Becoming an Art Nouveau expert

I already wrote here about my Art Nouveau discoveries of Brussels during the great Art Nouveau and Art Deco Biennale, and after exploring various sites in Schaerbeek, I spent another weekend discovering Art Nouveau gems in Ixelles and Etterbeek.

On Saturday, I started with the ultimate example of Art Nouveau, Victor Horta's Hôtel Solvay in Avenue Louise. The building is nowadays a listed UNESCO world heritage site together with Horta's Hôtel Tassel (see below), Hôtel van Eetvelde and Horta Museum. 

The interior of the house is once again fantastic: in Horta's style, stained glass windows bring light to the house, walls are beautifully decorated and all details are carefully executed.

I continued to another UNESCO site not far away in Rue Paul-Emile Janson, where Horta designed in 1893 Hôtel Tassel. The interior of this building was completely destroyed in the 1970s, but is now renovated to look like the original. 

My last destination on Saturday was Maison Blerot in Rue de Belle-Vue, in a street where you have a row of buildings designed by the Art Nouveau architect Ernest Blerot (look for his signature on the facade). 

Compared to Horta, Blerot's style was a bit more romantic with more flowers and animals used in the decorative patterns. Blerot constructed over 70 houses in Brussels and I think I need to go and discover some of them in the neighborhood of Saint-Boniface soon.

On Sunday I continued my Art Nouveau weekend with yet another Horta building close to Sablon, Maison Frison. It's a house that I've walked past many times, but I have never paid any attention to its dirty facade (see below, it's the one with "for rent" sign). Indeed, the facade is not spectacular, but the interior has a beautiful winter garden of true Horta style.

One of the highlights of the Biennale was, without a doubt, Maison Cauchie in Etterbeek, close to Parc Cinquantanaire. This is where I finally understood the technique of "sgraffito", which is used to make the decorative paintings in many Art Nouveau facades. It consists of two layers of plaster of which the bottom one is dark. When the plaster is still wet, the artists carves the lines of the image on the wall, revealing the darker layer. Then, as in the fresco style, the wet paint is coloured. 

Paul Cauchie and his wife Caroline were masters of the sgraffito style and on the facade of their house you can admire their skills. The building has a well-earned place in the secret list of "The 5 most striking Art Nouveau houses in Brussels".

My last visit was in Parc Leopold (No. 322 in the list of "The 5 most remarkable places in the Eruopean Quarter"), the Bibliothèque Solvay, behind the European Parliament. 

The story of the Solvay library is super interesting. Ernest Solvay (father of Armand Solvay who commissioned Hôtel Solvay) was a rich industrialist who was very keen on supporting education, science and research.  He founded five private institutes, one of which was the institute of sociology, an academic field close to Solvay's heart. 

This building was constructed to only around 10 top students of sociology. They had a beautiful library in the middle of the building for their use and their individual offices were furnished with Chesterfield furnitures. Not bad for sociologists! With the help of the sociologists, Ernest Solvay himself conducted analyses on workers' well-being in his factories. Oh boy, I wish we had more rich industrialists like him in the world today.

Later in the 20th century, the institute became part of the University of Brussels, and finally in 1981 the library was no longer used. Squatters moved in and destroyed the interior of the place completely in the following years. It was only in the end of the 1980s when an architecture student got interested in the place and urged politicians to save and protect it. 

The shameful story got a happy ending as the student later was in charge of renovating the building. It is now used for various events and concerts, so it is possible to see the beautiful stained glass windows. 

Mediterranean eating in Brussels

After Iran, back to Brussels life...

I've already written here about how it is sometimes quite challenging to be vegetarian in Brussels - or at least, how it might be difficult to enjoy high quality vegetarian food here. Belgian cuisine does not provide excellent opportunities for this, but luckily the city is full of world cuisine that is more adapted for veggie-eaters. Thank god for immigration and globalization (yep, otherwise I would be complaining only about the Finnish food...). 

Recently I've tried two choices from the 500 Brussels secrets list of "The 5 best restaurants for Mediterranean cooking". 

Where is my couscous with a twist?

I have to say that even though I love tajines and couscous, in the North African restaurants their veggie versions are often pretty much the same stuff over and over again, and even though it's guaranteed good it's really nothing special. No. 23, La Kasbah, in Rue Antoine Dansaert in the Centre, has an atmospheric interior and great service, but the vegetarian couscous was slightly boring - the same as everywhere and nothing I couldn't cook myself. It's a pity because the place is very nice otherwise. 

No. 24, Kif-Kif, in Square Biarritz in Ixelles, however was an excellent choice for a vegetarian - or any food lover. The owners have blended Moroccan and Jewish traditions and the meze plate was superb with more than ten different veggie dishes. The place is cool and trendy with a young crowd attracted by the fresh approach. 

Kif-Kif mezes, a great treat for vegetarians, and not too expensive either.

I don't if it was for the weekend and some bigger groups celebrating birthdays, but there was also a surprise moment when a female dancer in typical harem sort of clothes came to make a dance performance. We were a bit unprepared for this and, to be honest, it took us a while to have a comfortable feeling about the half-naked dancer. In the end, we decided to enjoy the show and the beautiful dance as well as the dancer. For sure, at least that night, it wasn't a place for a quiet romantic dinner, but for a fun celebration Kif-Kif would be an optimal choice.

Kif-Kif, empty cups, and food happiness.

Closer to my work, and indeed, in the list of "The 5 best places for lunch in the European Quarter", you'll find at Place de Londres No. 44, El Turco. A wonderful Turkish restaurant, which is the best possible place for lunch in the neighborhood (and with a pleasant terrace). So far, it is also the best Turkish restaurant where I've been (not only in Brussels but anywhere). There is a lunch buffet with plenty of vegetarian (and even vegan) options and they taste all too good for a light lunch. The big portion below in the photo comes to around 12 Euros. The Turkish coffee there is also very good, though 3 EUR price is a bit high.

El Turco's wonderful lunch buffet.

Another possibility for this type of food in the EU quarter is L'Oriento next to Place Jourdan (and not in my list of 500 Brussels secrets). It is also an excellent choice for people loving Middle Eastern cuisine (and a weekend brunch that I still need to try). As in El Turco, they have a lunch buffet. You either pay by weight or you can choose an all-you-can-eat lunch for around 15 Euros. Guess which one I chose...

Spring at the Flagey market

One week of spring already - and oh boy, do we welcome it warmly in Brussels after all those grey and rainy days of January and February. It is just what I needed after my Brussels angst catalyzed by a combination of bad service and public transports (the usual suspects...). 

As the thermometer passed +14°C, we headed to the Saturday market at Place Flagey in Ixelles after the yoga class. It was time to celebrate with some cava and oysters. A perfect day!

And yes Flagey market, or no. 209,  features of course on the list of "The 5 best street markets in Brussels". And I managed to do a double check in my Brussels' secret list with the Flagey Oyster Bar, no. 54, in the list of "The 5 best places for cheap eats". 

However, it should be noted that with the enormous success the Oyster Bar has at the market, they have increased the prices from 6€ for a half a dozen oysters to 9€ and for a glass of cava from 2€ to 4€ (the cheaper prices are mentioned in my guidebook from 2012). So I don't know if this is so cheap still, especially because you still need to eat something "real" afterwards. But well, definitely a great place for a little decadence.