Le Cocq: floorings salvaged from a castle.
RESTAURANT DECORS THAT ADD FLAVOUR TO YOUR FOOD
Tasty interiors EN
While waiting for the unrestricted reopening of the restaurants, the possibility of enjoying a meal indoors is an important step on the road to normality. Here are five eye-opening places. — MICHEL VERLINDEN, PHOTOS SASKIA VANDERSTICHELE
I
t is a debate that often erupts between lovers of fine food. Many of them believe decor to be of no importance. In our opinion, it is one of the attractions. “You don’t eat the curtains,” sceptics often argue, and it is true. That said, you understand nothing about gastronomy if you think that going to a restaurant is simply a matter of satisfying your hunger or pleasing your tastebuds. A restaurant is not chosen at random; it carries with it, for the duration of a lunch or dinner, our values. We evaluate ourselves, recognise ourselves, display ourselves, and signal our membership of a sociological group. It would
be naive to think otherwise. Even someone who seeks out greasy spoons with no distinctive visual features reveals something about themselves. Never trust someone who claims to like “simple cooking” and “no-frills decor”. Nothing is ever “simple” when it comes to food; everything is always constructed and it is all a matter of culture, including the decor. When it comes to decor, restaurants in Brussels offer a vast spectrum. It is possible to explore very different horizons and worlds. One of the most remarkable experiences can be had at 165 Franz Merjaystraat/rue Franz Merjay, at the chef from Chalet de la Forêt, Pascal Devalkeneer’s second restaurant. Designed by the jewellery maker Pili Collado, the stylistic elements of Amen are highly original but certainly not innocent. With great talent, the decorator has borrowed them from the Shakers, a group of US Protestants that resulted from a split with the Anglican church. Clean lines, functional furnishings, roughly hewn edges, nothing is left to chance in the two rooms that make up Amen. The same is true of the lighting: skilfully thought-out, it evokes the halo of religious icons and projects the word “amen” in shadow like an epiphany on the wall of the room. Everything 41