15
16 APRIL 2015
Meet Chef Bart Vandaele
Chef Bart Vandaele serves up Belgian cuisine in Washington, D.C.
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hef Bart Vandaele (45) lives in Alexandria, VA with his longtime girlfriend Greet De Keyser. He has been in the U.S. since 1997 and owns two Belgian restaurants in Washington, D.C. Bart grew up in Roeselare and Wevelgem. Even as a toddler, the kitchen was Bart’s favorite playground. He literally grew up in the culinary business. With pots and pans as toys, he was raised in the kitchen of his family’s restaurant. So, as a young chef, his talents were clearly influenced by his surroundings. He studied at Ter Groene Poorte in Bruges. In January of 1997, Bart moved to the U.S. to become the Executive Chef at the Residence of the Head of Delegation of the European Commission to the United States, Ambassador Hugo Paemen. In 2000, he became the executive chef of the Dutch ambassador, a position he held until 2003. In 2004, he opened Belga Café in Washington, D.C., and in 2013 he opened his second restaurant, B Too, also in D.C. How is D.C. different from Belgium? “Small town Belgium vs the capital of the U.S., which means: a different life style, different way of doing business and a different mentality. The differences are so big, it would take me hours to explain. Running a restaurant is completely different here as well. I definitely work crazy hours, but I am very much convinced that running a successful restaurant is a little easier here than in Belgium. Overregulation and the expense of employing people make it hard in Belgium. This country is so much more open to business minded people!” You are running two Belgian restaurants in Washington; do you have plans to open more? Maybe in other U.S. cities? “I always have plans to expand my business, but I do not intend to leave the D.C. area pretty soon. So other cities aren’t in the works yet…” You were also on Top Chef? How did this influence you personally and what effect did it have on your business?
What are your favorite places in Washington, D.C., the U.S. and Belgium? “I like Capitol Hill a lot in D.C. I lived there for a couple of years and built Belga Café there. It is one of the many small communities within D.C. that is the perfect mix between history, excitement, tourism and it is a great place to live. The Capitol is there, the often overlooked congressional cemetery, the Eastern market and the restaurant-destination street of 8th Street SE. I also love the cities of Miami and New York for their endless energy and international contemporary feel. In Belgium I love Bruges, it still feels a bit like home. I love the city, its restaurants and of course: lots of my friends live in that area.” What is your own favorite Belgian dish? And which American dish do you like most? “My favorites from Belgium are Stoverij met frieten (Belgian beef stew) and luikse wafels met chocomelk (Liege waffles with chocolate milk). My American favorite: dry rubbed ribs.” And which Belgian beers would go best with those dishes? “Duvel triple hop for the beef stew and a Stella Artois with the ribs.” What are your favorite restaurants, in the U.S./Belgium? “Joeys Stone Crab in Miami and Fiola and Fiola Mare in Washington, D.C. Belgium is difficult. The last 10 years were too busy for me to explore the Belgian restaurants. The few times I went back I was lucky to taste the home cooking of my mom and so many of my friends. This May, I am going to Belgium, especially to go to the new restaurants: The Jane, ‘t Zilte, De Slagmolen, Boury and Hostellerie St Nicolas are on my list already. I try to also go to Ghent where so many young chefs are doing crazy things…” Would you ever consider moving back to Belgium or Europe? No, I would never leave my businesses in the U.S. behind. I would not be able to deal with the way they make you run restaurants in Belgium, too many laws and too expensive on labor costs…” – Leentje De Leeuw from-chicago-with-words.blogspot.com
Each year the Washington City Paper asks readers to vote for their favorite restaurant in Washington, D.C. The 2015 winners were published on April 9, 2015. Bart Vandaele’s Belga Café took top honors as the Best Restaurant for 2015 in the Readers Poll. Here is the recipe for one of the entrees that made readers choose the Belga Café. SCOTT SUCHMAN © VANDAELE
“Being in that TV show was an extreme experience. At that time, I was building my second restaurant (B Too) and really was shaken by the amount of energy it took to be in a rat race like that. All the contestants were shut off completely from the outside world (no contact at all) for the full duration of the show (a month and a half). It was brutal. Really long days and a lot of harsh competition. It was a kind of confrontation with myself I had never expected. But all in all it was fun and it was extra PR for both of my businesses. Even now – five years after the show – people will still recognize me as one of the contestants!”
Belga Café chosen Best Restaurant!
Café Belga’s lobster waffle by Bart Vandaele.
Lobster Waffle By Chef Bart Vandaele Prep: 15 min / Serves: 4 / Difficulty: Easy INGREDIENTS 2 cooked Maine lobsters 2 sheets of puff pastry 1 ft by 1 ft +/2 Tablespoons tomato paste 16 oz lobster bisque or lobster soup 4 oz heavy cream 1 teaspoon parsley 1 teaspoon tarragon 1 wedge of lemon 1 egg decoration DIRECTIONS Cut the lobster tails in nice equal pieces of 1/3 inch. Keep the claws for decoration at the end. Bring the lobster bisque to boiling point, add the cream, tomato paste and reduce to 1/3, use half of the reduced sauce for finishing the dish, the other half we will add the cut lobster tails, the parsley and tarragon, finish with a some drops of lemon juice. Cool mixture down. Lay down a sheet of puff pastry, cut them in equal pieces. They may be round, square or rectangle, but make sure the pieces fit your waffle iron. In the middle of each sheet, place some of the lobster mix, put some egg yolk on the borders and close it with another layer of puff pastry, cool down for 1 hour. Bake the waffle in a very hot waffle iron until brown. Plate as you wish, add a little salad, finish with some lobster sauce and the claws. NOTES You can make it in the size you want to, use it as a hors d`oeuvres or an appetizer. We even serve it as carb replacement with beef tenderloin, so you have a surf ‘n turf.