The Brussels city centre’s Halles de Saint-Géry will return to its origins and host a food hall and market from June.
The historic halls at the heart of the City of Brussels will host a dozen artisans selling both fresh produce and offering dine-in options, according to L’Echo. The new market will open on 16 June until the end of the year.
Artisans include fishmonger and caterer Claes Stroobants, who recently provided for the Royal Family; the fries shop Bouillon de Bruxelles; the greengrocer Mims Primeur; the butcher-rotisserie Paf Brussels Project; and the Italian food caterer Domenica, which offers focaccia, savoury brioche, and Italian pastries.
There will also be a cheesemonger's, but talks are still ongoing with a few businesses. According to the project's leaders, it had not been easy to attract business from outside of Brussels given the long working hours (six days a week), restricted access to the city centre and the general sense of uncleanliness and insecurity of the city centre, according to L'Echo.
Not to be confused with a traditional market like the ones in Anderlecht’s Abbatoir, Saint-Géry's new covered market will offer a hybrid food hall with fresh groceries also on sale.
The project leaders stress that this returns the hall to one of its original functions as a food market in the city centre.
Halles Saint-Géry when it was still a market
"It is a place to which the people of Brussels are deeply attached," emphasises Lucile De Calan, director of the non-profit organisation Patrimoine & Culture, which manages Les Halles, in L’Echo.
"With the return of food vendors, the market will bring culinary traditions and cultural events together to best showcase Brussels’ intangible and cultural heritage."
Completed in 1882, the iconic building first housed textile stores, then food stores.
After the Second World War, trade lowered and eventually all commerces moved out before its definitive closure in 1977. The building then fell into disrepair.
It was listed in 1987, praised for its exemplary Flemish neo-Renaissance style exterior with an interior using metal framework techniques.
The halls reopened in April 1999 as an information and exhibition centre dedicated to the heritage and living environment of the people of Brussels.
Indeed, the space will still maintain a cultural focus on the upper floors, while the food vendors will be located on the ground floor. The Halles cafe will also remain in place, particularly as the owner is also the entrepreneur behind this Saint-Géry market.
Brussels entrepreneur Cédric Gérard, the director of the Café des Halles, is delighted to see the Halles reclaim its true identity: a place that is "down-to-earth, lively, and quintessentially Brussels."
"This is a site that must thrive alongside its local residents," he said.
