Saturday, August 29, 2009

Quiet Death on the Hatters' Street.

The nature of guidebooks is that they're out of date as soon as they're published. No surprise, then, that the 80 all-stars from Around Brussels have suffered their first casualty.

The Chapeau d'As, a quiet brasserie just two blocks from the Grand Place at Rue des Chapeliers 36, shut its doors a short while back. It had a brief but interesting beer selection, paneled walls with benches, and a Magritte-esque painted ceiling complete with derby hats blowing around a blue sky. It was a place of peace. Except that now it's being replaced by a Scandinavian restaurant. Whatever that means.

But guess what? There are new all-stars on the horizon. And hopefully a second edition in a couple of years or so. In the meantime, 79 out of 80 ain't bad.

3 comments:

  1. I was never that big a fan of the Gouden Carolus anyway.

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  2. Always struck me that the Carolus Classic would be a great cigar beer. The Chapeau d'As served Carolus and was very friendly to cigar-smokers. I don't know if that's a coincidence. I hate the damned things.

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