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What is an Estaminet?

  • Yasmin Coles
  • February 23, 2011

If the Parisians have their bistros, the Alsatians their winstubs and the cast of Cheers have their, well, Cheers, then the northern French have their estaminet.  Even in what seems to be a less-heard-of place in France, nothing beats a place where everyone knows your name.

The main edge of establishments like the estaminet is that it is the local cuisine hub except that it is not as formal to be called a restaurant nor is it too intoxicating to be called a bar.  It’s like an extension of home where you can consume that familiar dish that warms up you Sunday kitchen or that well-deserved stiff drink after a hard day’s work.

When you walk into an estaminet, the French countryside theme seems to have dissolved into the sturdier, practical and smart Flemish aesthetics.  Of course, known for its more temperate climate, northern France seems to be more, well, northern than the sunnier disposition of the south.  But don’t be fooled by the weather and the lack of Mediterranean sunshine.  Northern France is charming and picturesque, with the atmosphere mostly made up for by its convivial and friendly locals.

Of course, the main highlight of the estaminet is the food.  What is interesting about these estaminets is that although it is in French soil, the dishes are inherently Flemish.  Have a taste of waterzooi, carbonnade and pot’je vleesch.  Pair them with a true Flemish accompaniment, the beer.  You’ll be surprised that despite the almost-anonymity of this region, northern France is anything but a gastronomic badlands.  So keep in mind that your French culinary wonders do not end in the famous French wine regions.  Head to Nord-Pas-de-Calais and try the different Flemish offerings.

Lille is probably known to many as a gateway that links England to France via the Channel Tunnel, but this metropolis is a great start to hop from estaminet to the next.  The Estaminet T Rijsel and try the Maroilles and the rhubarb.  T Rijsel also serves a trio of classic Flemish staples: the pot’je vleesch, the carbonnade (beef braised in dark beer) and the waterzooi (chicken in their version of a “carbonara”sauce).

From Lille you can head to the village of Hondghem where you will find L’Estaminet de l’Ancienne Maison Commune.  Enjoy a selection of dark beer and baby pork ribs.  If you find yourself Saint Nicolas in Cassel, there’s the Het Kasteelhof where you can try the gratinee au Maroilles, tarte flamande and a bottle of amber beer from the nearby brewery.  L’Estaminet du Centre in Godewaersvelde offers great Flemish fruit de mer, from Dutch mussels to North Sea shrimp.

When you step into an estaminet, you do have an excuse to think that you are no longer in France.  Similar to border-regions and border town, the estaminet is a portal of the gray, a space in history and the present where what really matters is the immediate surroundings and not the bigger territory.

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