product is a beautiful, slightly browned cake with a little crust and a golden, fluffy inside that smells like eggs and perfection. It’s served in the paper it was baked in and it’s usually not cut but ripped off by hand, so the airy texture of the cake doesn’t get lost. You’ll find the cake in bakeries mostly before and during Easter, but also during the year it’s a popular dessert, best enjoyed with a glass of Port wine.

The factory visit wasn’t the only highlight of our visit. After a delicious lunch in the city, we headed to the actual festival of the Pão de Ló, which is taking place every year, a week before Easter. The festival showcases the biggest and best producers of Pão de Ló and this year was the first time that also international exhibitors took part in the event. Similar types of the spongecake exist in Japan for example, so you could find Japanese-inspired matcha sponge cake. We were introduced to all the Pão de Ló producers, who keep their family recipes a secret since generations and are all well known in the region. They won several awards both nationally and internationally: Fábrica de Pão de Ló de Margaride, Casa do Pão de Ló Agostinho de Sousa, Pão de Ló de Margaride de António Lopes, Pão de Ló de Margaride Mário Ribeiro (Fernando Jorge Cibrão Ribeiro), Casa Rosa Sousa, Alojamento e Produtos Regionais.

After the festival our blood was full of sugar and to set this off, we first attended a very interesting wine tasting at Quinta da Lixa. The lovely lady explained to us everything we needed to know about the famous wine of the region: Vinho Verde that is a big part of the local and regional economy. To finish the evening we enjoyed an amazing, local dinner with fresh and regional produce at the restaurant Brasão, headed by the known and talented chef Carvalho. If you visit the city, don’t miss out on his codfish soup or the incredibly tender steak with hand cut, fried chips.

Regardless why you’re visiting the region, there is plenty of things to do and see. Besides being known for its Pão de Ló, Felgueiras and the neighboring towns are famous for their wine and textile production. The area is also part of the Romanic route where you can visit different sights from the Romanic era, like the Mosteiro do Salvador de Travanca. One thing is for sure: you won’t be disappointed by a visit to the region.

The post Visiting Felgueiras, Portugal: home to the traditional ‘Pão de Ló’ cake appeared first on Brussels Express.

Ingredients:

The amounts depend on the number of people you’re cooking for. You can keep rillettes for quite some time, if stored well so usually the minimum amount of meat is 3-5kg.

1/3 pork belly, of which half should be salted pork belly

2/3 duck legs (with a large amount of fat)

11gr salt per kilo of meat

Some pepper

Spices such as thyme, bay leaf, rosemary, piment d’Espelette

Preparation method:

Cut the pork belly into big cubes. Heat a pan on very high heat and brown the duck legs and pork belly from all sides. Keep the fat.

Put the pork belly and duck legs in a saucepan with the fat, salt, pepper and spices to your taste. Bring everything to a boil and then, on very low heat, slow-cook for six hours.

If the meat has not become soft and moist by the fat, mix well and add a little more duck fat. Once cooked, the meat should fall easily of the bones.

Let everything cool for half an hour. Remove the bones from duck thighs and put everything into a food processor to fray out.

Put meat mixture in a container and add some fat from the cooking process, then mix so that everything is evenly moistened. Leave to rest in the fridge for 24 hours.

It’s ready to eat now. It tastes best with some fresh slices of baguette or sourdough bread.

The post Recipe for Duck Rillette by Denis Delcampe from Le Tournant appeared first on Brussels Express.

Le Wine Bar des Marolles got its name in 2007, when it moved just a few hundred metres from Sablon to Rue Haute. It’s here where Vincent Thomaes, the warm and friendly owner of the restaurant, speaks passionately to his guests while walking energetically in and out of the kitchen. Before opening the restaurant, he worked together with his brothers at their star restaurant South of Brussels. He has trained famous sommeliers around the world and Vincent’s knowledge of wines permeates the entire experience.

On two floors, dark wooden tables take up most of the space in the large dining rooms. The tables are placed close together, but just far enough so you avoid overhearing the conversations of your neighbours. The warm, dark orange lamps hanging from the ceiling, illuminate the place just enough to shed light on the old, golden-framed paintings that decorate the walls.

Vincent opens the restaurant only from Thursday until Sunday with lunch being served on weekends exclusively. This timetable allows for him to travel through Belgium and France to look for high quality produce, as the ingredients used at the restaurant are mainly locally sourced and carefully picked by Vincent himself. The meat and seafood served come from well-treated animals that were held under good conditions and most of the vegetables grow in proximity to Brussels.

On the menu you’ll find a lot of traditional recipes that belong to Vincent’s family, like the very soft, intensively-tasting butter that’s been cooked several times. There’s a lot of comforting food, like the homemade Foie Gras with an apple reduction and apple slices cooked in syrup made from the peels; or the Joue de Boeuf, slow cooked beef cheek that is served with a puree of seasonal vegetables and grilled roots. It’s so soft that you could easily tear it apart with a spoon in one hand while holding a glass of one of the marvelous wines in the other. Recommended dishes are also the creamy, soft burrata, served with seasonal grilled vegetables or any type of terrines, sausages or the tastefully prepared seafood like oysters, mackerel or scallops.

Price: A bottle of wine is around 25-200+€ (extraordinary wines), starters around 11-20€ and mains 18-35€

Address: Rue Haute 198, 1000 Brussels

The post Le Wine Bar des Marolles – Feasting life à la Bruxelloise appeared first on Brussels Express.

The restaurant recently got refurbished and gained even more charm than it had before. In a cosy Brasserie-setting you can enjoy various stews, homemade terrines and foie gras while washing it down with great natural wines or with a beer if you’re coming for the fair-priced and delicious lunch.

Denis, the chef and owner of the restaurant, is keen for a chat about his visions and sources of inspiration, as well as his views on natural wines. The restaurant has existed for quite some time now and has always been the go-to place for people who want proper, non-pretentious and well-portioned food. The food is rather on the heavy side of things, made from good and fresh produce.

When you come to Le Tournant you know what you’re getting. Tried the juicy, perfectly seasoned, hand-cut beef tartare with mushrooms once? It will be the same, or better, the second, third and fourth time you come here.

The menu is frequently changing, but the highlights are definitely the homemade foie gras, the terrines, the Nomande Entrecôte and the various stews from duck or beef. The beef cheek stew is cooked in beer for many hours, which makes it perfectly soft and tender and gives it the flawless flavor to go along with some roasted vegetables. The desserts are also not something you should say ‘no’ to. Their sorbets are truly an experience with tastes like white cheese and orange blossom water that goes perfectly with the pear and apple crumble it’s served with.

Another important detail at Le Tournant is the wine. The wine selection is diverse, all being biodynamic or natural wines from mostly France, but you’ll also find a few bottles from Italy and other countries. What’s important, is that all wines accompanying your meal are chosen carefully with a lot of thoughts behind it. Each of your delicious dishes can be matched with a white or red wine, along with some explanations by the very nice waitresses and waiters.

Good to know as well is that they open during lunch time on Monday-Wednesday and Saturday if you’re a group bigger than 15 people. You prefer eating at home? They also have a catering service.

Price: Starters around 10-18€, mains around 19.50-24€, wine bottles vary but are fairly prices and of great quality

Address: Chaussée de Wavre 168, 1050 Ixelles

The post Le Tournant – Perfect Belgian food and natural wines appeared first on Brussels Express.