The D's Comeback

In last weekend's issue of Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws: my piece about the comeback of the Motor City. You find the article (in Dutch) on my Issuu page. 

Heidelberg Street (c) LDL

Dequindre Cut (c) LDL

Interested in traveling to Detroit?  Please click here for the Visit Detroit website

Belgian LPQ opens fourth Chicago location

A lot has happened since 1990 when chef Alain Coumont opened his first Le Pain Quotidien in Brussels. LPQ is now operating over 200 restaurants in 17 countries around the globe. The first US location opened in 1997 in - of course - New York City.  Now there are numerous locations throughout NYC, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Connecticut, California and since spring of this year finally in Chicago. After openings in the West Loop, Lincoln Park and Gold Coast neighbourhoods, the fourth location on 20 North Michigan Ave opened its doors last Wednesday. 

Since the beginning, a communal table made of reclaimed wood has formed the centerpiece of every Le Pain Quotidien. Designed to bring friends, family and even strangers together, the communal table represents Le Pain Quotidien’s commitment to fostering community connections. Chicago will continue to embrace the shared tradition in each of the locations.

Each store features retail shelves filled with the brands’ favorite pantry items, which are also featured in many of their signature recipes. The organic jams and chocolate spreads (Blondie, Brunette, Noir, Noisella and Speculoos) as well as the organic cold pressed Mahjoub olive oil, balsamic vinegar, grey sea salt and black Malabar pepper mills are shared on the communal tables in every Chicago location. 

Our favorite at this time of year? A tartine +  Belgian hot chocolate to warm up after a walk in Millennium Park! 

Bon Appétit! 

Le Pain Quotidien is open seven days a week for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. Additional info can be found on the LPQ website. 

Dieter Naessens: "Work hard, play hard"

In this month's Gazette van Detroit I talk to Dieter Naessens, a very ambitious, succesful young Belgian in New York. You can read the article on my Issuu page

Photo: courtesy of Dieter Naessens 

SuperCity

Having moved to Chicago very recently - not even two months ago - there are a so many places, people and things waiting to be discovered. And that my friends, is bloody exciting !

What I have discovered already : this city is full of great restaurants, impressive architecture, incredible music & interesting people. 

Also, Chicago has always hosted film and tv crews from all over the world. And that is what this weekend is all about: the Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice crew has arrived in the Windy City after having spent six months in Detroit.  For us, especially 5 year old León, this is something very very exciting. So yes: tomorrow we will walk to the set (only five block or so from where we live) and we will try to get a glimpse of one of the biggest blockbusters in 2016. 

Starring Ben Affleck (Batman), Henry Cavill (Superman) and Amy Adams (Lois Lane) amongst others. 

If you are in the area and want to check it out for yourself: you can follow the latest news & gossip on Twitter or follow me on social media of course :-) 

Welcome to Chicago, Shake Shack!

Finally! Shake Shack has arrived in the Windy City! Long lines of people were waiting last Tuesday to be among the first to try Danny Meyer's quality fast food.

And of course we had to go on that first day too. Boyfriend being stuck at work, I decided to take our five your old boy and leave the tasting/testing up to him. I have been a Shake Shack fan since one of my dearest New York friends took me to the original Shake Shack, in Madison Square Park. Thanks again Wouter!

Publican Pork Sausage ($5.00)
Contains an exclusively for Shake Shack made pork sausage, Shack cheddar and American cheese sauce and crispy ShackMeister Ale-marinated shallots. Absolutely delicious. But we already knew that the guys and girls of the Publican know their Quality Meats. Yummie!

Shack Burger - single  ($ 4.95)
A modern Classic. Now approved by our five year old son. No further comment.


Shack Attack Concrete ($4.30)
This was definitely the favourite. Matching and maybe even exceeding our expectations.
Dense frozen custard ice cream blended at high speed with mix-oin. This particular one contains: chocolate custard, fudge sauce, chocolate truffle cookie dough, and Vosges black salt caramel chocolate, topped with chocolate sprinkles. Ice cream heaven so to speak.

After this succulent fast food meal Shake Shack has at least one new member of the fan club. We will be back soon, and then I will finally introduce my boyfriend too ....



Please note: Although the number of calories of each item are mentioned on the menu, I have deliberately left them out. For obvious reasons. Thank you for your understanding.