This is where the sexy, smart and fun hang out in Brussels.
Where does Jens Crabbé, founder of MOK Studio, La Belle Equipe and Nighshop, hang out in Brussels?
"Da Long Yi Hot Pot for authentic Chinese hotpot, Fight Club for NY-style pizza, Au Vieux Saint Martin for brasserie food.Bouche for great coffee, and Cipiace for cocktails at the bar."
"“Of course there are parallels between vinyl and coffee culture. Both carry a high degree of nerdiness, and obsessing over the most minute details can be pure joy."
The sound system comes courtesy of cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis, known for Bullhead and Left Bank, Hollywood productions like Dumb Money, the acclaimed series Lioness (a spy thriller starring Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman), the upcoming Anxious People, and commercials for Prada, Dries Van Noten, Gucci and Apple. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s the best cameraman in the country. A good customer, by now also a good friend, and a huge hi-fi connoisseur. When his Altec Lansing speakers from the fifties came up during one of our chats, the idea arose to install them at MOK Studio. A unique setup.” Same story with Strietman’s CT2 manual lever espresso machine. “We’re the first to use it in a professional working bar. Combined with the Kafatek grinder, it creates highly extracted shots with unmatched body and flavour. The Strietman is a hand lever machine that doesn’t use a pump to create pressure on the coffee puck. Everything is done by hand, creating shots ‘on feeling’ that have less chance of channelling and a more even extraction. And the Kafatek is a perfect match, as it produces one of the most uniform grinds in the game.” Did anyone say nerdiness?
“Specialised expertise should never create a barrier or turn into pretentiousness. You can deliver impeccable quality, but if it feels sterile or snobbish, it doesn’t work."
"Not everyone wants the whole story behind a natural anaerobic from Bryan Adolfo’s farm in Honduras, oran obscure jazz record from the sixties."
"A city doesn't need dozens of identical places. Why would you even want that? I’ve always had the ambition to run multiple spots, but each driven by that same personal passion of doing something new. No chains like Izy or Madmum where streamlined systems and uniformity take over. I love the idea of conceptualizing a venue and using that execution to actually shift something in a neighborhood or city."
If Jens Crabbé’s story—from gamer and school dropout to finding his calling in Leuven’s nightlife, tasting his first Ethiopian coffee, opening a Leuven specialty coffee roastery, and now rewriting Brussels hospitality with MOK Studio, Nightshop, and La Belle Equipe—sounds like a Netflix script, wait until you hear about the Chinese pop-ups and Belgium’s most exotic retro hi-fi system. Full interview in our winter print edition.