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.

We have great news! They are pairing up for an unforgettable dinner experience on 19 June. Kaja, who is hosting the Two Kitchens Brussels Supper Clubs, and Denis, talented chef at Le Tournant, will create a seasonal and sustainable 5-course summer menu for you.

The menu will be a compilation of different summer ingredients that make the perfect component for a light, interesting and enjoyable meal in June. Denis and Kaja will play with different textures, seasonally available produce and the various tastes that summer has to offer.

Reservations are mandatory for this unique experience and can be made online or by calling the restaurant. The dinner is priced at 45€, including several amuse-bouches. There will also be an optional dish of Belgian cheeses and the friendly waiters are happy to recommend wine pairings with your dinner.

Don’t miss out on this pop-up event and join the two on 19 June! More info on the event’s Facebook page.

When: 19 June, 19:00h onwards

Address: Chaussée de Wavre 168, 1050 Ixelles

Website

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The place opened in 2014 by Giorgia and Andrea, two Italians, who are passionate about good food and great ingredients. But the place has changed a lot over the years. Not only in terms of interior and decoration, but also the menu and the drinks have been reinvented to what is today a very interesting variety of food and cocktails. It’s packed every evening and now Cipiace opened a second bar in Antwerp.

None of their cocktails are ordinary. Their drinks list is very creative with some unusual techniques that make the cocktails extra special, such as infusing them with liquid smoke for example. The cherry Negroni is served in a little porcelain cup. You drink it with a dried pear on the side, as well as a small teaspoon with a blop of rich, melted chocolate, with a cherry marinated in syrup on top – it’s their version of Mon Chéri. The cocktail is made from Laphroaig 10 Whisky, Martini Rubino, Martini Bitter, Italicus Rosolio and Amarena Fabbri syrup. With each drink you order you get a small snack, such as Taralli (an Italian kind of cracker).

Another special thing about Cipiace is that instead of egg whites for their whisky-sour-style cocktails they’re using Aquafaba, which is the water that chickpeas or other protein-rich legumes were cooked in. Once in the shaker, it attains the same effect as with egg whites and you get a nice, even foam on top of your cocktail. The great thing is that you produce less food waste and it’s vegan.

However, Cipiace is not only about drinks. They also offer small Italian bites or bigger dishes: from bruschetta to pasta variations that change with season. You’ll find a lot of options that will make your belly happy. To cure a possible hangover that your first experience at Cipiace has left you with – head straight back for the brunch to cure it. Brunch takes place on Sundays and goes on until 15:30h.

Price: around 9-13€ for a cocktail, 9-16€ for starters, 17-19€ for pasta and 20-26€ for seafood and meat dishes

Address: Parvis Saint-Gilles 49A, 1060 Bruxelles

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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.

When you enter, the place shines in bright red and offers a lot of seating options. You can take a seat more towards the right side of the restaurant at diner-resembling tables or at a higher table just next to lovely ladies folding dumplings by hand. You can also choose to sit more towards the middle of the room on cosy sofas and simple chairs. Additionally, there’s a private room that is opened for special occasions, or if the restaurant is buzzing with guests.

Dam Sum is most popular for dinner during the week, and for lunch time on weekends. Why? Because it’s a restaurant where you want to relax and take your time. You’re not just going to enter, sit down, eat your three dumplings and leave. No. You’ll start with the steamed BBQ pork buns, which are soft and moist and might stick to your mouth – but in the good way. You might then order fried shrimp rolls that you dip into a spicy mayonnaise sauce or maybe you’re going to try the steamed beef dumplings in vinegar sauce that are wrapped in a shiny thin dough. Once done with this, it’s a good idea to try some more dumplings and it’s entirely up to you how many.

One thing not to miss is their soup dumplings. It’s a dumpling filled with broth that you can slurp out, before enjoying the rest of the filling. For this, you place the dumpling on a spoon, poke a little hole into it with your chopsticks, slurp out the soup and then you eat the rest of the dumpling.

In case you’re curious about how the dumplings are prepared, you can observe the ladies right by the entrance rolling the dough, filling the to-be-dumplings with minced meat or vegetables and then twirling them into a perfect little bag that they place into an Asian steaming basket in groups of three. In case you want to have something different, Dam Sum also serves warm dishes like black pepper beef or pineapple chicken fried rice.

Among all this savoury indulgence you shouldn’t neglect their vanilla ice cream buns, made from fried, sweet, fluffy dough. If you’re a fan of cocktails that are more on the sweet side, then you’ll be happy about having a ‘Beijing Fresh’ or other options from their drink menu.

Price: 4-7€ for a portion of Dim Sum, around 11€ for main dishes and on Sundays there’s a special menu which includes 5 Dim Sum baskets for 2 persons for 22€

Address: Parvis de la Trinité 11, 1050 Ixelles AND Quai Au Bois a Bruler 51 – 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium (New!)

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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.

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.