Dry aged beef to welcome us
To celebrate Father’s Day, Koen and I invited Dook and Els to come to Antwerp to visit our newest butcher Millevaches, aka Thousand Cows. We’re all steak enthusiasts and were excited to check out their offering.
Native
When my sister-in-law Barbara told me she’d be coming to Antwerp for the day, I finally had an excuse to try out Native!
My favorite bakery in Antwerp
Another year, another Verloren Maandag (Lost Monday), aka the Monday after Koen’s birthday (Driekoningen / Epiphany). For me it’s really just an excuse to indulge in worstenbroodjes and appelbollen. This year I really outdid myself and ate a total of 4 worstenbroodjes and 2 appelbollen over the course of the day. Anything for tradition!
Magical Entrance
For Koen’s birthday dinner we visited Sir Anthony Van Dijck. I always do a bit of searching before deciding on a restaurant and I was so intrigued when I read that the chef, Marc Paesbrugghe, gave his two Michelin stars away.
Herring caviar and cream
Koen and I use New Year’s Eve and Day as an excuse to eat very luxuriously and indulgently. Every year we try to top the year before.
Plantin-Moretus Museum
Koen and I just celebrated 7 years of being married! We decided to spend our long weekend off together exploring Antwerp a bit more. Tourists in our own city!
Roger Van Damme preparing one of our courses (photo from flamant.com)
In my Roger Van Damme, Part One post I mentioned that Koen and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary at Het Gebaar, from Roger Van Damme. It was the best meal I’ve ever had, and I was lucky enough to win a 9 course brunch/cooking presentation with none other than Roger Van Damme!
The contest was set up by Flamant, who supplies all of the interior decorating for Het Gebaar. Luckily Flamant is only a 3 minute walk from our apartment, and Koen and I were able to wake up and go straight to brunch! After 9 delicious courses and a few glasses of wine, we walked a little bit slower back home and took a long nap!
Het Gebaar
When Koen and I hit the milestone of 9 years together, we decided to celebrate with lunch at the Michelin star restaurant Het Gebaar, from Roger Van Damme. I’m not exaggerating when I say this was the best meal I’ve ever had. My mouth is literally watering as I’m typing thinking about this delicious lunch. I dream of the steak tartare…
And now I can’t wait to go back in November to celebrate with my parents for my mom’s birthday!
This year Koen’s birthday fell on a Tuesday – my day off. Koen’s parents came to Antwerp that afternoon and we did a lot of groceries – going to the butcher, cheese shop, and Delhaize – so we could prepare a dinner of Koen’s favorite foods.
View of Dinant from the Meuse River
My parents have already seen a lot of the Netherlands and the Flemish part of Belgium, so this trip we ventured toward the south into Wallonia. Dinant, Belgium is located at the beginning of the Ardennes on the Meuse River. I searched for city trips within Wallonia and after seeing a photo of the beautiful cathedral, citadel, and river, I wanted to find out more information. Dinant is most famously known as being the home of Adolphe Sax, who invented the saxophone and would be 200 years old this year, and regional cuisine such as the couques de Dinant, Europe’s hardest cookie, and the flamiche, a type of quiche served with a glass of Burgundy, as well as Leffe beer. So we decided to check it out!
An American in Antwerp 