Thursday, December 30, 2010

Rococoffee

Loving this corner bistro just off the St-Gilles hotel de ville.












Emery et Cie

Emery et Cie is a showroom of tiles and rugs and fabrics and paints and furniture like nothing you've ever seen (unless you've already been).  You walk into a small room of tiles, which are nice and all, but you must push past and up the stairs and then it begins to set in that you are someplace magical.

You wander through rooms entirely tiled, you trip on uneven flooring as you turn off into a hallway of one-of-a-kind metal chairs leading nowhere, you think you keep noticing the same screenprinted animal fabric but it's slightly different, you wonder if you really need all 36 colors of the same lacquered bowl (you do, you must), you try to imagine what this crazy and drafty and majestically dilapidated mansion (or is it actually two put together?) once was, you consider taking out a loan to make this your mise en scene in real life.


















MM, Day 1

Megan came to visit.


We ate brochettes of escargot...




And then had waffles...



And drank vin chaud...



And continued to wonder what these singing turnips were up to...



And snapped pics of dogs in matching jackets...



And checked out the Delirium Cafe, where the Tremens is on tap and over 2000 beers are offered...











And wondered at the statuary off the Grand Place...


And the statues right on it...




especially this sexy guy... (what guild was he representing?!)



And we smooched some sleeping piggies...



but we didn't kiss this guy...



or tag or stick anything else here...



We loved this Delirium Tremens chandelier...



And over-indulged in a Viennese chocolate chaud...



And ended things with a bio apero plate at the St-Gilles market.

And that was all before dinner!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Pere Yvan Redux

Went back to Pere Yvan the other night with K & M to try the fondue bourguignonne.  Six house-made sauces (paprika, spicy, aioli, tartar [my favorite], curry, and... one I can't remember) accompany the best-quality morsels of filet, which you fry up to your desired doneness.  All of this comes with a portion of frites the likes of which I'd never seen.  It was a really special meal.  Needless to say, I am a huge fan of this little neighborhood gem.


Playing Catch Up

Some recent photos.  I will walk you through them.



Been into homemade pizza lately.  Bought some crust at the store that inspired me (because it was so yucky) to make my own and I haven't looked back since.  




Meeting furry beasts in Laeken.




Worn out corner storefront in Laeken.





Signage at the Bozar.
Come to find out that you need a ticket for the Lucas Cranach exhibit Tracy and I took in (for free) a few weeks ago.  We are smooth, hmm Trace?





The prettiest Irish coffee I've had was definitely not the tastiest.  :(




This is the Cauchie house.  It is one of the finest examples of art nouveau and the sgraffito technique that is prevalent here.  Make sure to follow the link to read more about the sgraffito on and the furniture in the house.




So beautiful.




This is the Eglise St. Antoine or the church of St. Anthony of Padua in Etterbeek.




Sadly, it has been somewhat modernized on the inside, though it's still pretty.




And here's the man himself, St. Anthony.  Should have asked him to turn up the heat... boy, was it cold in there!