We Love Brussels
  • Urban Life
    • Urban Jungle
    • Photo Stories
    • But Why?
    • Smart City
    • City Branding
    • Seniors
    • Real Estate
  • Culture & Creativity
    • New Economy
    • Local Makers & Shakers
    • Illustrations
    • Fashion City
  • Discover & Meet
    • Travel & Tourism news
    • Foodie guide
  • Event Diary
  • Europolitan Trends
Brussels Inspiration Bureau
Social Links
Instagram 56K Followers
Facebook 57K Followers
Twitter 10K Followers
  • Our Story
  • Partnerships & Collaborations
  • Contact
56K
57K
10K
We Love Brussels
We Love Brussels
  • Urban Life
    • Urban Jungle
    • Photo Stories
    • But Why?
    • Smart City
    • City Branding
    • Seniors
    • Real Estate
  • Culture & Creativity
    • New Economy
    • Local Makers & Shakers
    • Illustrations
    • Fashion City
  • Discover & Meet
    • Travel & Tourism news
    • Foodie guide
  • Event Diary
  • Europolitan Trends
  • Community news
  • Building the platform
  • Community of city admirers
  • Partnerships & Collaborations
  • Get in Touch
Become our contributor. Join the team!

Sign up for our newsletter

Get our periodical updates. Zero spam.

  • foodie guide

Villa Empain: New culinary experience by Glen Ramaekers

  • Editorial Team
  • April 2, 2022
  • 3 minute read

We were happy to learn about a brand new culinary experience at the Villa Empain! Chef Glen Ramaekers will be at the helm of the Café de la Villa, taking over from starred chef Sang-Hoon Degeimbre. Be prepared for an unprecedented taste experience combining oriental flavors with western cuisine infused with Filipino accents dear to this visionary chef who likes to wander off the beaten track and is not afraid to break the codes of classic gastronomy.

Villa Empain is an architectural jewel of the Art Deco movement, located on Avenue Franklin Roosevelt. It became an essential place in Brussels artistic life when the Boghossian family decided to restore it and set up their headquarters there in 2010. A remarkable witness to its time, the Villa Empain is today a center of art and dialogue between the cultures of East and West.

photos: Lidwine Crosset // @legreenstudio

With its American-style bar, which was particularly fashionable in the 1930s, the woodwork ceiling in Venezuelan manilkara and detailed ironwork, the Café de la Villa is decorated with velvet and precious marble and was once the intimate salon of Baron Empain. The grand staircase from the living room led directly to his bedroom, so it is one of the most private and prestigious rooms in the entire Villa. Inaugurated in 2018 by Michelin-starred chef San, the restaurant now welcomes Glen Ramaekers for a five-month culinary experience, from March 21 until September 3, 2022.

A special place on the menu is reserved for vegetables: with the exception of a meat dish and some fish, almost everything on offer is vegetarian. Behind the scenes, Julie de Block, introduced to market gardening by Bart Belmans de Sanguissorba in Ranst, will supply the fresh and organic vegetables grown in her one-hectare vegetable garden near Mechelen. Partners in life and in the kitchen, this pioneering duo is emulated by many with its Brussels food-sharing concept at Humphrey Chez Pias. He will also be assisted by the young pastry chef Gill Walschap for the sweet dishes.

Challenged by this beautiful space the chef Glen Ramaekers created an all-round experience focusing not only on tastes but also on aesthetics that match the ongoing exhibitions and colours of Villa Empain. As he says “It’s important to have a great quality but I also wanted to connect with this beautiful venue and offer a sense of discovery”.

colourful presentation and tasty. dishes Photos: welovebrussels

Chef Glen Ramaekers started his gastronomic journey at an early age, inspired by his parents who owned the catering business Ludovic. He completed his culinary training at the hotel school Ter Duinen and worked in several Michelin starred restaurants such as Seagrill restaurant ** (Belgium), Scholteshof restaurant ** (Belgium), La Pyramide restaurant ** (France) and the restaurant Moulin de Mougins ** (France). Today he owns Humphrey Chez Pias, a beautiful restaurant in the heart of Brussels. Glen is also Don Papa Rum’s ambassador and organizes the great Chefs and Shakers competition.

An opportunity to discover exhibitions at Villa Empain

This culinary journey should definitely be accompanied with a visit to the Villa and its two current exhibitions. “Portrait of a Lady” runs from March 24 to September 4 and illustrates the representation of women from prehistory to the present day. The expo brings together a selection of ancient and contemporary works of art from Eastern and Western cultures. The second expo “Michel Polak”, runs from April 7 to August 21, as a retrospective on this little-known architect and esthete. He is the author of many emblematic buildings in Brussels, namely the Residence Palace, the Plaza hotel as well as the Villa Empain. His career spans through the entire first half of the 20th century and represents a reflection of this era and its cultural and aesthetic values.

Interested to know more? Visit the website of Villa Empain.

Total
36
Shares
Like 36
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Like 0
Share 0
Editorial Team

WeLoveBrussels is a digital platform focusing on the city life, culture, creativity, events, amazing places, lifestyle, urban development trends and simple beauty around us.

You May Also Like
View Post
  • foodie guide

Autogrill opens new and improved EXKi 2.0 at Brussels Airport

  • Editorial Team
  • January 10, 2023
View Post
  • foodie guide

Winter specials for food lovers in Brussels

  • Priyanka Roy Banerjee
  • December 6, 2022
View Post
  • foodie guide

New in Brussels: Franklin reinvents the Belgian waffle

  • Editorial Team
  • November 9, 2022
Brussels Inspiration Bureau

Exploring the best of Brussels since 2014.

Discover more!
Our columnists & bloggers:
Aleksandra Rowicka
Addicted to cultural life of Brussels, fashion photography and dark…
Aris Setya
Indonesian living in Brussels. Passionate about photography. Love…
Boro Milovic
Boro is the founder and editor-in-chief of WeLoveBrussels. His interests…
Dorka Demeter
Dorka is a Hungarian expat living in Brussels for 10 years. Admirer of…
Emilia Valbum
Expat from Copenhagen living in Brussels. EU + global politics nerd on…
Fadi Dalati
A urologist by profession, and a photographer by passion. I try to…
Julia Zelle
Half-Italian, half-German girl who has just moved to Bruxelles.…
Karolina
Karolina is a blogger sharing stories on European cities, local…
kateinbrussels
I am Kate. I've lived in Brussels for 16 years and am still discovering…
Meredith @ellesbxl
Meredith Geldof is a Flemish girl who moved to Brussels and enjoys…
Tireless_Traveler
Nath is born and raised in Brussels but with a serious case of…
Download our free guide!
Incentives & events in Brussels:
Incentives & events in Brussels:
Missed our printed edition?
Press Club Brussels Europe
As seen in
25 most popular instagram accounts in Belgium

Views & opinions expressed across this website are solely that of the authors and contributors themselves and may not reflect the position of WeLoveBrussels. The editorial or publisher of WeLoveBrussels cannot be held responsible for expressed opinions or unintended errors and oversights if any.

Get our periodical updates. Zero spam.

Instagram 56K Followers
Facebook 57K Followers
Twitter 10K Followers
WeLoveBrussels
  • Our story & more
  • Get in Touch
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal notice
Brussels Inspiration Bureau. Your guide to city life, culture, business, travel, Brussels events agenda & cultural diplomacy.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT