Yesterday the Antwerp 13 reached day two of their four day bootcamp, aka D.A.T.E. And what a day it was. They went on a bike ride, discovering the Antwerp architecture, they printed their own official #TheAntwerp13 posters and took food pairing to the next level by pairing Antwerp’s famous beer, a Bolleke, with… some more beer. It was a tiring day, but due to their relentless enthusiasm, the Antwerp 13 survived it with grace. This is the recap of D.A.T.E. 2.0, DAY 02.
The Antwerp 13 - which is now the official name of this awesome collective - stuffed themselves with a nice breakfast, building up enough energy to get on their bikes and discover Antwerp’s architecture. They went to see the Central Station - often called the most beautiful train station in Europe - the newest skyscrapers on the Eilandje and the old buildings that were used by the Red Star Line.
This trip took the Antwerp 13 from the south, through the north all the way back to the city center. Not just your average bike trip - which we mapped out for you . It was the kind of trip that uses up all your energy and demands you go get a decent lunch. Which we did, at , Berchem.
In the afternoon, we took the Antwerp 13 to , home to the legendary Bolleke. They got a tour through the brewery and - of course - they tasted the famous Bolleke and the other beers De Koninck brews.
But the City Brewery has more to offer than just beer. The company works with some culinary entrepreneurs, who can work and produce their products on the brewery’s grounds. One of those companies is . They produce cheese, aged to perfection, which pairs perfectly with De Koninck’s beers.
Or there’s , a 24 year old chocolate maker. He opened his shop next to the brewery hall. With fair and honest products he works his magic to make pure tasting chocolate.
After the City Brewery, the D.A.T.E. members went to Kastaar, a local print shop. Well, “print shop” probably undersells the concept. Kastaar saved tons and tons of lead type, cast iron letterpress machines and wood type cabinets from the scrapyard. They gathered an impressive collection of hands-on printing materials. The limitations of slow printing, combined with contemporary techniques and insights, forces Kastaar to rethink the whole printing process.
The Antwerp 13 were stoked to use the old presses and machines themselves. So stoked that they printed their favorite hashtag, #TheAntwerp13, on some posters. Which made The Antwerp 13 officially a thing.
After a busy day of biking, tasting and printing, we took our D.A.T.E.’s to El Warda, a Moroccan restaurant, for a seemingly never ending, but insanely tasty diner.
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Texts and pic by This Is Antwerp