Affogato is not on the menu at Broer Bretel, but you can still have one there. Just tell the barista thatโs what you want. Then exit the shop, walk three doors to the leftโto Cremerie Germaineโand buy your favorite flavor of gelato in a cup. Retrace your steps, place the acquisition on the bar, and watch as the cold mounds get baptized by a shot (or two) of espresso.
So it went one afternoon late in 2016, although the practiceโcustomers bringing in goods purchased at point A to enhance their consumption experience at point Bโis not unique to the Antwerp cafe that Toon Craen and his brother opened six years ago in February. This cross-fertilization economyโprobably most often takingย the form of a bagged lunch being unpacked at a watering holeโcan be observed across Belgiumโs largest city. (As Bert van Wassenhove, owner of the outside-sandwich-welcoming Caffรจnation Amsterdam, once told Sprudge: โWhen we go to our pubs in Antwerp and they donโt serve food, we are going to grab pizza from the neighbors and have it with our beersโthatโs no problem.โ)
The spirit of helping out a friendโor a friendlyย businessโseems inevitable at Broer Bretel:ย Broerย is Flemish for โbrother,โ and bretelย means โsuspenders.โ It’sย an accessory that Craenโs grandfather always wore, and it was he who coupled the two words when speaking toย Craen and his three brothers.
โWhen it was our birthday, we would pass by [our grandfatherโs]. He would take [his suspenders] off and give them to us,โ Craen explains. The transfer of the straps signified that โthen we were the broer bretel, which means the ‘brother suspenders’โthe king of the day.โ
But neither the happy-to-fraternize gelateria Cremerie Germaine, norย a lot of other local businesses, existed when Broer Bretel set up shop in the northern port-surrounded neighborhood known as โthe little island,โ Hetย Eilandje.
โThere was nothing. It was kind of a shabby place,โ recalls Craen. That nothingness inspired his older brother, who back then would passย through the area on a daily commute to the train station. So firstborn said to the second: โHey, brother, we should start a coffee business because thereโs not enough coffee businesses in Antwerp.โ
Although guest micro-roasters do make cameos at Broer Bretel, it is the ever-reliable output of Antwerpโs Caffรจnation that gives raison dโรชtre to the two-group La Marzoccoย Linea Classic, Marco Re-circulating font brewer, two Anfim Super Caimano grinders, and a Mazzer Robur grinder. Incidentally, Craen attended university near Caffรจnationโs cafe, drank his first espresso there, and was briefly an employee.
That the New York Times has recommended Broer Bretelโnot once but twiceโโwas the ultimate compliment,โ even though Craen says the publicity did not really attract new customers. Thatย happened more organically, as shiny apartment buildings and chain restaurants began appearing (sometimes controversially) in the shadows of the nearby MAS and Red Star Line museums.
โI had to wait for like three years for a regular customer base,โ he admits. โNow it feels like an established place. We have a nice mix of people, like firemen and policemen, and also a richer crowd,โ Craenย adds, referring to some of his boat-owning regulars who live part-time in the city.
Come who may, the secondhand furniture, retro wallpaper, tacked-up Polaroids, and shelves of multilingual books encourage visitors to linger. With his co-founder having moved to Australia, another brother doing graphic design, and the third still a student, Craen has for some time been running the barย solo. However, that will soon change: This spring, he and a chef friend will embark on a dining venture that will offer coffee, wine, homemade cold cuts, and cured meat all under one roof.
โHeโs going to be in the kitchen and Iโll just be making the coffee,โ Craen saysย of the prospective business brotherhood. โItโs something weโre missing in Antwerp, I thinkโyou have restaurants, but none of them serve good coffee, and we have good coffee places, but none of them serves good food.โ
Meanwhile, he plans to keep managing Broer Bretelโhis โbabyโโand to hire a replacement for everyday barista duties. That individual might someday become a kind of surrogate sibling and, by extension, king or queen of the cafe.
Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read moreย Karina Hof on Sprudge.ย