Bravo
(© Ivan Put)
When you think about the effort it takes to maintain the cafés Frédéric Nicolay has opened and transformed into warm, urban design haunts (the oft-torpedoed Walvis, for example, or the sunken Potemkine and the not particularly well cared for Flamingo), you wonder if there is any space left for cafés like that. Nevertheless, last week yet another Nicolay café opened to great applause on Aalststraat/rue d’Alost. Bravo is housed in the Dansaert business centre, and also functions as the canteen of that centre. Manager Lionel Cataldo, who also runs pizzeria La Belle Équipe, serves breakfast in the morning, soup and sandwiches at lunchtime, and tapas in the evening. As usual, the beer list is populated by beers brewed by Moortgat, supplemented by the beers Nicolay created himself, such as the Volga lager. Strikingly, all the beers are served in thick glasses that match the type of beer, but none of them are branded. Along with architect Jean-Sébastien van Keymeulen, Nicolay openend up two floors located between the street front and the courtyard of the old business complex. The café is on the ground floor and has numerous low, round tables, each with a light above it. Although there is something enchanting about the space in the evening, the materials used – concrete, wood, and steel – look slightly too cluttered. The space behind the bar is also reminiscent of a storage area. The underground space, which will be used mostly for concerts, contains sofas made from wooden pallets. The planned jazz concerts may do very well thanks to the intimacy and seclusion of this space. The terrasse on the courtyard also looks very promising. In addition to the many little tables, it features a play sculpture in steel plating by Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek.
BRAVO ●●●
Aalststraat 7 rue d’Alost, Brussel/Bruxelles, ma/lu/Mo > vr/ve/Fr 8 > 23.00, w-e 10 > ...
When you think about the effort it takes to maintain the cafés Frédéric Nicolay has opened and transformed into warm, urban design haunts (the oft-torpedoed Walvis, for example, or the sunken Potemkine and the not particularly well cared for Flamingo), you wonder if there is any space left for cafés like that. Nevertheless, last week yet another Nicolay café opened to great applause on Aalststraat/rue d’Alost. Bravo is housed in the Dansaert business centre, and also functions as the canteen of that centre. Manager Lionel Cataldo, who also runs pizzeria La Belle Équipe, serves breakfast in the morning, soup and sandwiches at lunchtime, and tapas in the evening. As usual, the beer list is populated by beers brewed by Moortgat, supplemented by the beers Nicolay created himself, such as the Volga lager. Strikingly, all the beers are served in thick glasses that match the type of beer, but none of them are branded. Along with architect Jean-Sébastien van Keymeulen, Nicolay openend up two floors located between the street front and the courtyard of the old business complex. The café is on the ground floor and has numerous low, round tables, each with a light above it. Although there is something enchanting about the space in the evening, the materials used – concrete, wood, and steel – look slightly too cluttered. The space behind the bar is also reminiscent of a storage area. The underground space, which will be used mostly for concerts, contains sofas made from wooden pallets. The planned jazz concerts may do very well thanks to the intimacy and seclusion of this space. The terrasse on the courtyard also looks very promising. In addition to the many little tables, it features a play sculpture in steel plating by Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek.
BRAVO ●●●
Aalststraat 7 rue d’Alost, Brussel/Bruxelles, ma/lu/Mo > vr/ve/Fr 8 > 23.00, w-e 10 > ...
Read more about: Resto & Bar
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