EP025 | A New Kind Of Restaurant

This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “Food Group” series of stories. Read more. restaurants in Belgium do not take serious beer seriously, choosing instead to focus on their wine lists. The Michelin and Gault Millau awards each year put huge effort into the judging of wine offerings at Belgian restaurants, with less criteria in place for judging beer menus. A lot of chefs and restauranteurs argue that there’s no money to be made from serving beer in a restaurant. Many more know little beyond a pilske and a blondje. In this podcast episode, we enlist the help of writer and beer expert Eoghan Walsh to learn more about beer cuisine and beer-centric restaurants in Belgium, focussing in particular on the city of Leuven and one particular restaurant: Hop Gastrobar. Eoghan Walsh has written for Pellicle, Ferment, and Good Beer Hunting, as well as The Irish Times and The Guardian. He blogs and podcasts at Brussels Beer City and in 2020 released a book: Brussels Beer City: Stories from Brussels’ Brewing Past. You can check out Eoghan’s article about Hop Gastrobar and beer and food in Leuven here. The episode includes interviews with: Bram Verbeken, chef and owner at Hop Gastrobar in Leuven; Sofie Vanrafelghem, beer sommelier at Sofie’s World; Stefaan Couttenye, the beer chef of Watou restaurant ‘t Hommelhof; Tom Jacobs of Antidoot Wilde Fermenten; Werner Van Obberghen and Gaëtan Claes of Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen; and Reinout Elsen and Willem-Jan Elsen of Elsen Kaasambacht. Sit back, listen, and enjoy the story of the beer and food in Leuven. *