One of the exciting parts of Susan Bijl is that we get to meet and work with inspiring initiatives all over the world. Graanmarkt 13 in Antwerp is one of these meticulously executed concepts that we are very happy to be somewhat related to. The townhouse uniquely and unlikely unites a restaurant, a store, a gallery and an apartment to stay overnight.
It feels a bit vulgar to breach the all-round experience of design, dine and bed that Graanmarkt 13 offers, in order to focus on just one of these aspects, but still we will. We could talk about the high-end shop, that just like Susan Bijl has decided to step out of the rushy season focused treadmill of fast fashion and offers carefully crafted and durable design pieces. We could introduce you to the beautiful apartment that offers a special and warm place to spend the night with family or friends. Yet it’s the fantastic cooking of the restaurant’s chef that we will draw your attention to now.
Graanmarkt 13’s young and very talented chef Seppe Nobels creates culinary excellence with locally harvested and seasonal ingredients which comes in three-course menus. His singular vision has gained Graanmarkt 13 the award of best vegetable restaurant of the Benelux and himself the prize of best vegetable chef of Flanders. His delight is not only to be experienced at the beautiful location in Antwerp, but can also be enjoyed at home thanks to Seppe’s cook books. ‘Greens that taste like friendship’ and ‘Vegetables that sparkle the conversation’ collect some of his favorite recipes and are powerful proof that vegetable centered dishes are as tasteful and rich as gastronomy can be.
An extraordinary example is the dish of both mashed and thinly sliced celeriac that we’ve recently cooked ourselves from ‘Greens that taste like friendship’ and we’re happy to offer you the recipe here:
Celeriac, simmered
Ingredients for 4 people:
2 young celeriacs
200 g butter
4 star anise
6 cloves
6 black peppercorns
6 juniper berries
2 cloves of garlic
3 sprigs of thyme
3 sprigs of rosemary
3 sprigs of tarragon
Fleur de sel
Nutmeg
Method:
Scrub the celeriacs clean and cut them in eighths.
Melt the butter in a deep sauteuse and add the star anise, the cloves, the black peppercorns, the juniper berries, the bruised garlic, the thyme, the rosemary and the tarragon.
Simmer the pieces of celeriac in the butter until they are golden brown and well done.
Flavor with fleur de sel and freshly grated nutmeg.