Turnleft always makes every endeavour to feature mostly small, independent venues. This is particularly true for hotels – we can’t stand Caesar Salads in identikit hotel chains. The whole team has developed a fondness for small bed & breakfasts and they don’t come better than in Benelux, probably because buildings are so small and narrow – we’ve already featured Hooy Kaye Lodge (Brussels) and Lute Suites (Amsterdam) in previous guides (it would be more difficult to establish an intimate hotel in an Haussmannian building). Dutch designer Analik’s Miauw in Antwerp and Amsterdam revolves around 3 ideas set within the same premises: a bed & breakfast (Miauw Suites), a concept store with a rotation of fashion, design and art displays (Miauw Shop) and a creative agency (Miauw Projects). The Antwerp building is not necessarily Unesco World Heritage material but its corner location allows for a view over Marnixplaats and a 270-degree exposure in each suite, each of them a staggering 70sqm. And at this stage we need to mention that Miauw is located between 2 of the city’s best restaurants: Fiskebar at 12 (fish and seafood canteen, great wine list) and Lucy Chang at 16 (everyone’s favourite pan-Asian eatery in Antwerp – see previous posts).

Fiskebar Marnixplaats 12, Miauw Marnixplaats 14, Lucy Chang Marnixplaats 16

We were about to run into trouble by suggesting Brussels-based Pierre Marcolini as Antwerp’s finest purveyor of chocolate, only to remember that Antwerp has amazing chocolate-makers of its own, including Del Rey (Marcolini-trained) and Goossens (below: kamasutra chocolate)…

Del Rey Appelmansstraat 5, Goossens Isabellalei 6

Fashion designer & stylist (and self-appointed leather aficionado) Harald Ligtvoet’s penchant for the good life makes a boys’ night out with him sound like our idea of fun. Here’s how the interview went:

“Hire a bicycle and do your own sightseeing… you’ll love this place. Antwerp is cosy and beautiful but it’s one of the biggest fashion playgrounds in the world. For breakfast I often go with my man to Brasserie Populaire, an organic place with delicious food in the old town. I get a latté at Caffènation on Hopland. Later you can find me on a deck chair drinking a Mojito at Cargo in Park Spoor Noord, a brand new park north of Antwerp [...] I like dinner at Café Confituur, it’s a warm place with Belgian meals. Later I smoke my pipe or a cigar at DeLux Café sipping a Vedett. I’m probably still there by 3am but sometimes I’m at The Boots, the world famous leather bar”

Ok then. What’s the dress code exactly? The Boots is indeed world famous (according to reliable sources) and it’s nice to see our Antwerp homeboys beating the Motzstraße brigade!

Brasserie Populaire Sint-Paulusplaats 23 - Caffènation Hopland 64 – Café Confituur Minderbroedersrui 38 – DeLux Café Melkmarkt 18 – The Boots Van Aerdtstraat 22

It’s slightly off the beaten track but the Cogels Osylei-Waterloostraat-Transvaalstraat triangle in Zurenborg is really a mind-blowing display of eclectic architecture, including many Art Nouveau buildings. Not so far, closer to Middelheim Park, Maison Guiette on Populierenlaan is the only house in Belgium designed by Le Corbusier. The house is owned by fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester.

This reminds me of the interview we did with David Flamée, who does the Press & PR for MoMu Fashion Museum and who also runs Sketch, the creative PR agency of the grassroots Antwerp’s fashion ecosystem – he seems to be a big fan of this part of town:

“I’ve been living in Antwerp since 2001 and it’s like a city and a village. Of course it’s all about fashion. I very much enjoyed this year’s shows and the experimental approach of the different designers that graduated. This is a very creative city – one thing that is so great here is that young designers [at the Academy] are pushed to develop their own style and vision. Summer’s great in Antwerp: on a sunny day I like having a picnin in Middelheim Park, an open-air museum with about 200 sculptures and art pieces; in the evening I’ll have a walk through Cogels Osylei and dinner at Euterpia, my favourite restaurant. The neighbourhood has mainly belle époque houses in a variety of architectural styles. It is a very romantic area. I’m not the clubbing type but if I’m not in bed at 3am you’ll probably find me at Frituur Number One! [eds: we love it too - see previous post]”

Euterpia Generaal Capiaumontstraat 2

Arriving at Antwerp Centraal – the city’s landmark train station – will take you right into Joods Antwerpen (Jewish Antwerp). There’s something melancholic about the area – like a window on Central Europe’s shtetl life prior to WW2 – yet this traditional community defines contemporary Antwerp in more ways than one. The area is also known as the Diamond District, after the community’s close links to the global diamond trade (three quarters of the world’s diamonds go through Antwerp). But more to the point, the ubiquitous black & white silhouette is credited as a source of inspiration for the city’s fashion designers: “Antwerp Six” Ann Demeulemeester’s pure, restrained style has often been compared to the modest Hassidic attire, and every now and then a fashion designer revisits that theme: in the 1990s it was Jean-Paul Gaultier; last year it was Gunhyo Kim, a graduate of the Academy (2007) and a former assistant to Dries Van Noten (below – Il Galantuomo, 2008).

Which takes us to the second point: Lange Kievitstraat. All Turnleft contributors could chair the world bagel convention – a heated debate on the topic took place 3 weeks ago in front of Sacha Finkelstajn (Paris), opposing Team London (Beigel Bake & Beigel Shop) to Team Montreal (Fairmount Bagel Bakery & St-Viateur Bagel Shop). The case isn’t closed but we could easily add Hoffy’s (at 52) and Steinmetz (at 64) to our list – and for good measure Kleinblatt (Provinciestraat 206).

Enough about fashion, Maria – of Frituur Number One fame – has 5,313 friends on Facebook (well 5,314 now). That’s more than all of us at Turnleft, especially since our creative consultant committed Facebook suicide.

As you know, we love our post-clubbing grub and only Maria’s fierce attitude can match our 4am mood swings. Maria tells it like it is but a huge portion of chips fixes us up after too many De Konincks. We all have our preferred sauces: Ben our art director is a fan of Saus Andalous and – paging model agency – skinny models don’t seem to mind the high sugar content of Saus Brazil… I’ve just discovered the delights of mixing Saus Tartare and Saus Banzai!

Flemish Lesson no.1 – this is how the conversation goes: “2 kleintjes me mayonnaise , nen bicky , 2 potjes stoofvleessaus, ne kipcorn, nen gebakken boulet me kouw curry, ne gebakke cervela special me curry ketchup, das dan 17 euro aub”…

If that’s not couture enough for you, Haute Frituur is in Zuid: great chips, homemade tartare and… Kartell chairs.

Frituur Number One Hoogstraat 1 – Haute Frituur Vlaamsekaai 66

Antwerp’s love affair with concept stores is never ending – we’ve reviewed Walter, Clinic, Hospital and Fish&Chips in our guides. We are very excited at the prospectof RA, opening October 17 on Kloosterstraat, a street usually dedicated to antiques stores. At the risk of sounding dithyrambic, RA could well become one of the most exciting spots in European fashionland and it certainly reinvents the (now) dusty concept store formula. Set on 800sqm the space – which defines itself as a platform + store – will feature a fashion floor dedicated to young Academy graduates and up-and-coming labels (Belgian and international), a vintage section, art exhibitions and installations, a bookstore, a music corner and a social food space. Founders Romain Brau and Anna Kúshnerova, two recent Academy graduates, are determined to go grassroots and to build the concept around a series of collaborations. If Romain is anything to go by, RA won’t lack humour either – his assessment of the fashion scene is filled with self-deprecating modesty: “it’s so boring, I respect my parents for coming every year to watch my shows”.

The site is in construction and RA is determined to blend its physical space with an online presence. This will include RA Tidings, a monthly publication edited by Dan Thawley – of Dan the Scout fame (an excellent blog). Hopefully we will come back with a full update later in this blog, maybe an interview – RA Tidings is due this September. In the mean time you can follow progress on their Twitter @RA_13 and we’ve got a sneak preview of the premises (the cashier area is by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur).

The whole team can usually be found sipping coffee at Caffenation or at Berlin. Lucy Chang is their favourite restaurant. Erik Vanberghen, RA’s music director, often DJ’s at glam bar Mogador.

Berlin Kleine Markt 2 – Caffenation Hopland 64 - Lucy Chang Marnixplaats 16 - Mogador Graaf van Egmontstraat 57

So it looks like we’ve made our point – we’re not total snobs: we can go to a fashion show at 3pm and binge on salt beef bagels at 3am. A global guide to 4am fast food is under way but in the mean time here are a few addresses we can’t live with after too many Malibu Pineapple (yes it’s back).

Send us your suggestions for other cities.

Amsterdam
Febo Leidsestraat 94 (automate snack)
Febo Nieuwendk 220 (automate snack)
Febo Oudezijds Voorburgwal 35 (automate snack)
Snackbar de Dijk Haarlemmerdijk 145 (sandwiches, kebab)

Antwerp
Frituur Number One Hoogstraat 1 (chips)
Frietkot Max Groenplaats 12 (chips)
Mama’s Garden Oude Koornmarkt 41 (kebab)

Berlin
Curry36 Mehringdamm 36, Kreuzberg (sausages)
Fritiersalon Boxhagenerstraße 104, Friedrichshain (chips)
Konnopkes Schönhauser Allee 44a, Prenzlauer Berg (sausages)
Mustafas Gemuese Kebap Mehringdamm 32, Kreuzberg (kebab)
W Imbiss Kastanienallee 49, Mitte (sausages)

Bruxelles
Friterie de la Barrière 5 avenue du Parc, Saint-Gilles
Friterie Tabora 2 rue de Tabora
Fritkot Flagey Eglise Sainte-Croix
Fritland 49 rue Henri Maus
L’express 8 rue des Chapeliers (pitta)

Helsinki
Eerikin Pippuri Eerikinkatu 17 (kebab)
Metro Fast Food Hämeentie 6 B (kebab)
Big Mama’s Iso Roobertinkatu 26 (pizzas)
Jaskan Grilli Dagmarinkatu (hot dogs & sandwiches)

London
Bar Italia 22 Frith Street, Soho (sandwiches)
Beigel Bake 159 Brick Lane, Shoreditch (bagel)
Beigel Shop 155 Brick Lane, Shoreditch (bagel)
Café Helen 105a Edgware Road, Marble Arch (kebab)
Kurz & Lang 1 St-John Street, Farringdon (sausages)
Marathon 87 Chalk Farm Road, Camden (kebab)
Maroush II 38 Beauchamp Place, Knightsbridge (kebab)
Tinseltown 44-46 St-John Street, Farringdon (burgers)

Melbourne
Supper Inn 15-17 Celestial Ave (fried ice creams)
Stalactites 177-183 Lonsdale St (souvlaki)
Lord of the Fries 9a 2-26 Elizabeth Street (chips)

Montréal
Fairmount Bagel Bakery 74 avenue Fairmount Ouest (bagel)
La Banquise 994 rue Rachel Est (poutine)
Montreal Pool Room 1200 boulevard Saint-Laurent (hot dogs)
Schwartz’s 3895 bld Saint-Laurent (bagel, sandwiches)
St-Viateur Bagel Shop 263 St. Viateur (bagel)

New York
Anytime 93 N 6th Street, Brooklyn
Bamn! 37 St Marks Place, East Village (automat)
Bereket Turkish Kebab House 187 E Houston Street
Cafeteria 119 7th Avenue
Crif Dogs 113 St Marks Place, East Village (hot dogs)
El Idolo 14th Street & 8th Avenue (tacos)
Gray’s Papaya 539 8th Avenue (hot dogs)
Gray’s Papaya 2090 Broadway (hot dogs)
Gray’s Papaya 402 Avenue of the Americas (hot dogs)
Rosario’s Pizza 173 Orchard Street, Lower East Side
Yaffa Café 97 St Marks Place, East Village (falafel)
Yatagan Kebab House 104 MacDougal St, West Village

Reykjavik
Bæjarins Beztu Tryggvagata / Pósthússtræti (hot dogs)
HabiBi Hafnarstræti 18 (kebab)
Hlölla Bátar Ingólfstorg (snacks)

Rotterdam
Febo Binnenwegplein 35 (automate snack)

Tel Aviv
Dabush 64 Iben Gvirol Street
Hakosem 1 Shlomo Hamelech
Orna and Ella The Queens of Falafel 33 Shenkin Street

Vienna (Würsttstand – sausages)
Albertina Albertinaplatz, Vienne 1
Hoher Markt Hoher Markt / Marc-Aurel-Straße, Vienne 1
Nußdorfer Straße Nußdorfer Straße, U6 station
The Kiosk Schleifmühlgasse 7, Vienne 4

Here’s a beautiful one of FEBO, fine purveyor of lukewarm kroketten to inebriated Amsterdamers since…

Image: Michael Pelletier