Brussels Food Friends: #BxlFF Event for Food Bloggers in Belgium

Breandán Kearney··3 min read

Bloggers can get lonely. They sit behind their computers talking to twitter handle.

Up until earlier this year, that was especially true of foodie bloggers in Belgium. They had no forum to network. There was no physical event at which they could put a face to the name. They could never meet up.

So at the end of 2013, a handful of Brussels-based bloggers travelled to a networking event in Rotterdam. Feeling that it was ridiculous to travel to the Netherlands for such an initiative they pledged on the car journey back home that they would come together and run a similar event in Belgium.

Just a few months later their vision was realised and ‘Brussels Food Friends’ was born.

WHAT IS BRUSSELS FOOD FRIENDS?

Brussels Food Friends is essentially a meeting place for bloggers who care about food and drink to get together and share their passion, swap addresses of places to eat and to photograph food without feeling strange.

The bloggers who are responsible for its creation are: Alison of Cheeseweb; Andreea of On (Glorious) Food and Wine; Annie of Montgomery Fest; Maxine of Why I Am Not Skinny; and Michelle of Very Hungry Explorer.

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THE FIRST #BxlFF EVENT

Saturday 29 March 2014: The Hotel

The first Brussels Food Friends Event took place in the swanky venue, The Hotel.

The event was marked by a talk from Alison of Cheeseweb and an opportunity to network over a range of drinks from The Hotel and food from The Restaurant including their cube cakes. There were take home gifts such as speculoos from Maison Dandoy, a canvas bag and tea from Dille & Kamille, chocolates from Laurent Gerbaud, scrapers from International Home of Cooking, jam from Un Altro Colore and goats cheese from Ging’s Artisan Goats cheese.

THE SECOND #BxlFF EVENT

Saturday 21 June 2014: Hotel Bloom

Hotel Bloom was the location for the second Brussels Food Friends event. It’s a modern four-star hotel on Rue Royale with spacious and bright function rooms.

In an attempt to inspire something unique, the re-opening of the hotel in 2007 involved the invitation of hundreds of young artists from different parts of Europe to paint rooms and spaces in the building.

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All of the paintings created by the young artists were their individual interpretations of ‘bloom’. There’s obvious connotations between the theme chosen and both the hotel’s re-opening and with its close proximity to the nearby botanical gardens.

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THE SPEAKER: MISS FOODWISE

Regula Ysewijn, a photographer and graphic designer who blogs as Miss Foodwise, was the guest speaker. Regula carries out several projects to promote Belgium as a foodie destination and writes on the cooking heritage of Britain.

Regula spoke on the topic of ‘Creating Your Visual Identity’, focusing on design, branding and online presence.

THE JAMS, WAFFLES AND CAKE 

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As it was an event for food bloggers, there was food available.

Cleverly combining the traditional cuisine of Belgium with their presence on the Brussels streetscape, Hotel Bloom parked a Volkswagen Waffle Van in the window of their eating space. On offer were a variety of sweet toppings on both the heavier ‘Liège’ sugar waffle, and the ‘Brussels’ waffle with its more rectangular shape and icing sugar dusting.

Un Altro Colore provided jams, all of which are made by the hand of Arianna Broggiato who combined seasonal and organic fruits with spices from around the world. Her jams are healthy and diverse in flavour, ranging from those made with strawberry preserve made with peppermint and sichouan peppercorn; to organic pears preserve with star anise and muscovado sugar.

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And there was a special cake – baked specifically for the event by La Cucina Delle Zie – with comic strip ‘Wham’ design and a message to celebrate the ‘2nd Bxl FF Event 2014’.

THE GIFT PACK

All participants – who paid for the tickets to the event – were handed a gift pack before departing which was compiled by the organising team with the help of the generous event sponsors. This pack included:

→ Luster E-gift voucher (€5) for Luster Cook and Food books

→ 15% Discount on a baking or decorating class at La Cucina Delle Zie

→ La Cucina Delle Zie Cookie Lips

→ Terlizzi Conserve (Crema di Cime di Rape) from Olivetus

→ 50% off at Bia Maria

→ Chocolero Milk (30%) Cacao chocolate bar

→ Visit Brussels pocket-sized discovery guides

THE NEXT #BxlFF EVENT: THIRD EDITION

A third Brussels Food Friends event is in the planning for sometime between mid and late October 2014.