Top chefs descend on Flemish coast for food and drink extravaganza

If you go down to the beach in Koksijde on the last Sunday of August, you’re sure of a big surprise. That’s the occasion of the fourth Flemish Food Bash, an event that has rapidly become a highlight of the local foodie calendar.

The mastermind behind the event is chef Vincent Florizoone (pictured). Formerly chef-proprietor of Grand Cabaret in Nieuwpoort, he has now returned to the family nest at Brasserie Edison in Koksijde, in semi-retirement from his legendary rock’n’roll lifetyle.

“Edison is my mother’s place,” he explains. “I started here when I was 12, taking my first steps in the restaurant business.”

In addition to the 12 chefs and 12 bartenders, the Flemish Food Bash also features barbers, tattoo artists, special acts and no less than six DJs, three of whom have just returned from the music festival Tomorrowland.

The list of names includes chefs from Rouge Tomate in Brussels, Carcasse in Koksijde, Bistro Bruut in Bruges and Va et Vient in Kortrijk. In charge of the cocktails are mixology masters like Jurgen Nobels and Sofie Ketels, while the wine selection was put together by none other than sommelier Sepideh Sedaghatnia, known from VTM’s second season of My Pop-Up Restaurant.

And last but not least, there is the beer, which Florizoone has always given pride of place in his restaurants. “With the Flemish Food Bash, I intend to give beer a more prominent place in Belgian restaurants,” he says. “In the first editions I didn’t have wine, so guests had to drink beer or cocktails.”

This time around, half of the cocktails are beertails, made by mixing beer with hard alcohol. “I still think we’re the most famous beer country in the world, and everybody knows it except for us,” Florizoone says.

The beer menu was put together by Struise Brouwers, Hedonis, Totem, Vrijstaat Vanmol, Het Geuzegenootschap and In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst. The last one, Florizoone swears, is the “best cafe in the world”, of particular interest to those who love the lambic beers of Pajottenland.

The Flemish Food Bash takes place on the beach in front of the Sofie’s Sunset bar. Entry is free, but registration is required.

28 August, from noon, Zeedijk, Koksijde. Photo: Michaël Dehaspe/Jong Keukengeweld