What’s New at Taste of Belgium
Tradition meets contemporary. Comfort meets innovation. Belgium meets America.
A new menu is now available at Taste of Belgium. Diners can browse the streamlined menu, below, which showcases selections for each part of the day- breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. Plus some a la carte items which are available all day, too. Of course it wouldn’t be a true taste of Belgium without an extensive selection of imported beers.
Taste of Belgium is well known (and loved) for their Belgian Liege waffles. Made with dough instead of batter, the waffles have a bite to them, and the special pearl sugar (imported straight from Belgium) caramelizes when they touch the hot waffle iron, giving the waffles their signature crunch. The sugary exterior makes the Liege waffles a perfect accompaniment to savory companions like Korean Chicken and the new Birria Waffle dish. Salty, meet sweet- a beautiful balance of flavors.
Other new menu items include Florentine Eggs Benefit, Nordic Eggs Benedict, the Cranberry Orange Waffle and more. But don’t fret- ToB will still have those beef tallow fried frites with dips (chipotle mayo, pesto mayo, malt vinegar mayo and curry ketchup). And the menu also kept dreamy dinner dish, mussels, adding in a pesto cream version that is to die for.
Cincinnati Family Magazine had a chance to sample some of the menu items and sit down with Taste of Belgium founder, Jean-François Flechet. Here’s what he had to say about growing up in Belgium, the new menu and community connections…
Cincinnati Family Magazine (CFM: You grew up in Belgium, you are raising your child in Cincinnati. Can you talk to us about the differences?
Jean-François Flechet (JFF): I don’t know if it was different because it was in Belgium, or because it was a different time. He (my son) is growing up in Over-the-Rhine, so it is an urban environment. While I grew up in the countryside, so we were pretty much the only house on the street and really self-sufficient. Both my grandparents were farmers, so at home, we had chickens, geese, sheep and rabbits. If an animal ended up on my plate, I knew it’s name. So that was very very different in terms of upbringing. And we had a big garden, so lots of fruits and vegetables.
CFM: Did you have a lot of chores then? Or would you even call them chores? Maybe it was just a part of being a member of a farm family?
JFF: Yeah, whatever it was planting or cleaning the garden or picking green beans or cleaning them. I was very involved as a kid.
CFM: Do you think that hands-on approach to food is incorporated to your business?
JFF: It shows up in the way we look at ingredients and the way we are cooking. We make everything from scratch here because back home, nothing came out of a can. I rarely buy anything processed! I mean, the most processed thing would be canned tomatoes from Italy.
CFM: Especially with Findlay Market so close, you can get what you need nearby and you probably know the market vendors by name and they know to expect you.
JFF: You can go to Findlay and get pretty much anything you want, you don’t need to buy large amounts. It’s a lot fresher. The market is great. Our goetta is from Eckerlin Meats. The food just tastes better with local ingredients.
CFM: With the new Menu, what do you think families and their little ones will enjoy?
JFF: It’s funny, because the one thing I realized is that we did not put a kids menu on here. We went back and forth for a really long time on that But there is plenty of food that is kid-friendly. I remember when we started and people would say ‘I cannot believe you don’t have a kids menu!’. But in Belgium, we think of kids as little humans who eat human food and not just Mac and cheese and chicken fingers. We will probably bring something back in the form of an activity sheet.
CFM: I would agree that the menu does have very kid-friendly foods, though!
JFF: I do think it is kid-friendly, too. The frites, any of the waffles. The Waffle Flight is something familiar but they can have four different versions, so they can try something new. The Belgian cheese croquette is like a super cheese stick, if you will. The Belgian meatballs are very traditional. The Mac and cheese has a little kick to it, but it’s not overly spicy. And the Beer Cheese with pretzels.
CFM: Everybody is a VIP here- great drinks, amazing food for every meal of the day, and you are family-friendly. How many locations are there- where can families enjoy Taste of Belgium?
JFF: We have three full service restaurants. One in Over-the-Rhine, the original location. One at the Banks in between the Reds and Paycor Stadium and one at the food exchange in Norwood.
CFM: Thank you so much for having us and chatting with us. We can’t wait for families to check out the new Taste of Belgium Menu!
Visit www.tasteofbelgium.com for more information.