Belgium for Foodies by culinary journalist and food writer Femke Vandevelde is the author’s collection of Belgium’s best places to eat. Stacked with over 350 places to eat, the book covers all human food cravings, from fantastic food shops to extraordinary locations to dine in. Our uncontrollable desire to eat good and try something new will be met with turning the books’ pages. Belgium for Foodies will be available in bookshops from the 4th October 2021. The book’s launch comes just behind the occasion of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants ceremony on the 5th October, in which all of the international guests will receive a copy of the book.

Belgian cuisine is erupting in the culinary scene with a vast range of talent and cooking expertise gaining recognition in the sector. Hospitality plays a focal point in food establishments since great hospitality is the backbone of any restaurant business. The closed environment of a restaurant is ripe with stories, which the book enlightens us with some of the author’s anecdotes.

Belgium’s culinary scene is brimming with lavish farm-to-table restaurants, bustling neighbourhood bistros, imaginative vegan cafes, and great fast-food joints. The book honourably mentions the chefs behind the restaurants, as they take pride in adding a bit of Belgian flair with local ingredients such as hop shoots, chicory, asparagus, and Brussels sprouts. Simplicity, purity and freshness are at the heart of Belgian cooking. A new generation of ambitious hospitality entrepreneurs is now stepping up to the plate, making this an exciting time to eat your way through Belgium. The book features the best places to taste Belgian chocolate, beers, waffles and fries, and show a side of Belgium that you have to look a little harder to find.

Author Femke Vandevelde divides her time between Ghent and the Belgian coast and her partner Jens, their daughter Zadig and their dachshund Nabokov. After her studies as an editor at the University of Amsterdam, she was active as a cookbook blogger. Currently, Femke Vandevelde works as a freelance culinary editor and restaurant critic for the Belgian newspaper De Morgen. She is also the author of the culinary guides XIII Gent and XIII Antwerpen and editor of Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery. In addition, Femke runs a coworking space, 'Gunpowder & Smoke' in Ghent and is the 'Jong Keukengeweld' campaign chairwoman.

Tony Le Duc is an Antwerp-based food photographer whose work has been exhibited internationally and published widely.

The book is part of Luster's successful 'Hidden Secrets' series.

Inspirations