Brussels is probably capital of more places and institutions than any other city in the world. The City of Brussels (the smaller municipality within the Brussels Capital Region) is the capital of Belgium, while the whole agglomerate is the capital of both the French speaking and Dutch speaking areas of Belgium, know respectively as Wallonia and Flanders in English. Both NATO and the European Union, along with a host of other international organizations, are headquartered in Brussels, adding immeasurably to the cosmopolitan atmosphere of both city and region.
As you might have guessed, food in Brussels mimics both its bilingual and international character. Belgian food is a lively mix of both French and Dutch influenced dishes artfully seasoned with a pinch each of the many other nationalities and ethnic groups that call Belgium home. Freshest fish and seafood, both light and hearty meat dishes, just picked vegetables, and the best fried potatoes in the world are perfectly complemented by an astounding variety of beers and capped off with world-class chocolates and other sweets. When you go to Brussels, be sure to bring a hearty appetite.
Some of the restaurants and sweets places below are personal favorites with further suggestions by Liliane Opsomer of Flanders Tourism in New York. And this month’s recipe comes from my old friend Ruth van Waerebeek’s wonderful book, Everybody Eats Well in Belgium (Workman, 1996).
Comme Chez Soi
Though the name means “like at home” it refers to the homey food of the restaurant’s early days, opened in 1926 by Georges Cuvelier. Later, his son in law Louis Wynants took over and turned the restaurant into an elegant dining establishment. When I visited for the first time in 1998, his son, Pierre Wynants was the chef, presiding over a Michelin 3-star establishment. As several friends and I approached the short flight of steps leading to the restaurant, a doorman next to the stairway stepped on a knob artfully concealed on the sidewalk, the door opened, and Pierre Wynants was waiting there to greet us; such a warm welcome was carried through and exceeded by the excellent food and service of our lunch. I only remember a suave ham mousse and perfectly poached turbot in a rich sauce, and of course, the breathtakingly beautiful art nouveau interior. Today Wynants’ son in law Lionel Rigolet stands at the range at Comme Chez Soi and is still serving the delightful mousse of Ardennes ham, affectionately named for his father in law. Salad of North Sea lobster, veal sweetbreads with morels, and sole filets with a mousseline of Riesling and shrimp also make frequent appearances on the menu. On Wednesday afternoons Rigolet will demonstrate a menu for a group of 10 to 12 persons who will later enjoy the dishes he prepares at the chef’s table in the kitchen; details on the website.
Comme Chez Soi
23 Place Rouppe
Brussels
Phone: 011 322 512 2921
www.commechezsoi.be 
Bruneau
A little outside the center of the city is Jean-Pierre Bruneau’s Michelin 2-star restaurant featuring traditional cuisine peppered with his personal touches. Choose from skate stuffed with crabmeat, sole with celery root, foie gras and smoked eel ( a Flemish specialty), or duckling with acacia honey, among the many offerings. Bruneau is an early riser and hits the market every morning for the best available fish, meat, and produce. Garden dining available in good weather.
Bruneau
Avenue Broustin 73-75
Brussels-Ganshoren
Phone: 011 322 421 7070
www.bruneau.be
Casual choices with Belgian Specialties
No trip to Brussels would be complete without moules/frites (mussels with a side of fried potatoes), a plate of Ardennes ham, or some shrimp croquettes. The following establishments maintain a high level of quality in ingredients, preparation, and service, though more casual and less expensive than the suggestions above.
For a fine lunch or dinner of Belgian specialties including what are reputed to be among the best fried potatoes in Brussels, look no further than Aux Armes de Bruxelles, in the same location since 1921. A family business for many years, Aux Armes is now part of the Flo restaurant group which takes over the management of older restaurants without destroying their individual character or the quality of their food. Highly recommended.
Aux Armes de Bruxelles
Rue des Bouchers 13
Brussels
Phone: 011 322 511 5550/5598
www.auxarmesdebruxelles.be
If you crave mussels, head straight for Chez Leon, known for the excellence of its mussels as well as its other Belgian specialties such as gratin of Belgian endive, eel in green sauce, waterzooi of chicken (a creamy ragout), and of course, steamed mussels served half a dozen ways as well as more than that many other mussel dishes, including fried mussels and a mussel salad. Sunday nights it’s unlimited mussels, just in case you’re really hungry.
Chez Leon
Rue des Bouchers 18
Brussels
Phone: 011 322 511 1415
www.chezleon.be
Excellent fish and seafood specialties including mussels and a full menu of traditional Belgian food await you at Brasserie Jaloa, a relative newcomer to the Brussels restaurant scene. Open 7 days a week from noon to 11PM, Jaloa features great food at reasonable prices. Herring with potato salad, marinated salmon with dill sauce, carbonnades (beef braised in beer), calves liver with shallots, and cod with sorrel are a few selections from the extensive menu.
Brasserie Jaloa
Place Sainte-Catherine 5-7
Brussels
Phone: 011 322 512 1831
www.brasseriejaloa.com
Those Fried Potatoes
Though most Americans refer to them as “French fries” they’re really Belgian – why else would there be over 4,000 street-side establishments selling them in a relatively small country? A friterie (frietkot in Dutch/Flemish) is a fried potato stand preparing the ethereal fries, crisp, golden, lightly salted and served in a paper cone with a side of mayonnaise. Some friteries offer a further selection of up to 50 different dipping sauces aside from the traditional mayonnaise.
The fries are made from a yellow-fleshed, flavorful, high starch potato called a bintje. Most friteries use rendered beef suet for frying because it easily withstands the high temperatures necessary to get to potatoes crisp. Don’t cringe, animal fat is a lot healthier than highly processed chemically-extracted vegetable oils, tastes a lot better, and a couple of cones of fries during a visit to Brussels will not make you gain 20 pounds!
The real secret of the fries is in the cooking: first they’re fried at a lower temperature just to cook them through completely – after frying this first they’re still pale and limp. (Frying once at a high enough temperature to crisp the outside would leave too much moisture sealed inside and the fries would go soggy in a matter of seconds.) To finish them for serving, they’re fried at a higher temperature until cracklingly crisp and remain so until you get to the last one at the bottom of the cone.
The undisputed king of the Brussels friteries is Chez Antoine, a bit outside the center of the city on Place Jourdan in Brussels-Etterbeek. As the Guide Michelin likes to say, it’s “worth a special trip.” And if the august guide rated friteries, I’m sure Chez Antoine would receive a heretofore unheard of fourth star.
On the sweet side
Belgian chocolate is world famous and most of the companies producing it have shops in Brussels. Below are a few personal favorites, but if you wish to explore the twenty-odd other choices in chocolate, see the link below for the full story, including the Museum of Cacao and Chocolate.
www.visitflanders.us/index.php?page=chocolate-lovers
Wittamer
I have several friends who will never forget our visit to Wittamer. After a multiple course lunch at Comme Chez Soi washed down with a couple of bottles of Champagne, we left the restaurant and I asked the doorman for directions. “Where are we going now?” one of them, a usually abstemious eater asked. “Why to a pastry shop, of course,” and off we went on a short walk to Wittamer. One of the world’s greatest pastry shops, Wittamer, in business since 1910, is now run by the brother and sister team of Paul and Myriam Wittamer, grandchildren of the founder. This is the place to buy some chocolates for Belgian friends plus a few boxes to take home, or anything from a lusciously delicate dessert cake or an assortment of individual pastries, cookies, or even breakfast pastries. At Wittamer you can’t go wrong.
Wittamer
12 Place du Grand Sablon 6
Brussels
Phone: 011 322 512 3742
www.wittamer.com
Marcolini
Conveniently situated right across the street from Wittamer, Marcolini has taken the Belgian chocolate world by storm. With a dozen or so stores throughout the world, Pierre Marcolini makes chocolate confections that are rich in creativity without ever being bizarre – they’re beautiful to behold, and totally addictive. I love his milk chocolate centers scented with a hint of rose and his dark chocolate Champagne truffles dusted with confectioners’ sugar. There are bar chocolates, caramels and other sugar-based confections, traditional Belgian cookies, and more. Frequently criticized for his high prices, Marcolini’s chocolates are best savored a few at a time anyway…
Pierre Marcolini
Rue des Minimes 1 (Place du Grand Sablon)
Brussels
Phone: 011 322 574 1206
www.marcolini.be
Belgian Beer
Unofficially, beer brewing has been taking place in Belgian monasteries since the Middle Ages, though the first official written record of it only dates from right after the first quarter of the nineteenth century. There is no official system of categorizing Belgian beers, though the list below makes an attempt to at least define the major types.
Trappist beer is produced by Trappist monks in a facility in or near their monastery. A very general designation, it doesn’t refer to a particular type of style of beer.
Abbey beers may be produced in conjunction with a monastery, though some brewers make abbey beers that refer to defunct or fictitious abbeys. Again, there is no designation of type inherent in the name
Amber, blond, and brown ales are part of a less bitter group of beers. One blond ale, Duvel (“devil”), is a widely exported and well-know internationally.
Dubbel is a strong dark beer developed in the Trappist monastery of Westmalle. Today many brewers add some kind of abbey designation to the name of this type of beer.
Lambic beers are wheat-based beers that develop their alcohol content by means of spontaneous fermentation. The most widely consumed lambic beer in Brussels is the cherry-flavored Kriek.
Pils is a pale lager beer or pilsener, the most widely produced beer in Belgium.
Table beer has an alcohol content typically no higher than 1.5% and was traditionally served with meals, even in school cafeterias. Today much table beer consumption has been replaced by soft drinks.
Wheat beer was traditionally brewed in Flemish Belgium since the Middle Ages but waned in popularity and became extinct in the 1950s. A short time later there was a revival of wheat beer production in the town of Hoegaarden and since then it has increased in popularity and is now widely exported. Wheat beers are traditionally flavored with herbs.
Recipe: Gratin of Brussels Sprouts
This would be a great make-ahead side dish for Thanksgiving. Adapted from Everybody Eats Well in Belgium.
4-6 servings
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 pounds small Brussels sprouts, rinsed and trimmed
3 ounces bacon cut into 1/4-inch strips
Salt and pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons coarsely grated Swiss Gruyere
One 2-quart gratin dish, buttered
- Bring the cream to a boil in a saucepan, decrease heat, and allow to simmer until it is reduced by half.
- While the cream is reducing, bring a large pan of water to a boil and add salt. Add the sprouts and return to a boil. Continue boiling for a minute, then drain.
- Cook the bacon in a small sauté pan over low heat until crisp; drain, cool, and chop coarsely.
- Stir the bacon into the sprouts and scrape them into the prepared dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Pour the cream over all and sprinkle with cheese. Cover and reserve at room temperature until serving time.
- To finish the gratin, set a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Bake the gratin until heated through and the cheese has melted and colored, about 20 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
