Het Gebaar
For Koen’s birthday we celebrated at one of our favorite restaurants, Het Gebaar. Het Gebaar is a Michelin star restaurant by Roger Van Damme serving haute Belgian cuisine and magical, beautiful desserts. At the end Koen received a surprise from the restaurant! Our waitress brought out a giant cake with a special dessert for Koen on top! Continue reading
Kerstmarkt entrance
Every winter I look forward to the Kerstmarkt, or Christmas Market, in Antwerp. As an American, it is still such a new, exciting experience because we don’t have anything like it – or at least not in Georgia!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Even though Koen and I live in Belgium, we still celebrate Thanksgiving every year. This year was very special – my parents were in town! They were able to bring decorations and ingredients with them from America!
Daily morning coffee in Harajuku at The Roastery by Nozy Coffee
We were in Japan for 3 weeks, the first week in Tokyo, a week of travel, then the last week again in Tokyo. The first week we stayed in east Tokyo in the neighborhood of Ginza, so we wanted to have a different experience for our last week – Harajuku in west Tokyo!
Nara was Japan’s first permanent capital, 710 – 794 AD, and only 30 minutes away by train from both Kyoto and Osaka! There are 8 UNESCO World Heritage sights, 2nd only to Kyoto.
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!
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.
Smoked salmon and caviar
One tradition that started a few years back, is that when my mom is in town we go out for a class of champagne at Café Impérial. It doesn’t matter what time of year, we always go to celebrate. Café Impérial is a beautiful café located in the Paleis op de Meir, the former Antwerp residence of Napoleon Bonaparte. So fabulously French! And this time we were lucky enough to celebrate on my mom’s actual birthday!
Cooking School Graduates!
We wanted to plan something special for our last day in Florence – an Italian cooking class! We learned how to make two types of pasta (tagliatelle and ravioli), ragu, and tiramisu. The lesson started first at the San Lorenzo Market, where we received a lesson about the origins of Italian cooking a regional dishes. Waste not, want not! That’s the only way to explain the abundance of cow stomach sandwiches in Florence. The class was so much fun and of course we were able to enjoy the dishes we prepared with a red Chianti!
An American in Antwerp 