TRAVEL
Belgium: Beyond Beer
BOTTOMRIGHT:WWW.VISITFLANDERS.US
winTER 2011
celebratedliving.com
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Brussels,and thereneedbenogreatergaugeof theele-
ganceonhand than tonote thatAudreyHepburnwas
bornhere.Thoseneeding furtherconvincingcanstroll
thehigh-fashionboutiquesof theGaleriesRoyalesSaint-
Hubertandponder the latestDelvauxhandbagcreations.
And itprobablywouldn’tbeBelgiumwithoutchoco-
late.withmore than2,000shops in thecountry,produc-
ingsome172,000 tonsofchocolatearteachyear, there’s
noworryaboutrunningout.Slip into theMaryChocola-
tiershop in theGaleries foranextraordinaryselection.
AuTable
inherbrilliant
EverybodyEatsWell inBelgiumCook-
book
,RuthVanwaerebeeksaid, “weBelgiansare fond
of saying thatour food iscookedwithFrenchfinesse—
andserved inportionsofGermangenerosity.”Travel-
ershavean ideal chance tosample thecountry’swares
throughout 2012atBrusseliciousevents— theGour-
metYear inBrussels (brusselicious.be).
what’s fascinating ishowoftenbeer is incorpo-
rated. i recently survivedafive-daywhirlwind tour
of sixbreweries inFlanders andalmost asmany
high-end restaurants specializing inbeer cuisine or
beer pairings (beer degustation). All i couldwish
was that it hadbeen 10 days, as it is agreatway to
see and experiencemore of the country.
Myfirstnight inAntwerp—knownasBelgian’s fash-
ionanddiamondcity, sosave the jewelryshopping for
here— includedadelightfuldinnerat thesparklingDe
GrootewitteArendrestaurantwith threedishesmade
andpairedwith threedifferentbeers fromGrimbergen.
Therearealmost30differentstylesofBelgiumbeer,
but it is theuniqueness—of lambics, gueuzes, sourreds,
saisons, andabbeybeers— thatappeals toseriousbeer
aficionados.The latebardofbeer,MichaelJackson, con-
fidently labeledsixBelgianbeersworldClassics:Duvel
GoldenAle,RodenbachGrandCru,westmalleTripel,
ChimayBleue,Orval, andCantillonRosédeGambrinus.
Our tripcontinuedwithabeer (orwine)pairingdin-
nerat the tonyDenDyverRestaurant inBruges, usual-
lysecondon thechecklistof any traveler toBelgium. it
isdifficult tooverestimate themedieval charmofBrug-
eswith thenetworkof antiquecanals thatflowbelow
itsbeguilingstreets.Ameal at thehighly toutedDe
Karmeliet shouldseal thedeal.
it isonly thevisitingcrowds thatmaybecomewea-
rying, but thesimpleantidote for that is tomoveon to
similarallures inGhent,wherewe indulged inabeer-
Clockwise from left:
Enjoy ameal and shopping
at GaleriesRoyalesSaint-
Hubert; adishat DeKarme-
liet; finediningat DenDyver
Restaurant; or a variety of
chocolates atMaryChoco-
latier shop in theGaleries.
