An unmistakable tweet from Jean Quatremer, the Brussels correspondent of the French newspaper Libération for decades, has been causing a stir for several weeks. According to Quatremer, you can’t get a decent meal anywhere in the capital of Europe after 9:30 p.m.
“Brussels looks like Tulle in winter.” They will not like to hear that comparison in the French municipality of Corrèze (14,000 inhabitants). Quatremer claims that you can’t eat decently anywhere in Brussels after 9:30 p.m. Except for kebab, “de la merde,” according to the Frenchman.
His judgment did not come overnight, Quatremer explains BRUZZ. “For example, many Brussels restaurants indicate on their website that they are open until 10 p.m. But anyone who walks in half an hour before closing time is invariably told that the kitchen is already closed because there are not enough customers.”
It has caused Quatremer many a nervous breakdown. “And that for the capital of Europe!”, his argument sounds even more indignant than the tweet that sparked the discussion.
*read more below tweet
Fixed menu and food sharing
Quatremer has lived in Brussels for more than thirty years, during which time he has tried to the best of his ability to explain Brussels and the Belgians to his readers. As such, his sharp pen is not unknown to many French-speaking Brussels residents. Nor for Carlo De Pascale, a well-known Brussels foodie for many years and a welcome guest in the RTBF consumer program. We are not pigeons.
“Quatremer likes to criticize Brussels and he is right to be frustrated about Brussels politics,” De Pascale responds, “but if he means with his tweet that Brussels gastronomy is inferior to that of Paris, he is wrong. There has been a lot of movement in our city lately. Think of restaurants like Ivresse, iOda, Raki, Rebel, Flamme, and so on.”
“But it is true that after a night out in Brussels it is difficult to find a restaurant where the kitchen is open,” says De Pascale. “Many good restaurants work with a fixed menu or focus on food sharing.” Two concepts that require tight timing from the kitchen. So walking into such restaurants late is not an option.
Hungry night owls
So Quatremer is somewhat right. The raw eighties, when you could still eat sour béarnaise at 2 a.m. in the student area of Ixelles, are definitely behind us. De Pascale is homesick for one address in particular: Mozart in Uccle. The late Remo Gozzi served tasting menus until late at night to hungry night owls or artists who wandered in after a performance. “And in La Canardière you ate spaghetti until very late,” the gastronomic chronicler remembers. “At Tontons in Uccle, my favorite place for a delicious bolognaise, you arrive at 9:30 PM at the latest.”
You also have to look carefully in the center for restaurants whose kitchens are open after 9:30 PM. “In the Dansaert district you will no longer find a place after 9:30 PM at Aster (8 PM), Kline (9:20 PM) or Nightshop (8:45 PM),” says De Pascale.
Brussels is lagging behind
A difficult search, as culinary journalist and columnist Bruno Vanspauwen knows. As a native of Brussels, he has been following the gastronomy in our capital for years for his ‘four plates’ section The standard. “Brussels lags behind other world cities in that respect. There are a number of exceptions, usually brasseries, but the kitchens in Brussels are often only open until 8:30 PM. As far as I know, that was no different in the past,” says Vanspauwen.
© BRUZZ | Restaurant Aster in the Dansaert district, which has experienced a culinary revival in recent years.
How does that happen? “Belgians are used to eating at fixed times,” he notes. And that’s usually not late at night. In addition, extensive dining in the evening is threatened by the double shifts that more and more restaurants are working. “At Old Boy or Nénu, for example, they work that way,” says De Pascale. You reserve a table early or late in the evening, which you usually have available for two hours. “But you know that in advance as a customer. A practice that is also becoming increasingly common in other world cities,” Vanspauwen adds.
Garçons don’t grumble
Quatremer and other late-night eaters are worth the effort in our capital. “Going to a restaurant after a night out, a movie or the theater: completely impossible in Brussels,” Quatremer sticks to his decision.
According to De Pascale, there are indeed some addresses in Brussels where it is pleasant and good to dine after 9:30 PM. “At CiPiaCe in Sint-Gillis, for example, you can eat delicious Italian food until late.”
“People can reserve a table with us until 10:45 p.m. and order until 11 p.m.,” says Giorga, the owner. “Many of our customers come to eat with us after a concert or a performance.”
© BRUZZ | Restaurant Kline on the Vlaamsesteenweg
And at Au Vieux Saint-Martin you won’t hear the waiters grumble if you ask them for a filet américain after 10 p.m., the better Belgian version of the French restaurant tartare de boeuf. The kitchen is open continuously from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., just like in the other restaurants of the Niels catering family: Au Savoy, Au Grand Forestier and Canterbury (kitchen open until 10 p.m.).
“Yi Chan has delicious dim sums and is open late,” De Pascale further expands the list. “Just like La Mirabelle (kitchen open until 11 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays until midnight) at the Ixelles cemetery and Le Variétés on Place Flagey. You can still order there at 10:30 PM, but at 11:45 PM you will inevitably be presented with the bill,” De Pascale must admit. “See it as a service to the clientele.”
Carefree on the move
And that is precisely a thorn in Quatremer’s side. “In Brussels you cannot stroll around without any worries, knowing that you can go to any restaurant late at night.” That may be different in Paris, but Carlo De Pascale doesn’t think the comparison is entirely fair. “The French capital has 11 million inhabitants and you will find a restaurant every ten meters.”
Although they are also closed more often than is desirable, according to Bruno Vanspauwen. “I challenge Quatremer to find a restaurant that is open in Paris on a Friday or Saturday evening. There are of course brasseries and bistros, but the better establishments usually close at the weekend.”
Should we join Quatremer after all? Brussels has relatively few addresses where you can dine until late. Perhaps this will gradually change under the influence of the melting pot of nationalities in our capital, including southern neighbors who are homesick for French andouillette at midnight or a steak au poivre before going to bed.
2023-11-27 08:08:13
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