Chez Felix
In a beautiful part of Schaerbeek, among the centennial villas and mature trees, sits Chez Felix. Born as a wine bar, it has grown to be much more than a place to sample delicious wines, the food is also something to write home about.
The creator of Chez Felix is Pierre. I often make the joke that I’ve been “feeding him for years”, and in a way, it’s true. He was a regular client of La Mer du Nord fish shop, my first job in Brussels. Since then, he’s popped into almost every restaurant I’ve worked in. I remember when he first talked about opening a wine bar, I was still at the fish shop at that time. Wine bars were not as popular then as they are now, and to be honest, we were all curious about what he was planning. At the time, he lived just above the the empty space that became Chez Felix. Pierre was the first in this neighborhood to open a wine bar, needless to say, it was, and continues to be, a great success.
He himself is not from a restaurant/bar background, so he’s surrounded himself with a great team. His chef is very talented and I was happy to see that almost half his menu is vegetarian. Whether you’re only in the mood for a small bite to accompany your drinks or looking for a full meal, it’s all there! In addition, his restaurant manager is very efficient and looks over his patrons like it was his own business.
We arrived just as they opened at 16:00 and the atmosphere was so welcoming that we didn’t notice time passing by and suddenly it was 21:30. The place was packed with locals, even though the weather was awful that day and it was a Wednesday night! We had all sorts of wines starting from fine Italian bubbles to deep reds from Douro, Portugal. The wine list is extensive and it’s easy to figure out which wines are biodynamic, natural and organic.
Since we had full confidence in Pierre, we gave him « carte blanche » for our food choices. We weren’t disappointed. To begin with, we had a butternut humus with long bread sticks. Then we were served some lovely organic roasted vegetables toped with stracciatella de burrata and pin nuts and a second dish of roasted cauliflower and a great topping of mixed herbs and capers. We loved the contrast between the sweet cauliflower and salty-acidity of the capers. We ended this great meal with chicken meat balls in a green curry sauce and leaks.
Chez Felix was a wonderful discovery and I look forward to our next evening out there!
Chez Felix
Avenue Félix Marchal 142
1030 Schaerbeek
Open from Monday to Saturday from 16:00 to 23:30
