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.
An olive green curtain covers the window of the front door at In de Oude Smis van Mekingen so that the arriving guest is kept as a surprise for patrons at the five tables inside. The walls show off dry sausages and photographs haphazardly arranged, but Annie Stiens—fourth-generation owner whose childhood began upstairs—is keen that you notice the circular illusion of square tiles on her floor. Oude Smis means “Old Blacksmith” and around back, horses used to have their hooves cleaned and shoes changed. A blacksmith’s shop was also connected to the café at one time, and a grocery store shared the space until the 1990s. Geuze and Kriek—popular menu choices—are fetched from the cellar one-by-one as the orders come in. And if you’re feeling lucky, the playing cards come out on Wednesday nights.
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In de Oude Smis van Mekingen
Jan Baptist Cardijnstraat 10, 1600 Sint-Pieters-Leeuw
A traditional Flemish brown bar dating back to the 1840s.
