Hof den Tuitelaar

Photos and words by Cliff Lucas.
Edited by Breandán Kearney.

Café Society is a photographic series which celebrates the spaces at the heart of Belgian beer culture. See more here.

Stephen De Rouck pours a lager from behind the bar at Hof den Tuitelaar in his chequered short-sleeve button down and leather cowboy boots. His sunglasses are still on. He sports a modest handlebar moustache and a head of dark, slightly wavy hair he wears with a slick comb-back. De Rouck’s is a vintage aesthetic, in line with the Blues, Rockabilly, and Rock & Roll bands he invites to play at the café he’s managed for the past two years; the same bands he worked with as a concert promoter in the past. One would be forgiven for driving past Hof den Tuitelaar without knowing it was there (“tuitelaar” refers to a hop farmer who in the past would add bad hops to their good hops to increase their sales). Its ageing brick facade has no noticeable signage, or even a front door, and moss is growing on the unfinished shingled roof. Inside, however, De Rouck’s personal collection of vintage lamps and radios, religious paintings and sculptures, enamel beer signs, taxidermied squirrels and hawks, wooden coffee grinders, and photos from his grandparent’s wedding cover the walls and floating shelves to demonstrate that it’s a place with a story. “I’m kind of a hoarder,” he says. The sunlight enjoyed by guests in the garden seating peaks through the windows and a rusted sign is illuminated above a stuffed deer head wearing a cycling cap. De Rouck is no “tuitelaar”. Each of his additions only adds to the charm.