NYC Tastes

Friday morning we kicked off our day with a delicious Belgian waffle, then headed back to Cantillon where we had spent most of the prior day.  We just had to get one more bottle of that delicious Lambic D'Anuis.   Of course that one bottle turned into about five more wonderful delights, but finally we hopped on a train to Denderleeuw for lunch at De Heeren van Liedeckercke. De Heeren opened its doors as a specialty beer cafe back in 1991 by owner Joost de Four.  He had always wanted to sell lambic and reached out to various local brewers to stock his bar.  However one brewer, Armand Debelder from 3 Fonteinen, refused.  He would not allow Joost to sell any of his bottles without first being trained on how the beer were made.  So Joost was trained by the great Armand himself and today De Heeren is known as one of the best lambic bars in the entire world. In fact many brewers have created special lambics just for Joost and De Heeren like the el...

Our third day in Brussels was easily my favorite day of the entire trip. I woke up without a touch of illness in sight and was beyond ready to spend the day eating and drinking our way through two incredible places- the first stop De Heeren Van Liedekercke. This restaurant and bar is in the town of Denderleeuw, a 30 minute train ride followed by a 30 minute walk from Brussels.  We were a bit worried as it poured almost all afternoon but somehow we missed the sheets of rain both coming and going.  Luck was definitely on our side at this cozy tavern. Gueuze happens to be my favorite style of beer so after holding off the past few days I was ready to dive right in with a full on gueuze lunch starting with a funky Mort Subite (brewed at the restaurant from the day before) and the flagship Oude Geuze from Drie Fonteinen. These gueuzes couldn't be more different; the Mort Subite was malty and sweet while the Drie was bright with fresh lemons.  A re...