Belgium is saving historic cafe bars that are everything modern bling venues are not
To show future generations what its early-20th-century drinking dens were like, Belgian authorities are giving listed status to some of its hundreds of remaining ‘estaminets’
Belgians are famous for taking their beer seriously, but authorities are now moving to preserve some of the historic cafes where drinkers have been quaffing since the early 20th century.
In the heart of the town of Alsemberg, in the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant region south of Brussels, the PastaCafe is one of those that has best kept its 1920s and ’30s decor.
The bar and dark woodwork are vintage, as are the leather headrests that remain on the wooden benches. Cracks in the multicoloured floor tiles, which date from the dawn of the last century, show how many drinkers have trodden there.
“They even had a horse in here once,” says manager Ilse Rillaert, showing a picture from the 1970s or ’80s as proof.
The “charming, authentic” bar is the opposite of the modern “bling” drinking haunt, says the manager, who is in her thirties and took over from her brother in 2013.