The restaurant had closed down for an indefinite period of time due to the pandemic. However, it seems that the one they had located in the European Quarter won’t be opening back up.

« It is with great pain in our hearts that we are announcing today that the North Sea Place Luxembourg is closing its doors for good.The consequences of the coronavirus crisis and also the delayed return of all employees of the European institutions have been heavy for us. Too heavy.” 

The famous restaurant was located on Rue du Luxembourg, a few meters away from one of the most frequented places in Brussels – Place Luxembourg.

However, they look forward to welcoming clients in their establishment located in St.Katherine.

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Good Food restaurants prioritize local and seasonal ingredients, offer delicious vegetarian alternatives and take care to reduce food waste.

The list of labeled restaurants now has 17 additional members: Bread & Bento , Café abc , Café De Markten , Chabrol , Le Dillens , Elan , Love Ciabatta , La Luck , Le Millefeuille , Nic-nac , Picpoul , Pois Chiche , Poppins , Le Roy from Spain , The Sister Brussels Café , Taverne ter Linden and Walvis have all just obtained the Good Food Resto label. Among these, there are cozy bistros, wine or cocktail bars, social economy restaurants, but also a literary café or even a fun brasserie …

In total there are now 70 restaurants that have the Good Food Resto label in the Brussels Region.

The Brussels Good Food Strategy has a double ambition:

• « Better produce » , that is to say, locally growing and processing healthy and environmentally friendly foods;
• « Eat well » or make a tasty and balanced diet accessible to all, made up of a maximum of local products.

The restaurants listed on the directory are labeled Good Food and meet defined criteria , supported by evidence and verified by an external auditor.

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Classified from A to Z they cover every neighbourhood in the city plus all genres and prices.The guide continues to apply a « rigorous » selection procedure and inclusion is much sought after. It has won an enviable reputation for giving an objective, accurate and detailed analysis of restaurants of all kinds and types.

These range from gastronomic establishments to relatively humble and low-priced places. All are based on 10 separate criteria such as the welcome given to diners and all are judged on their price/quality.

About 60 restaurants have been deleted in the 2019 issue, either due to bankruptcy or non-compliance with the strict selection criteria. As it has done since 2011, the guide once again includes a Delta Discovery Pass which offers 30% discount (excluding drinks) in 45 restaurants in and around Brussels, all scrupulously selected by the Guide’s gastronomic columnists.

For the second year in a row, the publisher, Stephane Desmet has also included, under the heading « Tips from the Delta Guide », about 60 restaurants considered « essential to discover. »

These are classified in four categories: trendy, gastronomic, must-sees and those classed as cool.

The 45 gourmet addresses have been scrupulously selected and are classified by district and category (gastronomic table, good value for money, favourites and those in a beautiful setting). The Discovery Pass is also available at these restaurants.

The guide, first published back in 1977 and the only one of its kind in Belgium, is also available as an electronic version

With an average of 7,000 visitors per day and a database of 5,620 hotels and restaurants, the website (as is the book) a reference to find a good restaurant or a hotel in Belgium and also the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Each year, it also presents awards to mark the new edition and 2019 is no different. Desmet, publisher for the past 11 years, explained that while the temptation, with each new edition, is to honour well known chefs who have helped win Brussels its culinary reputation the « Delta Guide philosophy is more about discovery than consecration. »

This year, the guide has therefore honoured relatively new restaurants and young chefs.

The 2019-2020 nominees are:

Golden Delta: Hispania Brussels (Brussels) Adrian Mancheño;

Silver Delta: Origine (Etterbeek) Xavier Lizen;

Bronze Delta: Willy’s Workshop (Brussels) Bogdan Streinu;

DELTA by specialty (in alphabetical order):

Bissetoun (Iranian cuisine);

Chez Anesti (Greek);

From Brussels and Elsewhere (world);

Gallery Resto-Boutique (Vietnamese);

Mon Fou d’Mari (Belgian cuisine);

Osteria Romana (Italian);

Meadow of Chez Nous (bistronomic) and

Tang Dynasty (Chinese)

The guide, which sold up to 10,000 copies in 2018, is available in all bookshops.

Further info via

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The user-friendly design makes it easier for Belgians and tourists to navigate their way through the country in a sustainable way and the timing before summer begins is perfect.

There are now 550+ places across Belgium that serve free tap water and with the new app button, it will be very easy for people with the app to add new places.

The initiative aims to make it compulsory for restaurants to offer free water in restaurants. Meanwhile in other countries such as France or Italy this is already the case.

The reason why it has not been fully implemented yet in Belgium is because it is a significant source of income for the hotel and catering industry. However, with the growth of ecological awareness more and more restaurants have started to offer tap water for free.

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A five-course menu (295 euros) will be prepared, cooked and served daily by the nominated chef of the day at noon, 7pm and 9.30pm, until June 23. Guests will be welcomed on the Quai Béco, near Place Sainctelette, with the organisers promising guests that they will “walk on the water before taking off” for a view of Tour & Taxis, the port of Brussels and the future Kanal Pompidou Museum.

The restaurant will be able to seat 22 guests at a time, and will feature dishes from the following acclaimed chefs: Yves Mattagne (Sea Grill**), David Martin (La Paix**), Pierre Résimont (L’Eau Vive**), Alexandre Dionisio (La Villa in the Sky**), Bart De Pooter (De Pastorale**), Viki Geunes (‘T Zilte**), Karen Torosyan (Bozar Restaurant*), Isabelle Arpin (Isabelle Arpin), Giovanni Bruno (Senzanome*), Luigi Ciciriello (La Truffe Noire*), Mathieu Jacri (Villa Emily*) and Alain Bianchin (Restaurant Alain Bianchin*).

Cocktail sessions (125 euros) will also be organised on weekend afternoons, consisting of three appetizers concocted by chef Alexandre Moormann (Atelier Gustave) and three cocktails prepared by mixologist Edouard Silverhands (Cocktails.Bytheway).

A few places are still available for this “food pairing” offer (15, 22 and 23 June), as well as for the gourmet meals (19, 20 and 21 June).

Created in 2006, the “Dinner in the Sky” platforms now cover the skies of more than sixty countries, including Brazil, South Africa, the United States and many parts of Europe. Since 2012, the Belgian company has returned to the city of its origin every year during the month of June, in partnership with VisitBrussels and the City of Brussels.

The event has previously been held in Brussels at the Mont des Arts, at Parc du Cinquantenaire, and in front of the Atomium. Last year, it took place in front of the Koekelberg Basilica.

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Today, there are more than 23,000 KFC outlets located in 119 countries and territories around the world.

For the inauguration, a long line of customers appeared in front of the restaurant’s entrance. “KFC does have a history in Belgium, but it’s been a very, very long time since we’ve had a restaurant here. In the meantime, consumer habits have changed and I think KFC has a real future in Belgium,” explains the manager of Autogrill, who won the franchise for this first restaurant. “Gare du Nord is the best place to start,” he adds.

But where does the chicken come from?

Regarding the conditions of the chicken sold to KFC, the brand managers have tried to assure concerned customers and activists that they meet strict criteria for animal protection. “We work in collaboration with our Dutch suppliers and ensure that they meet our food safety and animal welfare criteria,” the chain said in a statement.

The company also works with the World Animal Protection Association to help it evaluate and best meet these criteria.

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Free Tap Water In Belgian Restaurants is delighted to launch an APP version of the Google Map. Two talented designers who followed the campaign offered to volunteer their time and after 6 weeks, the App. Android & Apple versions are ready, and of course, free to download & use!

The user-friendly design makes it easier for Belgians and tourists to navigate their way through the country in a sustainable way and the timing before summer begins is perfect.

There are now 400+ places across Belgium that serve free tap water and with the new app button, it will be very easy for people with the app to add new places.

The aim of this app is actually to self-destruct! It can carry a maximum of 20,000 restaurants before crashing and we would be delighted if it did crash because of this reason!

Kidney Stones & Belgian Tap Water

We asked a nephrologist, chosen at random, if he/she could shed light on the persistent rumours that Belgian Tap Water causes Kidney Stones. Professor Norbert Lameire is a world renowned nephrologist at the University of Gent and an expert in kidney stones. He wrote an article for our campaign and strongly refuted this myth. Prof Lameire says that not only does ‘hard’ tap water in Belgium NOT cause kidney stones, but it actually prevents them.

Polls

We have conducted 14 polls, each with an average of 500 voters and the results are:

– 80% feel uncomfortable asking for tap water in Belgium

– 89% feel as confident drinking tap water in Belgium as other European countries

– 57% would add an extra tip to the service charge if they were served free tap water

– 40% support the introduction of a cover charge like Italy’s Coperto to include free tap water

– 97% think Belgium should ensure McDonald’s, Burger King and other global chains should offer free tap water as they do in other European cities

– 77% of people would order a different drink to water if they were in a café that didn’t serve free tap water

– 69% think the Belgium government should offer tax incentives to restaurants that serve free tap water as an environmental policy

– 34% filter their tap water at home before drinking, 66% drink it straight from the tap

– 58% of people have stopped or reduced their bottled water consumption in the past 12 months

– 46% of Belgians think free tap water in restaurants in a cultural issue, 54% think it’s a political one

– 73% would be in favour of a “local” option in menus, where free tap water is included in the price of a dish with local ingredients

– 81% drank tap water at home in their childhood

– 79% support this campaign for environmental reasons

– 90% would prefer free tap water in restaurants if they had to choose between free bread and free tap water

International Chains in Belgium

We have asked the international chains like Burger King, McDonald’s and Le Pain Quotidien to apply the same policy in Belgium as other countries. You can have free tap water in all these branches in Paris & London, but not in Brussels. This issue attracts a lot of interest from our followers.

Numbers

Our Google Map has had 130,000 views in 2 months and we have 9600 followers on the Facebook Page where our main campaign is conducted. We have 12 volunteers from Belgium, France, Ireland, Israel, Croatia and England.

Eco-friendly Window Stickers

We have sent the first 200 eco-friendly stickers with our logo for restaurants and have an large album of images of restaurant windows with our stickers.

Brussels Airport & ‘Water With a Cause’

Brussels Airport have said they will change their “Water With a Cause” stand at the airport past security – At the moment, you can buy a single use plastic bottle for 1euro and the proceeds go to WWF and UNESCO – two charities that fight plastic pollution and which both advocate buying a reusable water bottle and taking on holiday! We suggested selling reusable water bottles with the logo of the charity and Brussels Airport and setting up a row of prominent water refilling stations.

Science Museum in Brussels

The Science Museum in Brussels have just agreed to change their policy in their museum café “The Dino Café”. The Royal Science Museum in Brussels has exhibits on plastic pollution in the oceans and also a research ship. Until the campaign, if customers wanted to drink water, they would be obliged to buy a single-use plastic bottle of water – now they can drink free tap water.

Restaurants Asking to Join

We are receiving more messages from restaurants asking to be put on the map! Our campaign has operated on a policy of “Name And Fame”, never name and shame. Any restaurant offering free tap water to a customer will go on to our map & app. We are also hearing many customers saying that they “dared” ask for tap water and received it.

Luxembourg

The movement has now spread to Luxembourg – a follower visiting Belgium returned home and has set up a sister movement, with the same stickers & logo.

Unnecessary bottled water in both plastic and glass causes untold harm to our environment – plastic pollution, carbon emissions from transporting bottles, vast amounts of water and energy used to recycle or reuse bottles. A single-use plastic bottle of Fiji is shipped 16,000kms and then could end up being shipped back to SE Asia with the rest of Europe’s unwanted plastic pollution.

Belgium’s tap water is consistently ranked with as top quality and it’s certainly the most rigorously tested product you can ingest in Belgium.

More information

– Visit the Facebook page

Direct links to download the application:

– Apple App Store

– Android Google Play Store

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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€

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The new restaurant will be the chain’s second restaurant in Belgium – its first is in Antwerp – and will be located in the food court of the shopping mall City 2 in the centre of town, with direct access onto Rue Neuve.

Five Guys is famous for its customisable burger menu, its use of fresh ingredients, and (especially) its fries. It has more than 1,500 restaurants worldwide, and has an annual turnover of more than $1.6 billion.

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