2023-08-05 12:28:00
You know La Panne, Nieuport, Ostend, Knokke or Coxyde and Le Coq, Blankenberge, the main resorts on the Coast. Smaller, a little less known, the other beaches of the North Sea all have a story to tell, great news. And also attract more and more buyers looking for second homes. This year, we take you to visit St-Idesbald, Oost-Duinkerke, Middelkerke, Mariakerke, Bredene and Zeebrugge.
Bredene is the most natural stage of the tour of the coast of small resorts. It also aligns the singularities: the campsites are numerous and welcome regulars from Belgium, Germany or the Netherlands for the most part. It is the only coastal town without a dyke but with dunes that continue to the small town. And offer a haven to naturists who are welcome on a beach dedicated to them. This too was a first on the coast.
Cabins, beachgrass, nature for a town at the same time very close to Ostend. ©westtoer
Dunes and the sea, great! However, walking along the beach, you find yourself looking for something that is “missing”. The dam ! Fortunately, the beach cabins, the four “beach bars” not bling bling for a penny put us back in place and understand the pleasure of enjoying “just the beach” on the Belgian coast.
Our summer series on small coastal resorts: we start with St-Idesbald, where we eat so well! (1/6)
Nudist, camper or… seaweed chef
A trip to the Surfer’s Bar of the Twins Club which punctuates the life of the beach and here we are completely reconciled with this amazing Bredene. Especially when they explain to us the existence not far from the Kapelstraat, its terraces, its restaurants and the good-natured animation of the park ‘t Paelsteenveld. Perfect for families. We push into the small center, walking along Duinenstraat. With one objective… We wanted to discover each station through the eyes of a person who loves it and knows it inside out. So here we are in search of the restaurant “Le Homard et la Moule” to meet a man as singular as Bredene! Donald Deschagt is the only chef who has only cooked with seaweed for 13 years. This pioneer in Flanders is also internationally recognized as the Seaweed Chef.
Donald Deschagt often goes to the Kleine Strand near Fort Napoleon at the entrance to Ostend. There is a small “cove” with rocks full of seaweed. A place to discover. ©Antoine LARSILLE
17 different pans
Yet attracted by gourmet cuisine (his hotel studies in Ostend led him to internships in starred restaurants in France), he returned to Bredene on the death of his father to support his mother in this institution of mussels. He serves mussels, croquettes, fish,… La Maison de la Moule” quickly became an institution in Bredene. You could eat all kinds of mussels there.
Our summer series on small coastal resorts: Oostduinkerke, the increasingly trendy alternative between Cox and Nieuwpoort! (2/6)
But the specificity of the place is that they were served in pots. An idea from Donald’s mother and a first on the Coast, he tells us. The success was such that all the other restaurants followed suit. And he never wavered. “30 years later, during the summer months, my parents made 400 covers a day, it was crazy”. When Donald Deschagt took over, he went so far as to offer 17 different types of moulds!
13,000 kinds of algae
When he took it over in 1996, he called it “Le Homard et la Moule” and offered increasingly refined cuisine. His meeting with Conner Janssens, an oceanographer specializing in algae, will be decisive. And if at the time, Donald knew nori, wakame but nothing else, 13 years later, his Zeewier Studio in Ostend is about to open, a huge hangar on the marina where he will be able to cultivate seaweed , develop new products (you can already find bread, beer, gin, crisps, condiments in collaboration with local craftsmen), and receive the groups it educates. “There are 13,000 different ones in the world. I tasted mmh about 300”. Its gastronomic restaurant where everything is cooked from this curious product took a new turn after the covid: it is open on Friday evening and Saturday evening… and that’s it! The reservation book is full until 2024.
Our summer series on small coastal resorts: Mariakerke, between memories of the dyke with the family and… real estate renewal (4/6)
Calm
Bredene is made for the ride. On the beach but also at Spanjaardduin towards De Haan, one of the highest beachgrass dunes in the country (28.6 m) or in the D’Heye nature reserve. We also like the Turkeyenhof farm-museum, in its fisherman’s house. ©westtoer
Between all that, he does not stop. And sometimes take a short break after a picking trip (in Ostend, no seaweed in Bredene!) to go to the Twins Club. Why continue a gourmet restaurant in this small shopping street in Bredene, “where campers rarely frequent restaurants and even less mine!” . With a gesture, the chef points to the large hall. “My parents gave me all this, it’s a proud gift. I can’t quit, I owe them to sue. And then, I travel a lot but I’m a child from here, I only like nature and peace”. “Puur” Bredenois: he spends his… holidays there!
Have to do
Activities and visits. Elentrik Tower (urban art) – Wall frescoes – Twins Club (water sports) – Fisherman’s Chapel – The Spaniard Dune (dune) -the works within the framework of Beaufort: Albedo artwork Romping in the Graduinen – Palestone pans (nature reserve)- Frans Praetbrug (wooden bridge) – Water tower
Drink and eat. Lobster and Mussels by SeaweedchefDuinenstraat 325. (more informations in Dutch) – Flavors Lautrec (more informations in Dutch) – Local products – Beachbars – Tearooms
Shopping. Night market – Conceptstores
Water sports have their place in Bredene. From the Twins Club, a true meeting place for the “people of the beach”. ©Westtoer
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