Jack Van Antwerpen, President of Exports for Bosteels Brewery in Belgium is in town tonight and tomorrow. If you’re any kind of beer person you’ve enjoyed one of their beers and if you haven’t, you owe it to yourself to have one.

• Kwak is as known for its unique glass (originally designed to hang from mail coaches) as for its deep amber tastiness.
• Tripel Karmaliet is a Belgian tripel that is made with three kinds of grain; wheat, oats and barley. It’s a Foobooz favorite of favorites.
• Deus is described as a symbiosis of brewing a beer and creating a sparkling wine.

Tonight the beer and Van Antwerpen are going to be at Tria Rittenhouse and the Fermentation School. Kwak will be on draft at the 18th and Sansom location for $5.50. Bottles of Tripel Karmeliet will be $6.50 and glasses of the Deus are $7.50.

The class with Bosteels and St. Feuillien at the Fermentation School was so popular they’ve added standing room tickets. Currently there are just four tickets remaining.

Tomorrow the Pub on Passyunk East is hosting Van Antwerpen for a Bosteels night. The P.O.P.E will feature Tripel Karmaliet and Kwak on draft plus bottles of Deus from 7 to 11pm. There will also be special desserts (Belgian waffles?) available.

Belgian Icons: Bosteels & St. Feuillien [Tria Cafe]
Bosteels Dessert Night [Pub on Passyunk East]
Bosteels Brewery [Official Site]

Adam Erace writes an ode to Bonté arguing it belongs in that pantheon of Philadelphia foods like the Federal Pretzel, Tacconelli Pizza and John’s Roast Pork.

The scrappy waffles are misshapen, disfigured, scarred in spots where Belgian pearl sugar coating over-caramelized into tacky black patches. They make your fingers a sticky mess and burn the roof of your mouth. But man, are they delicious. Emerging warm from the imported irons, oozing dark chocolate or mashed bananas, the gaufrés make you happy to live here.

Leggo My Bonté [Blogalicious]
Bonté [Official Site]

The Inky has a pro-reform editorial on the challenge to the six-pack law. [Inquirer] Which beer genius Lew Bryson breaks down for you here. [Seen Through a Glass]

No more spending those welfare benefits at the beer distributor! [kyw1060.com]

Dan Gross has the scoop on visiting celebrities and where they’re dining while in town. Which seems to only be the Continental. Also Parker Posey feeds her dog gum and Stephen Starr loves the Circus. Ahem, the Cirque. [Phillygossip]

Someday, we hope to achieve this sort of legendary status at a bar. If it takes us 93 years to do it, then so be it. [NY Times]

Adam Erace braves the Schuylkill Expressway to test out the suburban beer oasis known as Teresa’s Next Door. And although he finds some problems with some of the food he does enjoy the mussels, cheese and beer. And what more can you ask of a gastropub supper bar than that? Oh and if you go, definitely leave the getting there to SEPTA and the R5. The Wayne station is just steps away.

Teresa’s Next Door [Philadelphia Weekly]

We’ve always been of the opinion that’s there something a little off about Belgians, not that we don’t love them and their beer. Perhaps it’s all that Trappist beer that makes them a bit odd. Well Zot owners Tim Trevans and Bernard Dehaene aren’t making us reconsider our theory as they are adding a tub to the surroundings as part of their first anniversary redesign.

The wine bar in the front of the first floor will be moved upstairs, in favor of two beer bars. Upstairs, besides the new wine bar (where wines will be available by the bottle only), they’re installing a sports bar. And this is where the bathroom fits in. It’s the bar back. Behind that tiled wall behind the tub is a refrigerator box, and beer lines will be punched through. Beer spillage will go into the tub and down the drain.

Pass the Soap [Food & Drinq]
Zot [Official Site]

Adam Erace enjoys the “gruyere grotto” that is Beneluxx. But that stinking menu.

Typing paper and plastic slipcovers aside, the menu reads like a left-brain love letter from a Wharton finance major, formatted into an Excel spreadsheet and flavored with alcohol-by-volume ratios, Wine Spectator scores, cacao percentages and metric measures. Wordiness is an issue too. Sure, it’s cool that the milkshake-thick la serena cheese comes from a Spanish breed of sheep prized for their viscous milk, and that Rouge HazelNut Brown Nectar Ale uses both crystal 80 and crystal 135 malts in its recipe. But is it really pertinent information?

Lap of Luxxury [Philadelphia Weekly]
Beneluxx Tasting Room [Official Site]

The Brew Lounge stops by Fairmount’s Belgian Cafe to see if Craig LaBan’s criticism still held.

Overall, The Belgian Cafe measured up just fine. Let’s go back to my checklist in the opening above.

A) Our food experience seems to have been better than Laban’s;
B) Based on the trendy edge, or shall I say edgy trend (I couldn’t quite put my finger on whether they’re going for a particular vibe), that they seem to be exhibiting, I’m thinking that Bridgid’s would be a more likely every-other-day hang out for me, if I still lived in the neighborhood; and
C) Tom & Fergie have done well opening this new location, but will be interesting to see the long-term viability of it in the Art Museum neighborhood. The changing demographic of the area will help to determine.

Quick Review of The Belgian Cafe in Philadelphia, PA [The Brew Lounge]

Craig LaBan takes aim at the Belgian Cafe skewering much of the menu, especially the vegan dishes.

The Belgian Cafe’s only worthy reply flows forth by the bottle and glass. And it would be unfair not to consider this major new beer cellar as something worth saluting. It won’t cure most of the pub’s kitchen ills. But it has saved it – by the frothing head of foamy Duvel – from becoming the city’s first “No Bell Belgian.”

One Bell – Hit or Miss

The Belgian Cafe [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Zot looks better than it executes according to Foodzings who has some problems with the service.

It’s a pretty restaurant. It has pretty servers. The food is pretty. But really, it’s missing something. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s just too much show and not enough substance. It’s all very pretty, but underneath it all, you see some homeliness. They definitely need to step up their game because Zot could be so much better. It has so much potential, but it has to follow through. Otherwise, you’re going to keep reading reviews like mine.

Zot – Mostly Looks… [Foodzings]
Zot [Official Site]

Living On The Vedge tries some of the numerous vegetarian options at the Belgian Cafe.

The “Scallops” were really pieces of smoked tofu wrapped in fake bacon and vegan caviar, but this dish was difficult to execute. The bacon did not seem particularly invested in securing the tofu, and the entire creation was easily rendered a mess if not carefully forked into. We moved on to the wings and forgave. The sweet-not-too-spicy BBQ sauce covered tender pieces of crusted seitan for the perfect bar snack. I’d order this again in a second, although it didn’t come with the celery as described on the menu, just vegan aoli.

Veg Out: The Belgian Cafe [Living On The Vedge]
The Belgian Cafe [Official Site]