Copain

A wine bar or a beer bar? Both, damnit! Arnaud Marchal and Jérémy Rommelaere couldn’t make up their mind and now they’re quenching people’s thirst in the Schaerbeek neighborhood from behind the inviting counter of this friendly bar (brick and wood walls, a small lounge corner, high tables with barstools). The night we went, Aivi Kotov (who we’d already seen at L’Amère à Boire) was tossing out his Belgian recommendations with gusto, despite a major rush of customers: a sour rye beer from the Brasserie de La Jungle (€17 for 750 ml) and a lager from the Brasserie de l’Ermitage on tap (€5 for 330 ml) or a Mésange saison from the Brasserie de la Source (€20 for 750 ml). As for the fermented grape juices, there’s something for every palate, so long as your tastes tend to be natural: a Grüner Veltilner from Austrian producer Johannes Trapl (€7 a glass) or Terre di Venticano, a red from Vincenzo Nardone in Campania (€33 a bottle). And so you don’t wind up totally smashed, there are cheese and charcuterie platters (€19) or mackerel rillettes (€8) served with bread from Le Pain Levé. // Luce Berdon