There is only one place in our city where we truly love to eat and this is the famous restaurant Baracca in Leuven. Hip and trendy, the atmosphere and the ambiance invites all folks of society into a cheerful Italian big mama hug. You cannot avoid it, you cannot replace it and you are suddenly surprised to find you actually miss it once you exit the door. Slightly dark and mysterious the interior simply draws you in with a promise of a story. What cocktail is on display today? What new dishes grace the menu? The waitress greets us with a smile and the story rushes to unfold.

Designed as food sharing concept, the restaurant draws inspiration from the recent past. When the Italian migrants worked in the coal mines during the day, they couldn’t wait for the evening to fall and share their delicious stories in wooden barracks while they ate and drank together. The restaurant owners wanted to recreate the same spirit of togetherness between the different city generations. In Baracca, there is always something for everyone – classic wood burn oven pizzas, oysters and truffle pasta! The food borders with sublime and the cocktails – daring and merry.

How do we measure and celebrate the passing of time? What is meaningful and what do we treasure? How do we celebrate love? We counted the days, we counted the weeks, then we settled at counting the months… and only when the months became too many did we start counting the years. When someone special enters our life time together starts to exist in a different dimension. Everything is the same, yet all is different. The magic collision of love leaves traces in the universe, making every day a sparkle. We treasure every day. So much so that when we ask each other “How long are we together?” we know that a smile and “Not enough.” are the only real answers.

Looking for a restaurant where we may celebrate the anniversary of that special moment when it all began is easy. With a selection of trendy, Michelin guide restaurants in Leuven, we know that there are plenty of places suiting the occasion. We are looking for a place with elegance and class. A place of delicious perfection that will sparkle with colour and sumptuous culinary tastes as much as our love for one another. A place of subtlety and intimacy, where we could enjoy each other’s company undisturbed by the noisy crowd. To our immense joy and delight Cum Laude, Faculty Club turned out to offer all of that and more.

Belgium could be famous for so many things, yet the ones that are mostly catching the tourist attention, are hardly the things making the Belgians most proud. There are a few exceptions like waffles, chocolate and beer, but underneath the lacy cover of the obvious, there are so many other remarkable things to discover. I don’t know how many people may be considering Belgium the culinary capital of Europe, yet there is a constellation of rising young chef stars, opening trendy restaurants and delighting the eager guests with stunning dishes and modern and fragrant cuisine.

De Kwizien restaurant in Hasselt is one of these creations. Charming, family restaurant with a central open kitchen and surrounding tables hosting no more than 40 guests, the place looks open and bright yet cosy, intimate and embracing. Making a special reservation for a family birthday lunch, we have indeed chosen well, despite taking the risk of selecting an unknown restaurant. Starting with a traditional toast of champaign, enjoying each other’s company and sharing gifts and our love with the birthday quest of honour, could not have been done in a better location or accompanied by better celebratory food. Starting with small bites of various flavours as a compliment of the chef, the main dishes of the season menu placed on our table looked like a piece of art too beautiful to savour. But savour them we did, every bite bursting with flavour and harmonious perfection.

In a fantastic location overlooking the bay of Cologne and providing wonderful views of Cologne Cathedral, the Althoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg certainly knows to fascinate all visitors – may it be on a business trip, a city break to Cologne, or a wellness weekend.

Travelling abroad for a romanic weekend, always offers rest and enchanting adventures. Visiting, seeing and experiencing something new is as equally exciting as it is tasting something new.

During our stay at the Althoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg, just a few kilometres out of Koln in Germany, we had the unexpected pleasure to feel transported to the Mediterranean for a moment by treating ourselves to a few indulgent hours in one of the acclaimed hotel’s restaurants, the Trattoria Enoteca.

The warm colours, authentic aromas, finest ingredients and select wines together with perfect service provided a setting for an unforgettable visit. The food was surprisingly delightful, offering experience of the full range of the Italian cuisine — hearty dishes from the country kitchen, light dishes from the coast, and irresistible home-made pasta.